Adventurer, Storyteller, Photographer, Experience Catcher, Intrepid + Hedonistic.
At Casa Palopó, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, December 2010. It takes three hours of travel from La Antigua Guatemala on broken roads to get here, but it’s totally worth rattling my bones. Lulling views set high above what Aldous Huxley described as ’Lake Como, with the embellishment of volcanoes’.
The Maya tribes of Lake Atitlan are an interesting mosaic of sub-cultures. They live at the foothills of the volcanoes surrounding the lake, and have cheerfully accepted all kinds of Western influx into their little societies - the Spanish, Franciscan missionaries, hippies, New Age followers, curious tourists - and managed to hold on to their Mayan shamans alongside Christian saints.
For a view of three volcanoes from a private balcony, stay at Casa Palopo, a hillside villa owned by a wealthy Guatemalan businessman, who decided to convert his holiday home into a tiny boutique hotel. My first floor suite has bright blue walls, hardwood floors, antique knick-knacks and a Turkish bath. Floor-to-ceiling windows open to the gorgeous Spanish tiled balcony. The perfect place to watch an Atitlan sunset over the lake, the prevailing sentiment being ’an ease of mind, like being alone in a boat at sea’ (W. Stevens). A peaceful sea, I should add.
Photo and text by VJ Singh | Far/Back
(Source: far-and-back)