A Day at The Lake!! This morning the plan was to get a lift with Rene to downtown and then walk a few blocks to the bus station where I could take a local bus to Lake Coatapeque. Rene dropped me off around 7:30am and I made my way to the bus terminal which was surrounded by this huge and bustling market and as luck would have it my bus wasn't there yet which meant I had some time to look around. Once again people were shocked by a tourist walking around and I received strange looks, strange slurs and even stranger proposals. My bus came and what a banger of a bus it was: one of those old school 50s buses from the States. The bus crawled, hopped and farted its way 15km to the lake where I had kindly asked the driver to let me off at the lookout. Unfortunately this information got lost in translation and after repeated attempts at asking driver to direct me to lookout he signaled we had passed it. Not really knowing what to do; I got off the bus and started walking down the hill towards the lake. A nice guy picked me up in his delivery van and offered to take me to the small town on the lakeside where I could swim - unfortunately this meant sticking with him whilst he delivered bread to every shop on the way day. I decided it would be quicker to walk and continued on; you literally can't get near the water as the whole edge of the lake is occupied by the super wealthy and their vacation homes and hotels and resteraunts. Even when I arrived to the small town it was hard to find somewhere to access the water so I made me way out onto a resteraunt dock. How peaceful it was sitting on the waters edge enjoying the tranquility of natural sounds and no city clatter. I practiced yoga, watched two kids pulling in their fishing net off their little rowboat and watched as lacks went about their daily errands. I couldn't help myself and had to jump in the water and was so glad I did with its beautiful crystal clear water and soothing abilities on the body. I then layed up on the dock grabbing some sunshine before making my way back up the hill to a resteraunt I had spotted earlier. Down on the lake a plate of fish, salad, rice and tortillas was going for about $8 - $15 but towards the top of the hill they were offering fish for $3 - $5. Only problem about the resteraunt at the top of the hill was getting up there - there were literally no cars on the road the whole way up (had hoped to hitch a lift). The walk wasn't so bad but the heat was blistering and by the time I arrived I was ready for a good lunch of lake fish and tortilla. For $3 I got a great feed of fried fish, salad and corn tortillas - I sat on the balcony of the resteraunt enjoying my meal and watching all the locals as they passed by. After lunch I started to walk up the hill towards the lookout and just as I did the bus came. I boarded the bus and had the idea to get off at the top and take some photos but realizing I might have to wait another 1-2 hours for the next bus to come past - I stayed on the bus and headed back to Santa Ana. When I got back to the city I headed straight for the market to buy some things and met some really nice people in the process. Rene was off to San Salvador tonight for his Work Farewell party so I relaxed and watched a movie before trying to get an early night of sleep ready for my volcano hike tommorow.

OBSERVATIONS:
- Lake Coatapeque day trip
- Juice with Chia seeds - delicious