Panajachel
Yesterday we left Guatemala City for Panajachel on the shores of Lake Atitlan. The lake which is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes and is spectacularly beautiful. We are in Mayan territory.
All along the way throughout Guatemala there are posters promoting the two candidates running for the presidency - elections are on Nov. 6th. What is incredible, is the number of posters! They seem to appear on every telephone pole, and some poles even have several posters. The country is plastered with them! Then there are the billboards where the candidates try to out do each other with larger and larger ones!
There is quite a bit of controversy over the two candidates running for the presidency since both have histories of involvement in the civil war in the 80's and 90's and the genocides that took place. We are also learning about how wide spread corruption is here with bribes being a way of life. (It only took us a few minutes to cross the border instead of 4 hours.)
Because 47% of the population is illiterate, the ballots are printed with symbols for the political parties and candidates. You see these symbols everywhere.
Chicken buses are also everywhere. They are souped up and decorated American school buses that speed like lightening. Driving one of these in Guatemala is one of the most dangerous occupations one can have - not from the danger of crashes, but because the drivers must pay fees to organized crime people, and if the fees are not paid on time daily, there are fatal consequences.
When we were leaving Guatemala City, there was backed up traffic for miles. Our guide tweeted and learned that a bus driver and passenger had been shot up ahead. Below is the bus.
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