Tracy Carolyn Photography

San Marcos is the small lakeside town closest to where we are currently living.  This is the view of the dock as you reach it by boat.  It looks a lot different than it did the last time we were here, since the lake has risen quite a bit over the last few years.  Many houses and buildings are now underwater, the shoreline is basically gone, and the trees are even on their way out.

The last time we were here, this guesthouse did not have lakefront property.

One day when I was taking the boat from San Pedro to San Marcos, I overheard a tourist say this:  ”It’s so funny how stupid foreigners are.  They think ‘oh, I think I’ll build my house right in the lake!’  How dumb!”  If he hadn’t gotten off the boat I would have smacked him for being the stupid foreigner.  Obviously these people did not build their houses in the lake, they were flooded.  Some people are idiots.

Once you get into town, there are two main thoroughfares.  There are no cars or motor bikes in San Marcos, because there aren’t really streets.  They are more like paths, which fit about two people wide.  Below on the left is one of the main streets, and on the right is one of the smaller side streets.

The closest thing to a San Marcos version of a street sign…

There are so many places here to learn reiki, massage, and other holistic things that I’ve lost count.  For a town of 2200, its a lot.If you peek out from one of the side streets, you are rewarded with a view of the lake.This is kind of the center of town, where there are a few people selling produce, clothes, artwork, and other random things.  Its where you buy handmade or home grown stuff, and where the farmer that we buy our produce from sets up.  Up the hill from the town there is a road where cars can drive, and a few stores where we buy groceries. The stores are small (think half the size of a gas station convenience store) but packed with stuff.  You really have to look at every inch of every shelf if you are trying to find something.  

Another side street…Las Piramides is a well known meditation retreat here in San Marcos.  It’s very popular with the backpacking crowd, and they have lodging on site where you can stay to do a week or month long course.  We stayed here for a few nights in 2009, but I didn’t care for the vibe.  Most of the people are in their early 20s and this is the first exposure they’ve had to anything New Age-ey, so they are a little tough to be around.  A common attitude is what I call “Hippier-than-thou,” which is how I feel some of them act: because they are staying in a pyramid for a month they are more enlightened and wiser than anyone else.  I tend to disagree, and for the most part I tend to ignore them. The garden at Las Piramides is nice to sit in, though.  I think you are supposed to sit inside the pyramids, but I like to sit among the flowers.You can take the boat from San Marcos to Pasajcap, but I usually prefer the walk.  It’s about 15-20 minutes on a dirt road, mostly uphill.  The view along the way is spectacular.

This was the scene at our Guatemalan Thanksgiving dinner.  Not too shabby.

Earlier this week I was feeling a little bummed that we weren’t going to celebrate Thanksgiving this year.  Usually missing this holiday isn’t a big deal (we’ve done it several times before while traveling), but in a year when we are going to miss every holiday, I was sad to just pretend it wasn’t happening.  So John and I hatched a plan to have our own celebration.  He invited our Canadian and Guatemalan neighbors, and a potluck dinner party was born.

We were amazed at how willing everyone was to celebrate our holiday with us, and how exceptional the food they brought was.  Dinner was an amazing spread, all with a Guatemalan twist – roasted turkey, stuffing with jalepenos and peppers, shrimp and vegetables roasted with cilantro, fresh avocado, mashed potatoes with gravy, and roasted sweet potatoes.  The food was delicious, and the conversation was lively.  It wasn’t the same as celebrating with family, but we really had a great time.  We ended the night feeling thankful for newfound friends, and excited for what twists on tradition the rest of our holidays will hold during World Tour.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We’ve hosted our first World Tour visitor!  Hooray!

Our friend Chaz, pictured above of course, flew down to visit us in our little Guatemala paradise for a week.  He gawked at the stellar view, enjoyed his share of Gallo (the local beer), and even managed to convince a tuk tuk driver to let him take the wheel for a short spell.  We are sending him back to the States with some great stories and assurances that he thoroughly enjoyed his adventure in Central America.

For John and I it was great to see a familiar face, and even cooler to show off a part of the world we are so fond of.  I can only hope more people join us down the road for our travels.  (To that end, we’ve recently booked flights through mid-January.  If you have interest in meeting up with us I can give you a little more certainty on our itinerary than I could a month ago – just ask!)

Many thanks to Chaz for making the journey, and for acting as courier for some much needed mail and ziplock bags :)

Across the lake from us is the city of San Pedro.  While San Marcos, where we live, has a reputation of being sleepy and full of hippies, San Pedro has a reputation for being a party town.  It’s larger, with a population of 13,000 compared to 2,200 in San Marcos.  The town is largely broken up into two sections – the more touristy lakefront and the more authentic local area up the hill.  The touristy area is papered with fliers for cheap hostels and bars offering tequila shots for 8Q (roughly US$1.)  Party town.

The boat, which you can see below, takes about 20 minutes from our place.  A few views of San Pedro from the water…
Party towns aren’t usually our scene, but we do take the boat over to San Pedro once a week on Sundays for the fantastic BBQ at one of the bar/restaurants.  It’s a place called La Piscina (which means The Pool), and they do indeed have a pool.  Each Sunday for four hours they put on a very popular BBQ where you can load up on the kind of meat you can’t get anywhere else around here.  John’s favorite is the massive fliet mignon wrapped in bacon, but they also serve ribs, tuna steaks, Pittsburgh steaks, chicken and burgers.  The portions are enormous and include three heaping sides (things like roasted veggies, potato salad, mac and cheese, eggplant parmesan, baked beans etc) and a chunk of cornbread for 60Q (less than US$8.)  It’s an absurd amount of food and it’s all excellent.  Even though I don’t eat the meat, the sides are enough fill me up and satisfy any comfort food cravings I might have.  We both look forward to it every weekend.

The red taxi above on the right is called a tuk tuk.  It’s essentially a motorcycle with a backseat and soft cover.  We sometimes take these home from San Marcos when it’s dark or rainy.  They look small, but you can fit three adults in the back seat, and I’ve seen locals pack two or three more in the front with the driver.

Up the hill from the party side of town is the local market, which runs every day.

Produce here is great.  With the climate we are able to get things like beets, strawberries, tomatoes, watermelon, zucchini, radishes, papaya, cabbage and pineapples all at the same time.  It messes with my head to eat beets and strawberries at the same time, but the seasons simply don’t work the same here.  Of course if you need shoes and clothes you can shop here as well.Or head to a stand from some fresh juice.  Usually we get the pineapple, but John is on a kick of fresh squeezed orange these days.  You can’t go wrong, really.  The locals like a drink made of rice and chocolate, but I haven’t tried it yet.Most of the streets around here are small little alleyways, tucked between shops and houses.  There are coffee plants growing all over the place, which explains why the coffee is so fresh and good around here.  Most places in Central and South America export the good coffee and serve instant instead.  Around the lake there are loads of small producers that pick, roast and sell their beans locally and inexpensively.  It’s sooo much better than the instant stuff.The dock below takes you to another town, Santiago.  You can see how the rising water level has washed away what used to be the dock and the shops that once lined it.  This view is from the rooftop of La Piscina, which is just barely sticking up out of the lake water these days.  Hopefully they won’t get washed out like so many other businesses before them.

I’m working on getting some photos of San Marcos soon, but it’s tricky to photograph because it’s so small and compact.  Hopefully I’ll have something to share soon.