Panajachel, Thursday

1311 At Comedor Brendy in Santiago Atitlan. Having an unknown red juice with carne asada.

Women in next room were at it again from 7am.

Overheard pseudo-guide on boat on way over here talking about volcano hikes. Also saw quite a few tour operators in San Pedro at earlier stop on this tour today offering hikes; obviously it may be low season and they will deny they do it if you go in and speak to them. Of course I have committed to leaving tomorrow now, but if/when I come back through here I may try basing myself in San Pedro for a few days and see if I can get some walking in - I do hope to do something round Xela too, but guide book only seems to mention things which are for 'seasoned hikers' so fuck knows.

Just wandered round previous two stops (we had an hour in each), sort of cool, found a quiet sidestreet with nice view of lake to stand and loiter in in San Pedro but it's obviously all a bit harried - I really just wanted to get a feel for the area and take a trip across the lake.

First place was San Juan; don't think I saw any tour operators there BTW.

Frijoles (negros?) were quite nice, first time have had them this trip, but the steak was small and tough and there was a big dollop of red sauce on the plate which IIRC wasn't advertised. Meh. 28 as advertised for food+drink, will make it 40.

OK, didn't get very good selection of notes in change so have made it 38 as struggling for smaller bills. 1400 now, have to be back at boat for 1430.

Had to fend off quite persistent tout as leaving the dock. This is quite a big place, 60k ppl or something, but let's have brief wander and maybe an ice cream if I can find a cheap one...

1538 Been back maybe half an hour. At KZ Santa Barbara on lakefront after much dithering; seems the only cheap place to get a coffee actually on lakefront.

It's pretty sunny and warm. Sat by lake for a bit feeling a bit sad to be leaving, like I should have stuck around here longer, but then again in the face of the advice (inconsistently) received about low season and hiking what else could I do? I feel I need to sit here and stare at the lake while I have the opportunity, but putting it like that it becomes a bit of a chore.

As I think I said earlier, I'll probably come back through this region later.

I think I need to do a bit of research tonight re Spanish schools in Xela so I can direct my search tomorrow afternoon. All the ones listed in the guidebook - apart from probably being expensive just because of that - seem to have some fucking political agenda. It's not that the causes they support are inherently repugnant to me but that I don't want them shoving it down my throat while they're teaching me. Also, while I suspect classes will be one-on-one, I also hope/expect to have some interactions with the other students and I really don't want to be hanging around with people who are super earnest about helping out with whatever political agenda the school has.

There are some places open on the lakefront doing grilled chicken over coals (little shacks, not fancy and thus expensive places :-) ) and it's quite tempting with the smoke and the smell, not sure if these were open before, but it's a bit too soon to eat again and I am also a smidge worried about getting sick when I have to travel tomorrow. Whether they are in reality any more risky than e.g. the comedor I ate in earlier is debatable.

Was mildly chilly out on the lake (also a bit of spray) - I zipped my fleece up, but would have been OK without it if I had to. Sitting here with fleece on but open in shade and it's comfortable, fluctuating a bit between too warm and just slightly cool.

Think will get second coffee but owner is in detailed chat with friend and I don't like to interrupt. They have a very soiled Moka pot inside the little hut which I assume they use for the coffee.

Spanish bouncy version of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' playing now. :-) ["Solo quiero bailar"] Was strangely heartened to hear Laura Brannigan's "Self Control" coming from somewhere (a garage maybe) in the first place we went today.

OK, have interrupted conversation to get another coffee. Suspect there's no bog here which is my most immediate concern.

1844 Popped back to hotel earlier then went out to Gretchel (or whatever it's called; I have a photo of the place somewhere) - 30 for the food, made it 40.

Back at hotel now, may have a Spanish lesson and need to look for Spanish school in Xela but no immediate rush. Hotel pretty quiet ATM.

2116 Pissing it down. FWIW the boat for today's tour was called Flory.

2219 It sounds like the world's largest kettle has been left to boil dry next door. I am assuming it's some sort of vehicle idling in the street and echoing round the building. On rare occasions what I assume is a big truck goes past and the sound is somehow louder than anything I've ever heard being in the street when a truck goes by. That doesn't sound like a kettle, but I am persuading myself I hear a sort of engine idling note in the boiling sound.

2222 It's stopped. Does that mean there won't be an explosion, or that we're about to have it?

2236 Incidentally, I think all the toilets here are of a subtly different design from the ones back home. The bowl is filled with a really quite large volume and depth of water, instead of the small bit sitting in the U-bend of the toilets back in the UK, and when you flush the big bowlful of water gets sucked down surprisingly forcefully before slowly refilling. (Some toilets have a deeper and fuller bowl than others, but all I think are bigger than in UK.)

2247 Had a shower. To be fair, the water was warm tonight, even giving suggestions of being hot for rare moments. Need to go to bed, I may not go to sleep promptly but I need to be up at 545 and not really doing anything except read on phone so no harm going to bed. Bus is nominally picking me up 630 but I have to be waiting 15 mins before then. While poking around re Spanish schools I was shocked to see on Google Maps that the hotel in Xela is only 25 miles away as the crow flies, but the road distance is 89km. (For all its undoubted use, I find the Google Maps app to be a user interface nightmare. The 25 miles figure comes up when I search for the hotel, it will not show up when I look at it in my starred places, instead then it shows the road distance in kilometres. I don't know why it mixes units either; I can't remember what my preferences are, but it should surely follow the consistently.)