I’m learning to drive the mountains a lot better now. I’m starting to use the engine to break a lot more. My short hour long trip from Lake Atitlan to Chichicastenango was almost a disaster. By the time I got there, my brakes were almost useless. I hear Costa Rica is worse. I hope none of the car problems prove to be a major factor, I’m waiting to get to Ecuador, where hopefully their mechanics are more knowledgeable about Mercedes.
It rained like hell last night at Lake Atitlan and hazy as well so we couldn’t see too much of the lake. So when we woke up this morning, we didn’t know what to expect when we walked to the lake. I think I have an idea why people love to visit this lake. We didn’t go on a boat ride because the lake didn’t seem that big enough to warrant one. Plus, we were on the side with the view. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense for us to go to the other side only to look back on the bland shores of Panajachel.
So we left for Chichicastenango. We didn’t mean to, but we timed it perfectly for the major market days on Sundays and Thursdays. Today being Sunday, there seemed to be some christening going on in the local churches as well. This was all certainly a very different experience. I’ve been to crowded markets before, but here, people were selling everything from hand me downs to indigenous knives, masks, beautifully woven cloths and silk, ponchos, necklaces, toys, bags, pillows, bracelets, you name it. We walked around a bit a little confused, but all in all, it was a good day at the market. I can see why people come here to shop, though. The variety is definitely one of a kind, although you’re bound to pay a bit more premium for it. We got there around 10 AM, when supposedly the market really opens. But we noticed that almost right after noon, there was certainly a lot less people on the streets. We had some good chicken for lunch. I got my lunch first, across the table from the ingenous people, and offered a piece of my fries to the little boy. I devoured the food, being hungry but also really appreciating the quality of the food. I gave a few bucks to the mother, saying it’s for the boy. She smiled and politely accepted. But I did feel bad for something else. While both Fiona and I finished our piece of chicken like it was nothing, all the indigenous ladies, as if programmed to do so, finished half of their pieces, and carefully put it inside a plastic bag that the store provided, perhaps to save it for later. We left for Antigua around 1:30, 2 PM.
There was a lot of road work going on in Antigua as well, except this time, they closed off about 4-5 miles and was very efficient in letting people pass through one way. So it was not nearly as bad. I started using the engine to slow down, and I think that really helped.
I don’t like driving in Antigua. The streets are made of stones, and aren’t as neatly arranged like those in Europe. So with all the precaution I’m having with my car, it certainly made me fairly nervous, especially when street names were impossible to read. They sometimes changed names of the streets to something completely different, and sometimes there were no posted street names at all, which are simply painted named on the walls of nearby buildings anyway.
I walked through ‘The Arch’, something that’s famous in Antigua. There was some sort of a ‘Fast and the Furious‘ thing going on, with a bunch of cars parked in front of it, showcasing their engines and sound systems, which I thought was kinda funny because almost all of them were not much to look at. There’s a lot of tourists here, even during this low season. I don’t like it at all. We walked around to the Santa Catalina Church and to the Cathedral next to the Zocalo. All in all, a very busy day, having seen Lake Atitlan at dawn, shopped at Chichicastenango in the morning, and walking around Antigua in the afternoon and in the evening.