We traveled by bus through El Salvador and Guatemala to get to Copan, Honduras. The border at Guatemala was lined with semi trucks waiting for their paperwork to be cleared so that they could cross the border from El Salvador. The line of trucks on the sides of the road must have been at lest 5 miles long. Tighter restrictions to prevent the drug cartels from using overland transportation to move illegal drugs into Guatemala and limited personnel to search the trucks, drivers can wait several days to cross. The highway was quite narrow there were no measures to accommodate the wall of parked trucks creating only one lane traffic. Jaime did a fabulous job weaving in-between the parked semis. At one point just when he started to gain some movement, on a blind curve mind you, three times he had to back up to allow the trucks the right of way. We reached to border station, filed off the bus only to dodge two local cows, half-crazed running around the cars, buses and people in the parking lot. And it was raining.
Lake Atitlan is surrounded by many villages, in which Maya culture is still prevalent and traditional dress is worn. The Maya people of Atitlán are predominantly Tz'utujil and Kaqchikel. The Maya weave textiles and each group has their own pattern. Santiago Atitlán is the largest of the lakeside communities, and is noted for its worship of Maximón, an idol formed by the fusion of traditional Mayan deities, Catholic saints and conquistador legends. The institutionalized effigy of Maximón is under the control of a local religious brotherhood and resides in various houses of its membership during the course of a year, being most ceremonially moved in a grand procession during Semana Santa. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lago_de_Atitlán The rain was starting to let up as we walked through a maze of cobblestone alleyways to the house of Maximón. The courtyard was was thick with the smoke of incense and the light drizzle of rain collected on the blue plastic...
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