this is my first true hostel experience and i really like it. the europeans here are traveling, mostly english, and the americans are here for the weekend from their daily lives in guatemala. all of the american women live and work nearby, in the peace corps or with the mayan people to improve their lives. its pretty mellow and i'm happy about that.
i haven't gone exploring much yet, after an overnite travel i need a couple days to relax and recover. i walked down to a rocky beach yesterday to swim, it was pretty cold and i mostly sat on a large rock in the sun. but there are trails all around the lake and in the next few days i'm going to start wandering to the other towns and find a volcano guide. there is still some worry about theft on the trails so its the general opinion that if you are by yourself pay a guide 100q to take you to the remote areas. even better for me since i won't get lost. i walked the road to the spanish school but it was closed for the weekend, i'll go back tomorrow and hopefully start classes.
the food here is amazing. there is a group of mayan women (girls, almost) that does all of the cooking and cleaning. the kitchen is open from 8-3 and the menu is good. dinner is communal, all the tables are pushed together and candle lit, the amount of food is insane. there is no way you can go hungry here. and the bar is open all day, until about 1am.
this area was originally a super volcano, a giant plateau. i don't know when it erupted but all the sides blew out and the plateau collapsed, silt washed down from the surrounding volcanoes and i formed a lake at 5500 feet.
as you boat or walk around you can see palapas and docks and walkways sunk a few feet beneath the water. most of the walkways are now carved into the dirt or you have to walk over the water on rickety wooden bridges that sag when my considerable weight is on them. just a couple feet under the water is a beautiful cobblestone road that runs around the entire lake. everyone says that the lake is rising but that's not entirely correct.
several years ago there was an earthquake and the lake level dropped over 10 feet. so people started building on all the new land. now the lake is returning to its original level and slowly washing away houses.
i did 2 scuba dives this morning. i was wearing a 7mil wetsuit and i was so cold, what a change from belize, diving in my bikini. the water was green and visibility was about 15 feet. we checked out the rock formations, saw lots of crabs, some plants and a few fish. nothing really to get excited about but it was a good experience. i think that one day of diving here is enough for me.
this was my first altitude dive as well as first lake dive. the pressure changes were more extreme and i had to constantly add or release air from my bcd or i'd sink, or do what we were warned about, the uncontrolled ascent. easy to see how that can happen. and you're not allowed to leave here for 24 hours after diving since you have to go up over the mountains.
a few years ago they discovered a mayan village about 50 feet under water on the other side of the lake. the government is currently studying it and no divers are allowed. i asked if we could sneak in but my dive master, andrew (with gorgeous long brown hair that i'm totally jealous of), said that it is a popular local fishing spot and is always crowded. the government pays the locals to tell on anyone who might go there, and when they do open it for diving in the next year or so if you snuck in then your dive shop won't be permitted to take tourists there.
i've been out of the water for about an hour now and am still slightly cold. i'm going to curl up in a hammock and read and nap.
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