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Lake Atitlan
Surrounded by mountains, volcanoes and indigenous villages, Lake Atitlán
is like entering another century. The natural beauty is apparently still
unspoiled. The mountains and the volcanoes seem to just drop right into
the lake.
The lake is the ideal place for tourists to see some of the highland villages
with people wearing their traditional clothing and carrying out their daily
routines. Panajachel is the center of
much of this activity because it has the closest access to the main highway
to Guatemala City and to the main market roads that are the economic center
of the country.
The pier in Panajachel
this where the boats leave every morning for the various villages on
the shores of the lake. Across the lake one can see three volcanoes, San
Pedro, Toliman, and Volcan Atitlán.
This is a celebration of the feast day of San Pedro
the patron saint of San Pedro La Laguna, one of the indigenous villages
on the lake. The ceremony is known as the dance of the conquest and the
red haired Spaniard center stage represents Pedro de Alvarado, Cortez's
man sent to conquer the lands south of Mexico, which Alvarado did with a
vengence. The dance represents the last stand by the native peoples of what
is now Guatemala to withstand the Spaniards. This last stand was led by
a chieftain named Tecun Uman, who now is a symbol of Guatemalan nationalism
and pride.
Juan Sican, a young man from San Antonio Palopo. He hitched
a ride with me this past summer 7/96
Vendors at the Santiago de Atitlán
market
Santiago is the largest of the indigenous village on the lake and the market
is the most important in the area except for the one at Solola, just up
the road from Panajchel.