Joyce and Joel were waiting for us and their friend
Miguelangel was driving us in his little van to Panajachel, which is about 2 ½
hours away on Lake Atitlan. Driving through Guatemala City you can see this is a developing
country, but there is an incredible amount of construction everywhere. Once out
of the city, the countryside is beautiful, with cows, dogs, horses, pigs, Mayan women
carrying stuff on their heads and wearing their native clothing. It’s such a
pleasure to be somewhere with people who still have a strong sense of their own
culture, rather than looking all like Westerners.
The road to Pana is long, often winding, but smooth. We made
a pit stop at a complex with a restaurant and shop to stretch our legs. We pass
a few small towns on our way, each one getting smaller and more rural. After a
climbing a mountain and then coming back down, we finally make it into Pana. We
stopped at a grocery store to pick up some supplies. Many of the signs in the
store don’t look like Spanish and Joel explains that they are in the local
Mayan dialect (of which apparently there are many). In order to get to the
house, we need to catch a boat from Pana. They’ve arranged for a private taxi
since the public boat taxis get very crowded. Francisco, the caretaker of the
property is in Pana and helps us with luggage. The taxi drops us off at Laguna Lodge, which is a high-end eco-resort, for lunch (apparently Leo DiCaprio was just here). Francisco will continue with
the water taxi to the house and transfer our luggage. The lodge is just
beautiful, like something out of a fancy travel magazine. The food is
vegetarian, and most of us had the Kum Pao, which is really just stir fried
vegetables with a soy based sauce and tofu. It was delicious. Everything here
is freshly made, including the salsa, tortillas, chips, etc. The dining room
looks out over the lake, surrounded by volcanoes and is immediately very
relaxing and serene.
After lunch we walk along the lake edge to the house at Paxanax. The
path is a combination of dirt, wood planks (looking very precarious) and stone.
The house is up the hill a bit and is quite a large property. There is a main
house with a large central room (called the Buddha room and originally used for yoga classes and the like)
and kitchen, and several smaller properties with bedrooms and bathrooms. I
chose a small room above the main house with windows looking out over the
property towards the lake. I’m hoping to see some stars at night. There is a
chicken coop and laundry shed on one side and the whole area is landscaped
beautifully with incredible flowers and plants. It’s truly a tropical paradise.
After a well needed nap, we regrouped and made a lovely
spaghetti dinner with zucchini, tomatoes, onion and corn. After the sun sets,
the sky is pitch black and overcast. You can see lights along the opposite
shore from the small towns along the lake. There are fireflies
among the beautifully landscaped grounds and lightening in the distance. It starts
to rain during dinner, echoing off the incredible domed ceiling of the Buddha room. The house was
built by an American who moved here some 14 years ago and was a carpenter by
trade. He built the property by hand with the assistance of Francisco who started with him
when he was 17! There is beautifully hand carved wood everywhere, including
most of the doors, handmade fabric lampshades and beautiful details everywhere.
Joyce and Joel bought most of the original property from the original owner
when he decided to move to Thailand. A smaller portion was parceled off and
sold separately.
Since this is a place without constant electronic interruptions, we are making an early night of it, as do the
locals who live here.
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