Back on the boat we made sure the nervous sailor was sat right at the back of the boat as there is far less bouncing around there. It was just a short 20 minute journey to another Maya town - San Juan La Laguna - but what a completely different feel to the place; it had a real welcoming, almost party, atmosphere.
You can usually tell where a Maya lady comes from just by her outfit and, as is customary, this town has its own particular style of traditional dress.
The street up from the lake had a fabulous "ceiling" of parasols, but despite many efforts I never got the perfect shot I wanted.
Looking back down.
By now we were all gasping for a drink so the first stop was to a coffee house, where of course I had tea! Emilio then showed us around their small coffee plantation.
The beans inside.
A few banana plants are grown here too.
A bit of the paraphernalia involved in producing the stuff.
Emilio then took us into the Galeria de Arte Chiya to see the work of
Angelina Quic, who was one of the first woman painters in San Juan La Laguna. Her husband Antonio Coche Mendoza is a oil
painter of Maya Naïve art and she learned from him but created her own style
depicting an overhead "bird's eye" view of coffee picking, markets
and other traditional San Juan La Laguna scenes which are very effective but as with all styles of art this has now been widely copied and there are poor
imitations on sale around town. Market Day and Corn Harvest - photos taken with the artist's permission.
And then on up to the church, which was one of the loveliest buildings I'd seen so far (and for some reason we didn't even go inside).
Almost photo bombed by our own guide.
These lovely ladies actually walked into my shot - what else could I do?
Outside the church was this huge Brugmansia which of course Emilio described as a Datura (the names have been interchangeable since 1700s but in approx. 1994 they were officially split; in simple terms Brugmansia flowers hang down and Datura flowers face upwards). I know he didn't mind me updating him and he enjoyed my use of the Latin botanical names.
We then went to visit another dyeing and weaving co-operative. As was the case in Mexico this is all
about empowering women and giving them the ability to support their children.
By selling and commercialising their natural weaving products, they are able to
ensure a better future for their children so they can afford to finish their
studies, and continue onto college. The cooperative fosters education through
scholarships and financial aid and offers it’s weavers a sustainable income for
their families.
What we also enjoyed was the outrageous flirting between Emilio and Cualli, despite both having partners and not having seen one another for 2+ years - it was all very lighthearted. She was an absolute beauty and the brains behind the whole organisation.
Heading back down to catch the boat back across the lake, I did my usual and took practically the same shot I'd taken on the way up, so I'll limit it to the couple that show something different plus another umbrella shot.
Back on our side of the lake the weather didn't look so good and the little "cloud hats" stuck resolutely to the tops of the volcanoes.
But it soon brightened up so we decided to walk into town to a boozeria and stock up on wine for the next leg of the journey. I often tease Ian that he finds the most obscure roads to walk down when we're abroad, just so that I can't find any tourist tat shops to look in, and this time he excelled himself - not only were there no shops but it was an obstacle course too!
But we did see some lovely flowers growing - which I've identified, with no degree of certainty, l-r as Calliandra haematocephala, Malus x zumi and Petrea volubilis.
Suitably loaded up with wine we decided to get a tuk tuk back to our hotel and the driver could have been the comedian Big Narstie's brother!
We had warmed to Emilio very soon after meeting him, but today he showed what an exceptional guide/tour manager he is. As I mentioned yesterday he was caught up in road blockades getting to the Mexican border to meet us and tomorrow morning we are due to do a 2 hour drive to Chichicastenango to visit the market there and then we have a further 2 hours on to Antigua. More blockades are planned at a major road junction and there is no other route we can take and if we get caught up we could be stuck for hours. Somehow Emilio has convinced all 11 of us that we're happy to leave Panajachel at 0400!!!!!
After packing our cases ready for the early start we spent an hour or so sitting on our balcony waiting for sunset, which never really happened, but we were kept amused watching two blokes chopping down a rather large tree right in front of the lake.
I just hope he didn't do an Ian and cut off all the useful branches on the way up and leave himself stranded!