Lingering the Laguna

Did I say we like to linger??? Because we whether we like it or not, it seems to be a habit, and maybe not necessarily a bad one. After all Lao Tzu said that good travelers have no fixed plan and are not intent on arriving. Well we hit that one right on the head. Part of the reason we´ve been here so long is the people we´ve become accostumed to calling friends, especially or WWOOFing buddy from Belize, the Aussie, John (juanito we call him). One night in San Pedro we rented a Solar hottub that isw almost scalding, natural hot tub in a lush garden that you can enjoy until shriveled to prune status. That was relaxing and a bit of a treat although it only cost $5. Another day we took an adventure up Volcan San Pedro, where we were feeling sick, and only made it half the way. Around San Pedro the vibe is really young with a focus on the party, but this hasn´t brought all good vibes with it. I find some of the backpackers to be alot harder to get along with, and the ex-pats are much more agreablr to get along with. We discovered a quite jolly group of these retirees at the weekly Boccie ball tournament that they hold at this Quebecian owned bar called La Piscina due to its small swimming pool (which is silly since the lake is but 30 meters away). However, we had a blast playing Boccie, and although we didn´t win, we each got to play a few games and enjoyed the company. However, John, on his first time playing, made it to the semi-finals and was justifiably defeated by the soon to be champion. Not to mention that John, just this last Saturday was in the 3-way final in which he gave up a five point lead to succumb to a two point defeat.... regardsless we are proud of our Johnny boy, contending for the title on his 2nd time ever!!! (well he is a cricket bowler so I guess that gives him a bit of advantage.
After a week or so in San Pedro, we headed across the small bay on this end of the lake to San Marcos, where the setting is much more based in nature with walking trail looping through corn, avocado, banana and coffee trees. The only downfall is the prices are steeper, but compared to San Pedro, anything will seem pricier. We got by, staying for $10 a night on top of this hill in a third story open air loft taking in the view every morning and sunrise. We did yoga once on top of this lovely viewpoint of a property, and spent most days jumping off clifs on the town little point of a peninsula. Most people are here for some meditation or spiritual healing course, always talking about some sort of energy... in other words alot of Yippies.
After calming our nerves and relaxing to the point of exhaustion, we headed for Santa Cruz La Laguna, where we understand was pretty and tranquil, similar to San Marcos. We stayed at the cheapest of the only 4 hotels in the town, but soon found out why it is a family vacation/ retired folk kind of place. The hotels are seperated by a 200 meter climb up into the town, completely segregating the indegenous life with the tourists. It is said too, because they have a monopoly on business in town, bullying out any local businesses that want to sell their typical food for cheap (or in guatemalan standards: standard) prices. After talking to a couple of business owners about this tragedy (there is litterally not a single food stand in town... you have to eat at the overpriced hotels with only 1 or 2 choices.. or get cup of noodles like we did) we decided we wern´t going to support these Nazi foreign businesses (half of them were from the states and as die hard capitalists should know what a little healthy competition cando for an economy). One night and we´re out, coming back here to San Pedro just in time for another Boccie tourney and some financial relief.
We will stay one more night here, until we book it for Honduras, staying in Antigua with our good couchsurfing friend, Andrea, for one last Guatemalan night. Im gonna drink a cup of locally grown, freshly roasted coffee, and then make a cup of noods for dinner.
Hasta proxima.