A ferry was the obvious way to go, in terms of cost and timing (the road around the lake is rugged and slow), so it wasn't long before we were bumping over the white caps of Lake Atitlán towards a much-anticipated, beyond-luxurious-at-this-point, hot shower.
And luxurious it was. Lo and behold, beneath the layers of sunscreen, sweat, grit and dust, Matt and Tara were (miraculously) still there! If only we had thought to take "before and after" photos...
Clean and rejuvenated, we soon found ourselves wandering the whimsical, tropical town with a furious appetite. Luckily, we weren't the only ones - another couple from the trek, Stuart and Tina from Oakland, California, had joined us in Panajachel and we met them for dinner at the Sunset Cafe, located right on the water.
The show did not disappoint, nor did the conversation. Stuart and Tina have been traveling in Mexico and Central America for seven months and will continue on to El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama, eventually ending in Colombia; hearing about their experiences (and about previous trips to Southeast Asia and India) was fascinating. Three liters of Gallo later, we ambled back to the hotel and practically melted into the mattress. Oh, the wonders of a mattress...