Panajachel
Day 20 (July 18, 2018) – Panajachel, Lago Atitlan, Guatemala
Panajachel (locally just called Pana) was the nice lakeside town that we had been hoping for. On the opposite side of Lake Atitlan from San Pedro, the views are just as stunning, if not more, since you have a clear view of two volcanoes directly across the lake. The main part of town is located slightly inland from the lake but there are plenty of lakeside restaurants that get great views. Panajachel is a fairly busy town since it’s the main entry point to Lake Atitlan from Guatemala City or Antigua.
We took it pretty easy in Pana. Mostly just relaxed and tried to sort out future accommodations and travel plans. We were arranging a trip to Tikal and trying to figure out what we were doing in Costa Rica, so that took up the better part of a day. We found some decent restaurants and cafes (particularly Café Loco and Crossroads Café) and spent a lot of time walking around the town. There was a shared kitchen at our hotel so a couple nights we went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients to make salads for dinner.
On one of the days we took a walk to the neighboring town of Santa Catarina Palopó. It was quite the walk that took about an hour, but the views of the lake were great. We also saw some stunning hotels on the hillside overlooking the lake. If we ever come back and have some more money to spend it would be great to stay at one of them for a few days. Santa Catarina Palopó is a tiny little town. There is only a single main street that runs through town, but it’s very cute. Most of the houses in the downtown area are painted a deep blue color and are decorated in bright white and yellows. You can walk the whole central area in about 5 minutes, but we had a very good lunch and then stopped at a coffee shop before heading back to Pana.
We sorted out all our details for traveling to Tikal from Pana and then onward to Costa Rica. We had talked to some travel agencies back in Antigua about trips to Tikal but they all seemed much more expensive than they should have been. We decided instead to book our own way there. In the end I’m not sure if it was worth it, given how complicated everything ended up being, but one of the items we took care of in Pana was purchasing our entry tickets to Tikal. Tikal is a national park in Guatemala that is home to an extensive collection of Mayan ruins, the old city of Tikal. As with most national parks you have to purchase tickets. You can purchase these tickets from any Banrural Bank in Guatemala (a national bank chain). The only place you can’t purchase these tickets? At the park entrance itself. Go figure.
If you get to the entrance of the ruins and don’t have a ticket you can take a taxi 20 minutes out of the park to buy some and then take it 20 minutes back in. And there is no Tikal National Park website that tells you this information. We picked this up from other traveler’s blog posts and forums on Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet. But we did manage to get our tickets. The poor bank teller, not speaking any English, and our Spanish being inadequate, had no idea what we were asking of him, but he had a coworker who spoke some English and we eventually were able to communicate. The trouble is that the tickets themselves are very complicated. You need to purchase all these separate tickets to get access to the park during the day, during sunrise, or during sunset. It seemed like most people only spent a single day at the park so there was lots of confusion when we asked for two days of tickets, since we were spending two nights in the park. The tickets are also extremely expensive, at least by Guatemalan standards, so when we asked for $130 worth of tickets for the two of us they thought they either misunderstood our request or that we were crazy. We were told back in Antigua that those living in more rural towns in Guatemala get by on $30 a month, so $130 for two days of travel is a lot of money. But we got the tickets and were all set for our next destination. Purchasing national park tickets may not be the most exciting story of our trip, but they took up the better part of a day for us.
Looking back on it, I suppose there really isn’t much to do in Pana, but that was exactly what we were looking for. Just some rest and relaxation by Lake Atitlan. Would love to go back again.
Panajachel (locally just called Pana) was the nice lakeside town that we had been hoping for. On the opposite side of Lake Atitlan from San Pedro, the views are just as stunning, if not more, since you have a clear view of two volcanoes directly across the lake. The main part of town is located slightly inland from the lake but there are plenty of lakeside restaurants that get great views. Panajachel is a fairly busy town since it’s the main entry point to Lake Atitlan from Guatemala City or Antigua.
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| Lake Atitlan with volcanoes along the lake shore. |
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| One of the boats that takes you across the lake. Our first trip across the lake was very smooth and enjoyable, but the way back was surprisingly rough. |
We took it pretty easy in Pana. Mostly just relaxed and tried to sort out future accommodations and travel plans. We were arranging a trip to Tikal and trying to figure out what we were doing in Costa Rica, so that took up the better part of a day. We found some decent restaurants and cafes (particularly Café Loco and Crossroads Café) and spent a lot of time walking around the town. There was a shared kitchen at our hotel so a couple nights we went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients to make salads for dinner.
 |
| A local market. |
On one of the days we took a walk to the neighboring town of Santa Catarina Palopó. It was quite the walk that took about an hour, but the views of the lake were great. We also saw some stunning hotels on the hillside overlooking the lake. If we ever come back and have some more money to spend it would be great to stay at one of them for a few days. Santa Catarina Palopó is a tiny little town. There is only a single main street that runs through town, but it’s very cute. Most of the houses in the downtown area are painted a deep blue color and are decorated in bright white and yellows. You can walk the whole central area in about 5 minutes, but we had a very good lunch and then stopped at a coffee shop before heading back to Pana.
 |
| The blue houses of Santa Catarina Palopó. |
We sorted out all our details for traveling to Tikal from Pana and then onward to Costa Rica. We had talked to some travel agencies back in Antigua about trips to Tikal but they all seemed much more expensive than they should have been. We decided instead to book our own way there. In the end I’m not sure if it was worth it, given how complicated everything ended up being, but one of the items we took care of in Pana was purchasing our entry tickets to Tikal. Tikal is a national park in Guatemala that is home to an extensive collection of Mayan ruins, the old city of Tikal. As with most national parks you have to purchase tickets. You can purchase these tickets from any Banrural Bank in Guatemala (a national bank chain). The only place you can’t purchase these tickets? At the park entrance itself. Go figure.
 |
| Lots of good coffee shops in Pana. |
If you get to the entrance of the ruins and don’t have a ticket you can take a taxi 20 minutes out of the park to buy some and then take it 20 minutes back in. And there is no Tikal National Park website that tells you this information. We picked this up from other traveler’s blog posts and forums on Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet. But we did manage to get our tickets. The poor bank teller, not speaking any English, and our Spanish being inadequate, had no idea what we were asking of him, but he had a coworker who spoke some English and we eventually were able to communicate. The trouble is that the tickets themselves are very complicated. You need to purchase all these separate tickets to get access to the park during the day, during sunrise, or during sunset. It seemed like most people only spent a single day at the park so there was lots of confusion when we asked for two days of tickets, since we were spending two nights in the park. The tickets are also extremely expensive, at least by Guatemalan standards, so when we asked for $130 worth of tickets for the two of us they thought they either misunderstood our request or that we were crazy. We were told back in Antigua that those living in more rural towns in Guatemala get by on $30 a month, so $130 for two days of travel is a lot of money. But we got the tickets and were all set for our next destination. Purchasing national park tickets may not be the most exciting story of our trip, but they took up the better part of a day for us.
 |
| Enjoying the lake view with a couple beers. I think Travis is happier than his facial expression indicates, but this was the only picture I took of the both of us while in Pana. |
Looking back on it, I suppose there really isn’t much to do in Pana, but that was exactly what we were looking for. Just some rest and relaxation by Lake Atitlan. Would love to go back again.
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