Lake Atitlan Two villages two destiny San Juan La Laguna versus San Marcos La Laguna

Two villages two destiny

My first village trip across the lake took me to San Juan La Laguna. I remember at that times you had only two big public boats crossing the lake two times a day. It took easily an hour to come from San Pedro to Panajachel,stopping in all the villages. 

But I took one of the view private boat with my friend Jerome at that times Junior Project manager for Unicef, Guatemala. We went to check on a project he had in San Juan.

When we arrived barely a little pier could handle our boat. Walking to the center of town, the church on a narrow trail, the village center with its colonial church surrounded by adobe houses and I remember clearly the kids looking at us from the corner of the streets and running away if we dared to say hi to them.

Only locals in town you can see.

Same for San Marcos La Laguna,  the pier was not the current one and it was not a destination per see. The pier had no connection really with the town as the village was distributed on the two hills overhearing the flood plain. There gringos were slowly buying the flat plain. The locals thinking well if the gringos want this land that we know get flooded there and there why not ! Then suddenly the land became money. What was a lot for the locals was nothing for the gringos (foreigners) pouring it.

San Juan La Laguna and San Marcos La Laguna are two neighboring villages located on the shores of Lake Atitlan in the Guatemalan Highlands. Although both villages are lake front, they have developed differently due to a combination of historical, cultural, and geographic factors.

San Juan La Laguna is a more traditional and conservative village, with a strong indigenous culture and Mayan heritage. The local language, Tz'utujil, is widely spoken, and traditional dress is still worn by many of the locals essentially the women. The village was known for its artisanal crafts, particularly weaving, and visitors can find a variety of textiles and other handmade goods in the local markets. The particularity of the weaving there is based on organics taint. Which create a beautiful collection of warmth colors.

As well the village have received countless cooperation project, bringing assistance, education and I would consider a piste to explore how much this continuous injection of assisance and knowledge.

 It has kept his land for the locals and view foreigners have moved there. Mostly because the village is not subject to natural disasters like in San Marcos La Laguna. So the land have been kept between the locals.

San Marcos La Laguna, on the other hand, is known as a more bohemian and spiritual destination. It has a reputation for attracting backpackers, hippies, and spiritual seekers who come to practice yoga, meditation, and other healing modalities. The village has a relaxed and laid-back atmosphere, with a great variety of vegetarian and vegan restaurants, juice bars, and wellness centers. It has for nick name "the holly town of lake Atitlan". One interesting phenomena that happened over the times is the buying process of the flood plain of the valley. For many years decades ago this flood plain would be affected by torrential rain and lake rises. Slowly the locals abandoned them and moved towards the hills.. this has happened in others villages like Santa Cruz, San Jorge for example. And this land became vacante. Nobody had houses on the lake front. It is always surprised me how much we value (the foreigners) the nature and the supposed lake virtues. Where  the locals lost interest because of the impact of weather  it became interesting for the foreigners who not knowing the history of the area started to buy and moved into this area. Creating a separate neighborhood mostly foreigners onthe bottom and the locals on the hills.

Two different tourist development

San Marcos La Laguna is often referred to as the "holy town" of Lake Atitlan due to its reputation as a spiritual and healing destination. They say if you stay to long in San Marcos and practice a lot you become so light that you could tentatively walk on the water. Particularly after a Cacao Ceremony or a Healing Sound Session.

The village has attracted a large community of healers, therapists, yoga teachers, and other spiritual practitioners, who offer a variety of alternative healing modalities and spiritual practices to visitors.Some are just good old chamanic practice and other new thinking process helped maybe by micro dosing. A new practice highly immerste and

Many people believe that the energy of Lake Atitlan and the surrounding mountains is particularly conducive to spiritual and healing practices, and San Marcos La Laguna has become a center for exploring these ideas and practices.

Mostly from the Millennials generation, adept to crypto money (you have the only Bitcoin Atm of the lake) , San Marcos La Laguna can be compared to a new age experiential laboratory.The relax environment in terms of laws application, government and local controls allow the new comer to build any thing any where what ever they want, open business of any kind mixing indigenous culture with new new ages practices. 

Take the Eagle Nest an amazing set up perch on a cliff with outstanding views offering a deep connection with the lake and volcanoes ever changing scenarios or the amazing variety of vegetarian food offered on the pedestrian street of the new pier that moved the access of the village this times directly connected to the community.  Above which you have this superb bamboo building currently a Tai Chi temple. Two ways to aboard human self improvement. Check out the bulletin boards with all their amazing and creative workshop offer from cacao ceremonies, sounds healing session, ex tactic dance to tantra and shamanic practice, not to mention soul reading, tarot, crystals alignment. 

But with a total disconnection with the locals community and national tourism. Most of the locals serving the low entry jobs tourism can offer (waiter, cook, maid...) . Still some youngsters are able to carve their own niche as tattoo makers, drum makers, masseuse... Serving the flow of tourism coming from the big cities of the first world. Attraction reinforced by the social media power of attraction. Some renowned Dj and Yoga studio have attracted people from all part of the world and particularly from some big metropolis. New York , Miami, Santa Fe,... All surprised to discover a little gem hidden in the green hlls of the Guatemala highland. A place where people smile at you, a place where the weather is always there to remind you that there is not space between the human and nature. Because we can't exist one without the other.

In terms of tourism, San Juan La Laguna is totally the opposite of  San Marcos La Laguna. Visitors enter mostly by boat,  and experience a more authentic and traditional way of life Instagram revisited.

I was surprised to see that maybe 80% of the tourist are nationals. It is very interesting to note that this particular village totally indigenous has been able to attract guatemalan of all the area of the country. You can noticed the different huipiles of the women walking the streets of San Juan. The offer of touristic products is local paintors creation, cofffee, weawing tinted with organic materials, lots of murals, street covered with colored umbrellas, an outlook with a 20 minutes walk up the hill pay entrance where you can enjoy the view of the lake and volcanoes. The impact of the hashtags have moved thousand of nationals to this destination more tailored to their social identities. Interestingly San Juan is a tourist destination that is for Guatemalan by Guatemalans, but Guatemalans of the interior not so urban.

So both villages as well entered this digital word... And in terms of appropriation of the hashtag and their success it seems the young adult of San Juan have been able to be winner working through the social media algorithm.

Showing to Guatemala a very unique, colorful,  gracious and affordable destination. San Juan is to recognition what Guatemalan can be proud off. Able to create their own dynamic creating new form of networking. The power of the social media used to breach a bad education and a lack of opportunity to travel. So many young ones use YouTube Academy to learn through How to do it  videos new skills and trade them among the expats population.

Overall, both villages offer a unique and rewarding experience for visitors to Lake Atitlàn, each with its own distinct character and charm. Up to you to be attracted more then the other one. 

Next article Tzununa...is the new San Marcos La Laguna?