Rest and a beautiful day at the lake

Up at 8am after 11 hours sleep. Didn't make the volcano hike but that's OK, we needed the sleep. Breakfast included fruit granola yogurt, wifi, and real awesome San Marco then Guatemalan coffee- no NesCafe! We chatted with a Canadian couple (we know because she was wearing a Canada pin). Woke up to reading about the horrible shooting in CT. WTF people.

Anyways, we decided to hike around the area so we checked out of our La Paz Hotel, left our bags and headed out for Santa Cruz. The area is so beautiful! Along the hike we had amazing views of the lake, beautiful flowers, coffee beans (it's harvest season), a house using water bottles as insulation, and corn on the steepest hills you could imagine. Andy was trying to take a pic for a large beetle and needed my help. We all know where this is going. It started to fly away in the direction of my face. i didn't yel but I moved fast like a cheetah. It wouldn't have been pretty if it got stuck in my hair because it had  barbed legs. All is well- we moved on. We climbed up the hill, sucked on the coffee beans for energy, and eventually ended up at a beautiful hotel because we were hugry and thirsty. We knew it wouldn't be cheap as we passed by the swimming pool on a cliff but it didn't really matter at this point.

The view was amazing and total worth the price. We got beers and shared a mushroom and meat dish (none of these damn places have Guatemalan food!) and chatted w/ a cool guy from Austin named Jason. We stayed for a while and got some good info from him about Nicaragua and I tried to hook him up w/ some contacts to build his website. We were so very relaxed and ready to go for a swim. So you would think we've never traveled before because we didn't have enough money. Jason gave us some cash so I paypaled him because I felt like an asshole. Then he gave us another 100 Quetzales because he's nice and we were humbled.

Down 350 stairs (thank god I had my knee brace on this whole time) bathing suit on and into the muy frio water. It wasn't so cold, or maybe my body eventually went numb. It was just what we needed and it would suffice as a shower we desperately needed. Swimming in blue water with the volcanoes surrounding the lake. We decided to pass on the Gringo party happening close by. It's supposed to be impressive (with a pig roast)  but we have shit to do tomorrow and can't afford to be hung over so early in the trip.

We were lazy and relaxed so we waiting for a boat to head toward San Marcos. It took a bit and I was wondering if we would have to walk back. I'm not trying to walk in the dark in this area so we waited 40 min for a boat. We finally caught a boat back to San Marcos, grabbed our bags and headed for San Juan. The book said San Juan was keeping it real. Man is that ever true. So real there isn't shit to do there. Andy suggested we walk to San Pedro. By this time it's getting dark, I'm hungry, I know we aren't supposed to walk in the dark w/ valuables, I wasn't thrilled. A tuk tuk finally came by and picked us up. Good thing because I would have been pissed if I had to walk up the hill it drove up. It wasn't making it so the driver's friend had to jump out and walk up.

He dropped us off at the town center and eventually found a hotel and a shuttle for the am. We had enough of chicken buses for now- we paid our dues. We walked around, saw some fireworks w/ a pic of Bin Laden, and finally found a lady selling food on the corner. Good thing because I don't want anymore pizza (for now). A large bottle of Gallo and back to the hotel. It was a great day. Can't wait to check out Antigua! Then catching a night bus to San Pedro Sula (Honduras). It's going to be a long day tomorrow, better get some rest tonight.