Panajachel: Shopping Spree-ish

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Day 70 – Monday 28th November 2005

I wanted to get a few things done in the morning before catching the chicken bus to Panajachel in the afternoon. After spending another night huddled up trying to stay warm, one of those things was to purchase some warmer clothing. I had woken up before the shops opened and couldn’t sit around just getting colder, so I made my way to a museum called the House of Culture.

After donning jumper, wooly hat, gloves and coat (yes I really am in Central America) I walked the mile or so to the museum, which I found to be pretty uninspiring, apart from one room which had exhibits of numerous stuffed animals, including birds, rodents, domestic cats & dogs, tigers and crocodiles. Although pretty cool, the animals looked a bit tired, having died about 25 years ago!

The main attraction – for me anyway – were the jam jars containing unborn embryos of cows, dogs, snakes and crocodiles. This coupled with the stuffed 8 legged goat and siamese twin dogs made the musuem worth the Q6 entrance fee (Q13=£1). Unfortunately no cameras were allowed, so no pics!

Once I left the museum the day had started to warm up a little and I was able to shed a few layers. This didn’t deter me from my next mission, obtaining more warm clothes! I had originally brought two jumpers with me, but one was stolen from my dorm in Oaxaca. I decided I needed to replace this item, and managed to find a second hand shop that was selling a mint condition Gap jumper for Q10, which I promply purchased.

Happy with my bargain purchase I got aboard another chicken bus and made my way to Panajachel. After two or three changes I made it and decided to splurge on a double room for myself, instead of a dorm bed. This set me back a whopping Q42.

Panajachel is one of the many villages on the banks of the Lago de Atitlan. The lake was formed after volcanos rose from the earth 150,000 years ago. As this occured a river was diverted into the basin, slowly filling it until eventually creating the lake of today. It is a remarkable location, and every traveller who comes to Guatemala visits the area at some point. It so happens that Panajachel is the transport hub of the lake, form where it is possible to reach the other villages by lancha across the water. Aside from being a transport hub, it doubles as a market hub, and the whole main street is filled with traders trying to peddle their goods. Some of the stuff, such as the blankets, jumpers and bags seemed good quality, but a lot of it was just friendship bracelets and the like. As I don’t have friends to give them to it would be pretty pointless me buying any!

There wasn’t really much in the way of sights to see in the town, and it was a little overcast on the lake and a bit chilly for swimming, so I amused myself by bartering with the traders for their goods. I didn’t want to buy anything, just to practise bartering. So as not to be a complete tosser timewaster, I only bartered with the guys who called me in off the street and tried to be pushy in selling their goods.

As it would happen, the only thing I found I wanted to buy was when I went out for dinner and didn’t have enough money on me to complete a purchase. The item in question was a straw hat, very similar to the one I wore in Tulum. I have been looking for one of those hats for a few weeks but thus far this was the only one I have found. I thought about going back tomy hotel and getting the money to make the purchase, but I decided instead to play it cool and wait until the next day. Before heading back to my room to make use of my lavish room, I bought a battery charger to replace the one I left in Flores. This was a sour purchase, as I had only bought the one I lost as I couldn’t find an adaptor for my English plug connection charger. Thus I am now carrying one charger I cant use, and have bought two.