Sightseeing - Touring around Lake Atitlan

From "Things You Should Do" sightseeing-touring/lake-atitlan
Lake Atitlan and Semuc Champey - Guatemala | Fun Things to Do

The first, Lake Atitlan, is relatively easy to get to. .... Bikes Without Borders, an nonprofit NGO, uses bikes as a tool for development around the world. ... Bikes Without Borders invests in the infrastructure of communities... www.bikeswithoutborders.org/internationalprograms.html


Lake Atitlan and Semuc Champey - Guatemala
Guest Author: Mike Brcic
Mountain Biking in Guatemala

Two of the most beautiful places I have ever seen are in Guatemala, and both involve my favorite molecules hydrogen and oxygen (clue: in the right proportion, they make water). The first, Lake Atitlan, is relatively easy to get to. The second, Semuc Champey, involves a little more adventure, a la Romancing The Stone, but is worth every ounce of effort.

I first visited Guatemala last March, on a scouting trip for my adventure company Sacred Rides Mountain Bike Holidays. I was there to do a trial run of a new trip we’d set up with the help of some local guides; my wife and I decided to extend our trip with a couple of weeks on our own. We were not disappointed.

Guatemala is a country with a long, storied, and often tragic history. Most recently, the country was mired in a brutal civil war that lasted 36 years and ended only in 1996. Today, the country enjoys peace, yet poverty still affects a majority of its citizens, of whom almost 70% are indigenous Maya. Despite its tragic history and poverty, the people of Guatemala are among the friendliest and most beautiful people I have ever met.

Rarely have we passed through a Guatemalan village (seeing the country from the seat of a bike you pass through many communities) without the residents waving as we pass by, a friendly ‘buenos dias’ or ‘buenas tardes’ sending us on our way, or perhaps ‘que le vaya bien’ (‘may it go well for you’, or ‘good luck’) delivered with a wide grin. Children often race alongside us, laughing and screaming, amused at our bicycles and strange hats (our helmets). (more)