A Mayan Village

I did not fully realize just how indigenous Lake Atitlan is. Each village is carved out of the base of the mountains, thus the hilly terrain. Streets have no name, except Principal. So there´s a main road that snakes around, a pedestrian beltway! Then interconnecting streets which are also cobblestone, but somewhat narrower. Then you move to cobblestone paths, about 2 people wide. Finally there are dirt, sometimes dirt & rocks paths.

It´s quite interesting how safe it is. I went to the Buddha last night with Monica from Germany! Buddha is a typical gringo spot. It´s ok, but places like this here & in Mexico make me wonder about how hard it must be for locals to see such wealth so easily spent.

Buddha is operated by two Americans. There I ran into my Aussi/English friends again, really nice people. After a bit I headed back to the casa. Monica stayed w/ several Germans ladies. As I did not know the area, I simply walked in the direction I thought might work.

Eventually I came upon paths I recognized. In several places, it became quite dark. I hesitated, but found it all fine. People pass you, often saying Buenas noches! Not wanting to hike back up I took a tuc tuc, costs 63 cents! Quite safe & unique.

The vast majority of the people here are Mayan and have experienced the prejudice & injustice of minorioties all over the world. Much like our native Americans, they have been robbed of their land, customs and culture. A lady from Vermont commented that she thought when global warming did its final thing, these people would survive as they´ve learned to survive on little using what is available.