Streets of San Pedro

We now have an idea of the Mayans in San Pedro, so lets give them a setting.

San Pedro is built on a volcano, not like on the top of the volcano, but on the shores of Lago de Atitlán. It is something of a dramatic setting. San Pedro is, as aforementioned, a Mayan town, but has also developed something of a backpacker/tourist scene. So there´s two parts to San Pedro, by the lake and up the hill.

By the lake is where the bulk of the touristy stuff is. But certainly do not get a grand vision of what "touristy" means. All it means, is basic hotels, restaurants and cafés, tables with handmade jewelry, Mayan ladies selling bread from baskets on their heads, and travel agencies selling tours to the San Pedro Volcano, kayaks and shuttles to different areas of Guatemala. Oh and a dock for the arriving and departing transportation lanchas(boats). This basically describes by the lake.

Up the hill is a whole different world. Imagine cobblestone streets filled with street vendors, tuk-tuks, Mayan children and enough street dogs for four towns. Up the hill is the real San Pedro. Up the hill is where the Mayans are concentrated. There are certainly plenty of Mayans by the lake, this is their town however, but its more of a mix with expats and tourists. The "centro" is up the hill and is marked by a rather huge mercado(market) and a Catholic church. The "centro" is where the chicken buses come and go, and is in close proximity of some of the best tortillerias in town. God bless the corn eatin´ Mayans.

Nearly all of the buildings here are a basic concrete structure with rebar sticking out of the top. There is the occasional thached roof building, but concrete rules the roost here. Most of the concrete is painted, either with script or just a basic color. I am sure that all of these buildings could never come close to passing any sort of code for the horrendous earthquakes that have been known to rattle Guatemala. But I´d rather die under a warm pile of concrete than a cold one somewhere else in the world.

Everything is open air. For example, there are no hallways in my house, all bedrooms open to terraces and balconies. I wash my clothes in a sink that is outdoors but still in the house. Everywhere one looks, it is possible see hanging laundry. On the rooftops sit huge containers for water used for toilets, bathing and washing. Water comes three days a week for 2 hours in the morning, and us residents of San Pedro fill these tanks and use from the them. No central plumbing here for getting water to places, only to take the poo and pee away(likely just to the lake unfortunately).

The lake is also a part of the town as it is where the vast majority of San Pedro´s dirty clothes are washed by Mayan ladies. The lake also qualifies as a rather large bathtub as it is also where the vast majority of San Pedro´s residents bathe, men and women, boys and girls. Nothing like watching a topless Mayan lady soap up her laundry, then herself. At the end of the day, around 5 or 6pm, its like a mass exodus of Mayans walking down the hill through town to the lake to bathe after a hard days work. Impressive, I can not stand the cold water. However, it´s all they have every known.

I could describe this place forever, but to close, I will write of one of the most awesome things that is in San Pedro. Everything here is connected by pathways/footpaths. Between every building, every farm field, every school or church and even between houses there is a way to pass on foot. To the lake, away from the lake, up the volcano, down the volcano . . . Yes there is streets here for cars and motorcycles and tuk-tuks, but there is an intricate series of pathways that connect this whole town, even onto beyond the volcano. I have been told that to look at the Mayan highlands of Guatemala on Google Earth is to view the pathways that criss-cross this entire region. On foot is how the Mayans have done it all these years, and nothing is stopping them now. They use footpaths to transport everything. Amazing, so cool, and so different from the car culture that is the United States. I walk everywhere I go, every single day.