Thankfully, we unanimously agreed that it was time to leave Iguana Perdida. We hopped onto another lancha (boat) and headed over to Santiago de Atitlan on the other side of the lake. This town had considerably less tourist and for obvious reasons. There were not many hotels and most Americans looking for the bar scene and classy restaurants would be out of luck. After quite a search, we finally found a room to stay in at a hotel economico for 150Q (about $7 a night per person). Most tourist bypass Santiago Atitlan except to see Maximón, one example of the syncretism that exists between Mayan indigenous religions and Catholicism. We hopped on a tuk tuk and after bartering with the driver, we decided to have him give us what turned into a tour of Santiago. First we headed to la casa de Maximón. Legend has it that Maximón was a Mayan folk saint that slept with all their farmers wives while they were tending to their crops. Maximón then repented at some and now every year he is paraded throughout the town during Semana Santa (Easter). Then he switches homes each year and stays in a home where visitors can bring offerings of booze and cigarettes in exchange for good health, marriage, and crops, etc. When we visited, Maximón was chilling in a humble four walled house and we kind of think the two guys watching over him probably just consume the booze and cigs. Or maybe it’s a way for the church to make some extra cash? Needless to say we paid 20Q to take a photo of the guy and got out of there.
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| Source: Wikipedia (because my flash didn't go off and we were only allowed one photo per person! I took a successful photo of all the saints surrounding Maximon but this is more interesting). |
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| This is the entry to the house that is hosting Maximon this year. |
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| Women washing clothes by hand in the lake. |
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| Boat dock at Santiago Atitlan. The lake has been rising steadily. It appeared they were just going continue building a new house on top of the house underwater. |
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