Panajachel and Lago Atitlan

30 /04 /2014 

Back home.... 

At least this is the feeling I had when we descended the mountain and the view of the lake appeared. Like my lake, also Atitlan is surrounded by mountains (volcanoes), the landscape is so similar that it's difficult for me to believe I'm so far away from home. The colour shades reminded me of the numerous cloudy days spent in Lavena Ponte Tresa: everything looks grey - the sky, the lake and even the mountains. But I'm pretty sure that even in a sunny day, it would still remind me of my town. 

Now I'm in this little town called Panajachel (yes, here in Guatemala all names are very difficult to pronunce) on the lake Atitlan. Many tourists talked about this place and the beautiful view on the volcanos around the lake. I was able to admire the landscape and take some pictures as soon as I arrived yesterday morning.... But since then, nothing. It rained almost all day and night and even this morning the volcanos are covered by clouds. I'm not so lucky... 

At least today I had plenty of time to write this post and to read my travel guides about Guatemala and Mexico. I'm happy I left these two countries at the end of the trip, because I have this feeling that I will spend great time visiting them. 

One of the reasons why I came to Panajachel was to visit Samabaj, an underwater Maya archaeological ruins. The island site was flooded in 250 CE by volcanic action and discovered only 12 years ago at the bottom of Lake Atitlan. 6 monuments and 4 altars were found in this area, suggesting that this was a  pilgrimage destination. 

Unfortunately once I arrived, I discovered that few months ago the Guatemala's government prohibited dives in this area to preserve the ruins. So I visited the related museum, where are shown some of the ceramic recovered and some pictures taken during the archaeological studies.