A Day Trip to Tecpán and the Iximché Ruins

My sister is visiting from Canada and we thought we'd take a trip to see the nearest Mayan ruins, which are just outside Tecpán. I've blogged about them before but this trip was a bit different. We didn't rent a fancy private shuttle. We took chicken buses!

For those travelers wanting just the details on how to get from Panajachel to Iximché ruins in Tecpán, here they are! (Prices are per person)
1. Chicken bus from Pana to Sololá Q3
2. Chicken bus from Sololá to Los Encuentros Q2.50
3. Chicken bus from Los Encuentros to Tecpán Q7.50 to Q10. (We were charged one price on the way there and a different price on the way back.)
4. Tuc-tuc from the highway into the Tecpán Plaza Central Q3
5. Tuc-tuc from Plaza Central out to ruins -- this was when it helped that I was prepared. The tuc-tuc driver asked for Q25 a person. NO WAY! I had read in another blog that it should be Q10 per person, so I paid them Q20 for both of us. On the way back from the ruins to Tecpán central square, we took a collectivo (shared minibus) for only Q3 a person. Much better deal!

Getting from Pana to Iximché should have only taken about 2 hours. It took us 4 hours! See pictures below for the reason. 😁

The ruins cost Q50 for foreigners to enter. There is no extra cost for the museum. They are open 9am to 4pm, I believe.
The ruins are not very big and can be seen in an hour. If you hire a guide, the tour is about 45 minutes.

All good days start with a good breakfast!

Can't forget the coffee! Cafe Loco, Panajachel, Guatemala

Just when we were getting on our way -- PARADE! We were stuck in Sololá for about an hour.

For some silly reason, the people of Sololá decided it would be fun to have a costume parade in the middle of the main street for an hour. Not sure why. It was kinda weird. We watched a bit of kooky dancing people, ate some yummy coconut with lime and pepitas, and my sister read her book.

A few chicken buses and tuc-tucs later, we were in downtown Tecpán. A bustling city! We snapped a few pics of the church (we went inside later that day), and then found a cute little restaurant to have some BBQ lunch.

The beautiful church in Tecpán. So amazing inside! High carved wood ceilings and intricate wooden altar thingies with paintings. No pictures cuz it felt disrespectful. Well worth a visit if you're ever in Tecpán.

Huge coniferous tree outside the church. Any ideas what it is?

Veggie Spaghetti Soup!

 Our lunch was only Q35, or about $6 Canadian or $4.50 American. It was super yummy.

Super delish and colourful churrasco (BBQ) lunch.

The ruins are quite a ways out of town. As mentioned above, the tuc-tuc tried to charge us a LOT more than they should have. I'm not sure how you would find the collectivo (shared minibus) from the city to the ruins, but on the way back, it let us off near the central park by a bakery. It had "ruinas" written on the window. I think if you asked anyone in the square, or perhaps the policia, they would point you in the right direction.

Iximché ruins are quite spacious.

My sister contemplating some ruins.

We didn't hire a guide this time, although English-speaking guides are available for an extra cost.
I tried to recite all the info that they told us last time!

A beautiful place. Simple ruins, nothing too fancy.

That tall tree was FULL of indentations, and almost every one had an acorn stored in it! We saw three woodpeckers making the holes, but we didn't see who was filling them with nuts!

Way at the back of the ruins is the working Mayan altar. It is very mystical.

Offerings to the gods, both Catholic and Mayan.

My sister playing tourist. 😄

Smoke thru the trees at the altar.

Last time I was here, we didn't go in the museum. We went in this time and I have to say it was quite informative and fascinating!

A diarama of how the ruins looked before they were ruins!

Some of the museum displays.

DUDE! There were some fascinating items found at the ruins when they were excavated.
I didn't take pictures of them all cuz I don't want to spoil the fun for anyone!

This is as we were waiting for our chicken bus from the highway near Tecpán, heading towards Los Encuentros.
I took this so that anyone planning a trip can recognize the turnoff to Tecpán. The driver called it super-something. Maybe super-salas? Not sure.

The sun was heading down fast as we got our series of wild chicken bus rides to get back home to Pana. We had to make one last fun stop though. The Xmas tree in the central square of Sololá was too awesome to pass up!

Our last chicken bus from Sololá down home was packed. My sister surfed in the aisle like a pro!

It was a long and fun-filled day. I must remind everyone that is traveling in Guatemala and really anywhere -- it's great to plan; it's even better to be flexible. Life can sometime throw parades in your way. Enjoy! 😊

Easter?

My Mom sent me an Easter e-card and it kinda caught me by surprise. Easter? Is it Easter?

Easter, yay!

But yeah, it is Easter...only here in Guatemala, it's Semana Santa (Holy Week) which is really, really different. In my mind, Easter and Semana Santa are not equivalent holidays at all! There are no chocolate bunnies, brightly coloured jellybeans, and Cadbury Easter eggs. There are no baskets with pretty pastel ribbons and plastic "straw". Semana Santa does involve some sweet treats -- fudge fingers, yum! -- but for most of Guatemala, Semana Santa is a deeply religious holiday.

The church in Panajachel is all lit up. It's beautiful.
Notice the stuff hanging from the arches in the foreground. Pretty cool.

Statues of Roman guards.

Statues outside our church.

The inside of our church in Panajachel. So lovely. There was a group singing.

I wasn't feeling up to the crowds and madness of Semana Santa this year, so I enjoyed watching the procession on Facebook via live feeds from my friends, Amazing Iva and Mr. Jon. It was nice to see it without having to actually get my antisocial butt out of my chair. Ha ha!
I've shamelessly stolen a bunch of photos from Facebook of the Semana Santa activities in a few towns around Lake Atitlan.

A re-enactment of Jesus' walk.

Can't forget the alfombras! (carpets) That is one big fruit salad.

Made with coloured sawdust and other things. So creative and unique!

This is the main anda (float) for the procession in Sololá. The bearers are wearing black. The guys in Antigua and other places usually wear royal purple.

My friend snapped this picture of a float carried by women in San Pedro.

Another San Pedro picture from my friend. Interesting that the women are wearing more traditional veils.
Also note how they trample the beautiful carpets. Such a fascinating ritual.

I have to mention that for many Guatemalans, Semana Santa is not so holy and involves a whole lot of drinking and partying. Not sure how that came about, but drinking is such an accepted practice during Semana Santa that beer companies promote like CRAZY. So on the streets right beside the religious icons and pictures of Jesus are the infamous "sexy dancing ladies". Here is just 20 seconds of one group!

I hope you all had a lovely Easter or Semana Santa or secular weekend! 🐰💜

Sololá and Santa Cruz La Laguna With My Sister

We made two trips out of town during my sister's visit: one up the hill to Sololá and one a short boat trip to Santa Cruz. We wanted to get the full Guatemala travel experience!

Oh boy, did we ever get the chicken bus experience in all its glory. On Wednesday afternoon, we hopped on the bus in Panajachel to go up to Sololá. The ride up was fine. Normal really. It was the ride down that was the kicker!

The museum in Sololá. I didn't get many pictures cuz my camera battery was dying.

We only had about an hour to wander around Sololá and see the main square and a few stores. Then we wanted to take the chicken bus down to the mirador (lookout) halfway down the hill. I confidently told the driver, "Queremos ir al mirador." (We want to go to the lookout.) He said, "Bueno. Primero or segundo?" (Good. First or second?") Umm.... primero??  I didn't realize there were two! But the first one was the correct choice as it has all the vendors and stuff.

So we hopped on the bus and it was PACKED. Suzanne got a seat but I was left standing in the aisle on a rapidly moving school bus that was careening down a twisty mountain road. Then the helper asked us to move towards the back door to hop out at the lookout...while we were still moving. So Suzanne and I started lurching and laughing our way through the crowded bus to the emergency exit, and thankfully they made a full stop to let us clamber out using a small metal step. Whew!

The view of Lake Atitlan from the mirador between Panajachel and Sololá.

It was neat to see the two volcanoes, Toliman and Atitlan, lined up one behind the other.

After a brief stop to view the lake and buy some trinkets, we stood on the side of the road to flag down a ride back to Pana. Well, a chicken bus came barrelling around the corner at full speed. I put up my hand and backed quickly away from the road. I could not believe that the driver actually stopped in such a short distance! We got on and stood in the aisle for the rest of the ride down to Pana, doing our best to balance ourselves on the curves and hills. Fun!

TIP: The chicken bus from Pana to Sololá cost Q3 each. The ride down cost Q2 to the mirador and another Q2 to Pana. Hmmm...

On Thursday, we went for a quick lancha ride over to Santa Cruz la Laguna. It's only a short distance from Pana but is only accessible by boat. The cost is Q10 per person each way.

My sister enjoying the boat ride. We both are addicted to being on the water. I could ride the boats all day.

The gorgeous waters of Lake Atitlan. If I had a boat, I would drive out to the middle of the lake and swim in the amazing deep deep DEEP water!

The dock at Santa Cruz la Laguna. Heavenly!

Enjoying refreshments at La Iguana Perdida before our big hike up to the town. We were tempted to stay here all day.

We were going to climb up the road to Santa Cruz but a nice woman in La Iguana Perdida told us to go behind the restaurant to the stairs because it was "shorter". Well, shorter didn't mean easier, that's for sure! But we were very glad we did it. It was very scenic and we felt triumphant when we reached the top!

Some of the stairs we climbed. There were soooo many. Just when you thought you'd had enough, you turn a corner and there were more! Also, some of the stairs were sloped upwards, so you were climbing stairs while climbing a ramp. Actually a rather efficient way to ascend.

I think I passed out. HA HA! 

Not sure what she's gawking at!! See the sloping stairs? Up up up!

When we got to the top, it was only a short walk to the restaurant we were looking for. It is called Café Sabor Cruceño and it's run by graduates of the local college cooking program. They also have a gift shop selling students' crafts, and you actually get to walk through the sewing class area to get to the restaurant. The college, CECAP, is a fantastic project for this small town of 6,500 people, which includes several outlying villages further up the mountain.

A view of Santa Cruz from the restaurant, 

Amazing vista from the restaurant. Totally worth the hike up. The road on the bottom right is where we walked down, and where the tuk-tuks drive. I think a tuk-tuk is Q10 so you don't have to climb the hill if you don't want to.

Looking down from the restaurant balcony. Some kids waved up at us!

We sat at the stools right at the edge of the balcony. It was quite windy but we didn't mind.

Delicious pepian stew, a Guatemalan dish. It had lots of veggies and chicken, and was so flavorful and rich. Almost like eating the best gravy ever...with rice! The little pitcher to the right is hot sauce. Muy picante!

Suzanne had tamalitos de chipilin, another traditional Guatemalan food. The same thing that we ate earlier in the week from the lady selling them on the street.

The Santa Cruz church and basketball court.

Starting to walk down. Amazing to see the houses perched on the side of the mountain.

That's the restaurant up there!

Another view of the restaurant. So much jungle!

Walking down down down. Much easier. We were leaning back on the steep slanted road.

Back down at the docks. 

When we reached the docks, a guy waved at us and asked us if we were going to Pana. We said, yes, and he said Q15. I was like, nope. I know the public boats are Q10. He was a private lanchera (boat driver) and he wanted to get fares. To be honest, I wouldn't have minded paying, but I had actually forgotten some of my money at home in Pana and we only had Q20 left! So we literally couldn't pay him what he was asking anyway. :)
There was a nice young couple at the docks waiting for a boat as well. They asked us to take their picture. They were going just to the next dock at La Fortuna hotel. They wanted to know if they should take the private boat. I told them the public boat would be along in less than 20 minutes. Sure enough, we looked towards San Marcos and there it was in the distance, speeding towards us across the deep blue water.
Well, the girl was from Spain so she spoke excellent Spanish. She ended up bargaining with the boat driver to get us the normal Q10 fare. She pointed to the public boat coming as her bargaining chip! The driver finally agreed, and we hopped aboard. We had a nice conversation with the couple, who were just on vacation for a few days. They were curious how I ended up living here and why I was living in Pana rather than gorgeous Santa Cruz. The answer? Internet service. (Plus, omg, the stairs!) But yeah, my main reason for choosing Panajahel over the other Lake towns is reliable Internet.

Anyway, after they disembarked at the hotel, we had the boat to ourselves for the ride to Pana. I don't think the driver was very happy!

A big cute dog at the dock in Santa Cruz.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my visits to all the small towns on Lake Atitlan. I've a few more to see still! I've been to San Pedro, Santa Catarina, Santiago, and Santa Cruz. There are 12 towns so I'm not even halfway yet! So much to see. :)