As soon as we arrived in the town of Panajachel on the shores of Lake Atitlan, we left our luggage directly at the hotel. Panajachel is popularly called Hippitenango. Tenango means “the place where there is a lot of something.” At the time, this town was a popular area for hippies, so people call it Hippitenango, meaning the place where there are many hippies. After leaving the luggage at the hotel, our guide Domingo picked us up from the hotel. Domingo was a mestizo and a very warm and gentle young man. First we went to the lakeside and got on the motorbikes. It is mandatory to wear a life jacket on the motorcycle. Don’t be fooled that it is a lake, it is quite wavy. The people of Guatemala consider this lake as one of the seven wonders of the world. The lake, whose maximum depth is 340-350 meters, is surrounded by volcanic mountains. Four types of fish live in the lake. The color of the water can change from sky blue to turquoise and emerald green during the day. Aldous Huxley, who visited this lake in 1934, compared Lake Atitlan and its surroundings to Lake Como in Italy. In fact, he finds this place more impressive because of the volcanoes around it. Of course, another important feature of this region is that the Mayan culture still continues in the settlements along the lake shores. For this reason, Lake Atitlan and its surroundings are among the most tourist-attracting places in Guatemala. The tide and tide are quite strong in the lake. Lake Atitlan was formed during the period when the San Pedro, Toliman and Santa Clara volcanoes, also known as Atitlan, were active. Hiking tours to the top of the volcanoes surrounding the lake are also organized for some adventurous tourists. Another tour is day trips to the towns around the lake. The towns of San Pedro, Santiago, San Antonia and Palapo are the places that attract the most visitors. Although each of these towns keeps the Mayan culture alive today, their sub-communities have different characteristics. For example, you can distinguish Mayan subgroups clearly by their clothes. For example, almost all the people living in a village wear blue striped clothes. Another village wears a completely different motif with bird patterns on it. Each sub-branch has clothes in different colors and patterns. This habit has been around since the time of the Spanish. In fact, the Spanish encouraged this way of dressing. Because they could tell where a person was from and what ethnic group he belonged to based on what he was wearing. For example, the blouses worn by women in the town of Santiago have vertical stripes from top to bottom. There are even opinions that the colors of the clothes worn by those who support the Spanish are different from the colors of the clothes worn by those who do not support the Spanish. After our 1-hour journey on the lake, we reached the town of Santiago. To give it its long name, we can call it Santiago de Atitlan. Actually, this is a quite large settlement. First, we came to the Posada de Santiago restaurant, very close to where we got off the boat, to fill our stomachs. This is a very nice restaurant with its location overlooking the lake. My favorite was the steak and cheese tortilla with local beer. In addition, fajitas were also very popular among those who tried them. Especially the desserts that come after the meal! Even though it is not local, I definitely recommend the brownie with vanilla ice cream. There was a major hurricane in Santiago in 2005. Immediately after the hurricane, a huge landslide occurred that resulted in the death of hundreds of people. Of course, this is not the biggest disaster Santiago has experienced. During the civil war, which started in 1960 and ended in 1996, the indigenous people living in Santiago were severely punished by government soldiers for supporting the guerrillas. Many people were killed by soldiers. In this sense, the village has a bitter history. After dinner, we reached the center of Santiago by taking tuktuks, which are also widely used in the Far East. It is quite striking that there are always single or two-storey buildings on the road. We first visited the Catholic church in the center of the town. The other known name of the church, which was built in 1549, is the Apostal Church. The Spaniards, who settled in this region at the time, allowed the use of many Mayan figures and Mayan statues in the Church in order to appear sympathetic to the people of Mayan origin and to impose the religion by saying that Christianity was a very tolerant religion. For this reason, it is even possible to see rag dolls hanging on the church walls. In addition, local people claim that there is a hole in the floor of this church and that this hole is the center of the world. There is a picture of a priest hanging on the wall with ropes right at the exit of the church. This picture belongs to the priest who stood against the Spanish, saying that there was a lot of oppression on the people at the time. Of course, this person was assassinated before long. At that time, the priest was protected by 20 farmers. However, to reach the priest, the Spanish first killed 20 farmers and then the priest. According to his will, the priest was buried in the church. But a large cross was erected at the place where he was killed in memory of this event. This church also contains statues of Mashimon, the smoking saint of the Mayans. In fact, just outside the church, on the right, there is a yellow house dedicated to Mashimon. But we will also visit the house where he actually stayed. The outside of the church is very quiet. There are just people around who want to sell products in their local clothes. This aunt is one of them 🙂 They are very friendly people 🙂 From here on, we proceed through the narrow streets. There are colorful stalls left and right on the streets. If you want, you can look for local clothes or buy handmade jewelry. There are so many options… Especially the handmade paintings were amazing. I bought two immediately 🙂 As we continued a little further, we entered the vegetable and fruit market. There are quite a lot of varieties of tropical fruits. However, especially in this part, local people do not want to take photos. Finally, we go to the house where Mashimon is kept. I will explain Mashimon in a separate article, but it should be mentioned here too, albeit briefly. Mashimon is a saint who is widely accepted by the people of Mayan origin, especially in the high regions of Western Guatemala. Believers go to Mashimon and ask him to fulfill their wishes. But when they go, they take alcoholic drinks and cigarettes with them. Because these are Mashimon’s favorite things. The two people sitting next to him are responsible for Mashimon’s care. In other words, they make Mashimon drink the cigarettes and alcohol they receive. Every year, a family with limited financial means was responsible for Mashimon’s care. We visited Mashimon at his home in 2014. When we went there was a couple making wishes. Of course, it is unknown what happened next, but what surprised me was that the educated person who guided us and the hotel owner believed in this situation. In fact, I was quite surprised when our guide told the story of three Americans who came here on a trip and made fun of Mashimon. Briefly, the story is as follows: 3 American friends come, visit Mashimon, find it ridiculous and make fun of him. Of the three friends, the one who took the photo had all his Mashimon poses burned, the other had a stomach spasm, and the other fell and cracked his head. Fortunately, the poses I took turned out to be complete. But during the storm we were caught in the lake on our way back, we wondered “Are we incurring the wrath of Mashimon?” I couldn’t help but think. We reached Panajachel on the lake again after a very tiring and frightening 2-hour journey. The journey, which took 1 hour on the way there, took 2 hours on the way back due to the storm. The village of San Antonio was also very popular in this area. The people living here are Tz’utujil, who come from Mayan ethnicity. The most famous place is the San Thomas church. Recommended souvenirs to buy are woven products. Unfortunately, we couldn’t visit because of the storm: (It was evening when we returned to Panajachel. We went to the hotel first. They gave me another surprise. Our travel team couldn’t find a cake for my birthday a few days ago 🙂 We put candles and ate slices of cheese 🙂 It was my most unusual birthday cake. But it was delicious. Then we went for a walk on the main street of Panajachel. However, when the electricity suddenly went out, it became pitch dark. We found our way back to the hotel with the light of our phones. After some rest, we are ready for Antigua the next morning. See you soon… Mavimore Turizm is a travel agency registered with TÜRSAB. Document number: A-8307