Where’s the party?
Sunday, December 18th, 2005It would seem that the local hippies have all trodden that well worn path across Asia and brought the joys of full moon parties to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. The word around town is that they can’t hold it anywhere within walking distance as the towns’ mayor has said no, so instead they’re planning it on a beach somewhere else round the lake which will involve a boat ride to reach it.
After a night in the Freedom bar, drinking and dancing to a kick-ass band we head down to the dock for the much-anticipated boat to the party. There’s a lot of people waiting around and when a tiny boat arrives and is swamped by people it starts to look like it could be a very long wait. Meanwhile, while waiting, I meet a couple of greek guys, Nick and Sam, who seem rather pleased to meet someone who can speak english as they don’t speak a word of spanish. They turn out to be nice guys and we hit upon the great idea of walking to the beach where the party is., someone somewhere had told them it wasn’t too far, though it might take an hour or two. Looking at the queue for the boat this doesn’t seem like a bad idea so we head off.
Two or three hours later, after negotiating many hazardous paths through the woods, stopping to listen out for the music, we finally arrive at…a deserted beach still miles from the party having achieved nothing except still being alive. Oh what a familiar story from the free party scene. Still, we stopped on the beach and watched the sunrise, which was beautiful and one of the few I’ve seen since starting my trip. The journey back was a lot more pleasant, being able to see where you’re going helps, and arrived back into San Pedro early morning to be greeted by, yes of course, the pan ladies!
On my last day in San Pedro a group of us went up to Chichicastenango, a small market town in the Guatemalan highlands, reknowned for it’s market. As luck would have it they also had festival cellebrations going on with crazy colourful processions and fireworks assualting the senses. It was a really nice way to end my stay in Guatemala, for tomorrow I head off back into Mexico for xmas.
Tuesday morning and it's back to school for me, but not much changes. I'm still the poor student who can't manage to get to class on time, do my homework properly or dedicate myself to my studies. ... 
Well? I certainly am, thank you. I've just had a beautiful blissed-out four days in this little corner of paradise (San Jose Succotz, Cayo District of Belize). By day it's been hot and sunny, ... 
Ed