Panahachel—strikingly beautiful, but…

I’m not a loather. Really. I ended up spending New Years with the majority of the volunteers from my training class in Panahachel (Pana). Pana is located on beautiful Lake Atitlan one of the most spectacular places I’ve seen in the world. It’s a large lake with mysterious winds surrounded by three majestic volcanoes. Certainly the view is wonderful. It was also great to see my friends from training who I haven’t been able to spend much time with since we headed off to our sites. Mi problema was, more than anything, the sheer number of gringos in the town and the blatant catering to the tourists. It’s okay if you cater to me, but I don’t want to know you’re doing it. In terms of self definition (and we all have one), I have always thought of myself more of a traveler or explorer than a tourist. If given the choice of staying at a 4-star resort or a simple accomidation I will almost always choose the simple one unless someone else is paying the bill. I have no desire to go to Cancun except in a sort of anthropologist capacity. I had a relatively nice and comfortable hotel and a hot shower with more than adequate water pressure (a luxury here). I was with friends and good times were had. A little drinking. A little dancing. Staying up past my bedtime. Nevertheless I couldn’t get past “Pana-Rock” (Pana’s version of Hard Rock Cafe) and the vendors covering every square inch of the main road. This place is also commonly referred to as “Gringotenango”. Perhaps I should be more accepting. I have a friend who related to me a story before I went to pana. She had been volunteering at a mission in San Lucas Toliman also on Lake Atitlan. One afternoon she and some other volunteers decided to take a boat over to pana. They were discussing their plans with one of the staff at the mission. He looked at them with a bit of disappointment, and asked them “why”. There response naturally was they had heard it was a nice town and fun. He replied, in all seriousness “well, if you like it, it’s your damn own fault”. Will I be back? I’m not a lemming (again, self definition), but if the group goes I’m probably up for it. I’ll definitely head back to Lake Atitlan to explore some of the other villages surrounding it. There is supposed to be a nice hike from Xela to Lake Atitlan which takes a couple of days. Of course, if someone else is paying the bill, I’ll stay at a 4-star resort.