A week off the bike but I hadn't forgotten how to ride. A good job as the journey onwarda saw me rising to just below 10,000 ft before the descent down to Lake Atitlan. In the Highlands you frequently have good views of volcanoes strung along a rough line, Santa Maria's peak is just above the bank of clouds here. As you can see from my cheery expression is was nice to be back in the saddle.
Collecting firewood, a common scene here. 90% of the gatherers I've seen are women.
View descending to Atitlan. Note the switchbacks in the bottom right corner, glad I was coming down! 
Home for a few nights. I brimmed with pride when other guests asked about my trip, "Yeah, ridden down from Canada, really, it's nothing. But let me describe it at length anyway." In actual fact they were as impressed or more impressed by the amount of food I am consuming. The avocados in particular are delicious here and I can't help but gorge myself on them.
The main street in the village I stayed in, San Marcos La Laguna, is lined with murals.
Mixture of indigenous and New Age imagery.
It felt like I'd stepped out of Guatemala and entered India; at every turn were meditation centre, yoga studios and vegetarian cafes. At all times off the day there you could here the sounds of Eastern music, ambient music, bongos, didgeridoos. 
This wall was made from plastic bottles stuffed with with other plastic waste, wrappers, bags etc. Sadly this management of rubbish is the exception rather than the norm; I regularly see waste strewn across the countryside. A combination of lack of resources and education creates a formidable challenge for the country. 
Expat hippies selling handcrafted jewellery. There were some remarkable haircuts and clothing on display. 
The dock at San Marcos, the easiest way to get around the lake is by boat. 
One of the many cafes in the village. I didn't do much in my three days here but I did find the best cafe in town - great coffee and great music; amongst the Eastern sounds the occasional Nick Drake and Live tracks were dropped in.
On Sunday I did manage a little trek around the northern edge of the lake. Yet more volcanoes in the background.
A 5:30am get up this morning gave me time for a quick bowl of porridge before riding all of 2 minutes down to the dock to get the first boat of the day to Panajachel. It's been pretty windy of late and the water was pretty choppy, I and the bike are getting thrown around a bit but we're both made of stern stuff. 
Ready to ride on from Panajachel to Antigua. Some steep slopes ahead of us, I had to weave across the road in places, making my own switchbacks to reduce the angle of ascent.
But, a magical ride, passing through deep ravines and well forested lands with hardly a vehicle in sight for the first 20 miles. Rare for densely populated Guatemala.
Where did the road go?
I'm now halfway through my trip, how well it's all panning out! Guatemala has been a wonderful country to explore and I'm glad to have lingered here and may do so for another two weeks or so. I suspect it may be the jewel in the crown of the Central American countries so, moving south, I shall probably pick up the pace again to push on to Panama. Beyond this, I have the Andes in my distant sights and hope to allocate a good chunk of time to explore this mighty mountain range.
So much to already reflect on, so much still to look forward to. I'm a lucky boy!
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