Lake Atitlan is one of the true wonders of Guatemala and Central America as a whole. Although the main strip of San Pedro – the biggest town on the southwest shore of the lake – is full of little restaurants, bars and all sorts of other backpacker-friendly shops, a walk up the hill and to the back end of town offers a whole different perspective of what life is really like here, far from the music and drinking of the young, foreign crowd who have invaded certain parts of San Pedro.
Women wash clothes inside the lake, fathers and sons fish or play volleyball together and in some cases, locals bathe and clean themselves up in the shallow areas of the lake.