Sin Topes Oaxaca: Aligning our Chakras in San Marcos La Laguna

Two weeks in Antigua had almost killed us (but made us a bunch of good friends at the bars)! Our apartment in Oaxaca is ready on Feb 1st, so we decided to cool our jets on Lake Atitlan for a few days. It is about a three-hour winding bus ride from Antigua (but only 30 miles as the crow flies....read 'mountainous!'), Lake Atitlan is the deepest lake in Central America and widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in the world.

Surrounded by three volcanoes and peppered with small Mayan villages, writer Aldous Huxley wrote of it, "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."

Tuesday evening was spent in Panajachel, a larger lakeside town, adhering to our "tuesday night pizza" tradition and deciding on which village to head to in the morning. We chose San Marcos La Laguna- a lakeside village of about 2,000 people, most being Kaqchikel-speaking indigenous Mayans.

where to go?

one of several trips to the 'snug,' an irish pub in antigua

"when all is bad, mezcal. when all is good, mezcal"

Lindsay and her main man, Donald

love these..

more Donald!

That shawl was the Pope's....long story..

Wednesday morning we rode a ponga boat over the lake, stopping in Santa Cruz La Laguna to pick up our buddy Sarah. She is a Honduran transplant from Portland, Oregon working the Scuba diving scene and we had the good luck to meet up with her on a "Visa Run" in Guatemala.

How to describe San Marcos. Hmm. If you ever happen to be in a position where you need to 'find yourself' or get some energy healing, San Marcos is the place to do it. The minority gringo population in the village was certainly the most 'earthy' batch of hippies we have seen. Tribal chanting, purifying 'deep throat yelling'(seriously), tarot card reading, 'guided self-introspection', 'warrior heart' classes and month long meditation courses corresponding with the lunar cycles are all offered in the village and taken very seriously. Deodorant and general hygiene? That perhaps could be taken a little more seriously. But Lindsay did have the best organic, locally sourced tempeh burrito she has ever had in her life.

the normal cookies are 3Q, the special ones are 5Q.

The puebla is beautiful- mostly comprised of walking paths, the village hugs the shoreline and steep hillside. Restaurants and hotels are hidden at the end of shaded paths in the jungle, directions posted on brightly colored hand-painted signs. At the top of one hill is an ancient Mayan alter for traditional ceremonies by local Mayans and probably some less traditional ceremonies by the hippie folks. Along the other side, cliffs drop into the lake, where there are rocky ledges for jumping and sunbathing.

Hey Brian and Sarah!

We spent three days going to bed early and sleeping late, drinking coffee in the morning and rum after sundown, and napping and swimming in between. It was certainly somewhere we could have spent a lot longer (months), but Mexico is calling and we feel the pull.