This weekend was really intense. We got up at 3am on Saturday to catch the first Chicken bus that brought us, Maida and some other family members to Santa Clara. From there, in complete darkness, we made our way up to the top of a mountain called “Indian’s nose”.
It was a short but intense hike. Once we had reached the top we didn’t doubt for a second that it was worth the effort. The view over the lake, the villages and the volcanos was marvelous. We sat there in complete admiration and started to understand why some think that Lake Atitlan is the most beautiful lake in the world.
After a quick breakfast up there, we climbed down again and made our way back to San Pedro. But no time to rest, then after another coffee Maida brought us to her cousin’s house who works as a chef in a local restaurant. She went with us to the market and prepared a local dish with us, called Hilacha. It was so delicious we can still smell it when we close our eyes. She also teached us how to prepare Tortillas, which are a mandatory part of every meal in Guatemala. We didn’t do too bad, at least we reached the level of a 10-year-old Guatemalan girl, and they tasted fantastic.
After a short rest in the hammock we prepared ourselves for another insight into the Guatemalan culture. Saunas take an important part there and in earlier days every house had one and most inhabitants of the Lake Atitlan region took one sauna a week. The sauna to which Maida brought us, together with some other family members, was outside San Juan at an Ecohotel beautifully located in a jungle garden. We are used to saunas from Switzerland but the Guatemaltecans handle it a bit different. They don’t switch between 15min sauna and a 15min cold shower or bath but stay in there as long as they can. We tried to go along with the local habit, but after 15min we desperately needed that break we were so used to.
It was a fun day and a fun night and shortly after returning home and enjoying dinner we sank into a deep slumber.
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