Practicalities
Boats to Santiago leave from the beach in Panajachel at 5.45am, 9.30am, 11.30am and 3pm - the trip takes about an hour - but there are also unscheduled lancha services at other times. The village is also astonishingly well connected by bus with almost everywhere except Panajachel. As for accommodation , a backpackers' favourite is the Hotel Chi-Nim-Ya (tel 721 7131; up to US$10), where some rooms have private bath; it's on the left as you enter the village from the lake. The good-value Hotel Tzutuhil , in the centre of town (tel 721 7174; US$5-10), is a five-storey concrete building with spectacular views from the top floor and a restaurant. For something special, there are a number of good options, all can be reached by road or water-taxi from the dock. The Posada de Santiago , on the lakeshore 1km south of the town (tel & fax 721 7167, www.atitlan.com/posada.htm ; US$40-60), is a luxury American-owned bed and breakfast, with rooms in stone cabins, each with its own log fire, a few budget rooms and a fine restaurant. A kilometre north of the dock, the Bird House (tel 716 7440, thebirdhousetk@hotmail.com ; US$10-25) is another good choice, with attractive rooms and apartments, nice lakeside gardens, a library and great home-made food. About 500m further north, Hotel Bambu (tel 416 2122; US$25-40) has beautiful thatch-roofed stone bungalows and rooms, plus an excellent restaurant with Spanish specialities. Next door, there's quite a scene developing at Las Milpas (tel 416 3395, las_milpas@hotmail.com ; US$10-15), a great new bohemiam retreat-cum-hotel run by an ex-Grateful Dead roadie, with four comfortable cabanas, camping (US$4 per person), a hot tub and sauna, tasty vegetarian food, plenty of live music and full-moon cruises. There are three restaurants at the entrance to the village, just up from the dock, all fairly similar. In the centre of the village you can eat at the Hotel Tzutuhil or, if you really want to dine in style, head out to one of hotel restaurants above. Leaving Santiago , buses depart from the central plaza and head via Cocales to Guatemala City (6 daily between 2.30am and 2pm). For Panajachel there are four daily boats (plus supplementary lanchas); there are nine daily boats for San Pedro La Laguna between 6am and 3pm (40min).
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