We had to pack our bags this morning and vacate our room, that was a bit disappointing but we did manage to secure a different room for the next 2 nights. The hotel is a bit unusual in that it advertises and describes each room individually and guests book the actual room number they want. This obviously causes a bit of chaos with people moving rooms even when only staying a few days, but in our favor it left one of the rooms vacant for us.

Our bags were left at reception and we headed out to visit the nearby lakeside villages of San Marcos la Laguna and San Pedro de Laguna. As our hotel can only be accessed from the lake, we had to wait on the jetty for a passing lancha. Fortunately, there are quite a lot on the lake and it doesn't take too long for one to come by.

It only took about 10 minutes to get round the headland to San Marcos and we had paddled surprisingly close on the kayak yesterday without realising. There was not much to the village once we were ashore, it's claim to fame is some type of meditation centre. Today though, the calm and tranquility sought by the centre was destroyed by the local kids' band practise. It wasn't a rock band, this was a large Latin American band of trumpets, xylophones and every type of drum you can think of. It was loud, a little out of tune, but great to listen to and watch as the trumpets and the kids swayed to the beat.

We went back to jetty for the next lancha to San Pedro. The land was a bit flatter here compared to where our hotel sat so the rising water level had left trees dying 30 metres out in the lake.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived in San Pedro was how narrow the cobbled streets were, although not colonial style like Merida or Campeche. Built on quite a steep hillside, it was mostly motorbikes & tuk-tuks for transport. The second thing we noticed was how deceivingly small the volcano looked from up close. It was 3,020m above sea level but looking from below it was far less imposing than it did from our hotel across the lake. Our hotel definetly had the best views on the lake.

The town itself was mish-mash of narrow streets and even smaller alleyways winding up and around the hillside. All the local woman still wore their indigenous outfits of intricately weaved skirts and embroidered shirts. Apart from a local market and the bar/restaurants by the dock, there wasn't much to see except for Las Cristalinas, a coffee house. Las Cristalinas set itself apart from other cafes by roasting beans onsite. We were able to watch and smell the roasting process at the back of the cafe. The guy even knew of Finland being one the biggest coffee consumers in the world. There was no way we could resist tasting the coffee afterwards either, when the beans travelled 4 metres from the roaster to the grinder, it couldn't get fresher. It was delicious too but surprisingly most Guatemalans just drink Nescafe Instant. Lots of them don't have the machines/filters to make it at home, and they want their coffee quick.