I left Xela after five weeks and felt like it is a place i might come back to one day. It was a wonderful day to start cycling again. The sun was shining in a clear blue sky and while i was climbing the mountains surrounding the lake along the panamericana, some views could be obtained of the Santa Maria volcano we had climbed just two days before. But once i started my descent on the other side, the fog kept the lake out of my sight for most of the time.
I arrived in San mMarcos in the afternoon, a place popular with people seeking a spiritual refuge. Most places where fully booked, but one guest house had still a place in their dormitorio. The next morning the weather was better and i saw the mountains and volcanoes on the other side of the lake for the first time.
The streets are really steep around the lake and the signs seem to pay tribute to that.
The road from Santiago Atitlan is beautiful. A narrow road with little traffic but with lots of flowers and trees along the way that sometimes form a baldachin over your head. On the eastern shore the road climbs again while leaving the lake but offering some last views of its wonderful panaroma…
and another with the volcan San Pedro in the background.
I stayed in Patzún for the night before returning to the pan am for a short while the next morning. Antigua being my next destination, i wanted to at least visit a place on the way: Maya Pedal, a NGO located in San Andrés Itzapa.