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Lake Como, it seems to me, touches the limit of the permissibly picturesque; but Atitlan is Como with the additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It is really too much of a good thing. After a few days of this impossible landscape one finds oneself thinking nostalgically of the English Home Counties .
Aldous Huxley, Beyond the Mexique Bay (1934). Whether or not you share Huxley's refined sensibilities, there's no doubt that Lago de Atitlan is astonishingly beautiful. Most people find themselves captivated by its scenic excesses - indeed, the effect is so overwhelming that a handful of gringo devotees have been rooted to its shores since the 1960s. The lake itself is an irregular shape, with three main inlets. It measures 18km by 12km at its widest point, and shifts through an astonishing range of blues, steely greys and greens as the sun moves across the sky. Hemmed in on all sides by steep hills and massive volcanoes, it's some 320m (nearly 1000 feet) deep. Another astonishing aspect of Atitlan is the strength of Maya culture evident in its lakeside settlements, still some of the most intensely traditional villages in Guatemala, despite the thousands of tourists that pour in here from Europe and North America every year. San Antonio Palopo, Santiago Atitlan and, above the lake, Solola are some of the very few villages in the entire country where Maya men still wear traditional costume, and two languages, Tz'utujil and Kaqchikel , are spoken on the lake's shores. There are thirteen villages on the shores of the lake, with many more in the hills behind, ranging from the cosmopolitan resort-style Panajachel to tiny, isolated Tzununa . The villages are mostly subsistence farming communities and it's easy to hike and boat around the lake staying in a different one each night. The area has only recently attracted large numbers of tourists and for the moment things are still fairly undisturbed, but some of the new pressures are decidedly threatening. The increase in population has also had a damaging impact on the shores of the lake, as the desperate need to cultivate more land leads to deforestation and accompanying soil erosion. You'll probably reach the lake through Panajachel, which makes a good base for exploring the surrounding area. "Pana" has an abundance of cheap hotels and restaurants and is well served by buses. To get a real sense of a more typical Atitlan village, however, travel by boat to Santiago Atitlan or San Antonio Palopo. San Pedro La Laguna is now the village with the most established travellers' "scene", and a surplus of extremely cheap hotels. Santa Cruz and San Marcos are the places to head for if you're seeking real peace and quiet, and there are good hikes on this side of the lake. All things Atitlan seem to be covered by the excellent Web site www.atitlan.com , including good accommodation options, and plenty of historical and cultural information.
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