Wednesday, Oct 18 Lake Atitlán and Panajachel

We headed back to Guatemala City. There were 2 times we had to stop because of road construction. The bridges was washed out last year by Hurrican Stan. At each stop, folks would come up to the window and try to sell us hot corn, candy and even Cokes. Some were waiting for rides or just watching the traffic as they couldn't go anywhere. This was also a great time to change the tire on one of the vans.

Once we arrived in Panajachel, we ate breakfast. Then we had 2 hours to shop. I made a quick trip to meet Beth and Steve Kennedy who work at LBN. Beth walked back with me to the market street and helped me and others to purchase some souveniers. It was fun to be able to bargain and do some sightseeing. Too bad that it was misty, and we couldn't see the volcanoes across the lake. But you could still sense the beauty of the lake and the surrounding communities. As we were driving into the town, folks on our microbus were throwing candy out the window for those workers and kids standing beside the road. It was fun to look back and see them scrambling for the "goodies". And when we returned, those same workers yelled out and waved to us. We got back into Guatemala City late in the evening. Another long day on the road was behind us.