San Pedro La Laguna

Simply the finest of traveler’s hangovers. I keep putting off my departure. Thank you Barrio, The Buddha, Al Suave, Zoola, Bistro Nuevo Sol, Jardin. I definitely agree with the previous poster that just hanging out at Freedom or in “the vortex” part of town is lame. Get away from the vortex and get in to San Pedro. In the Otro lado side of town there’s only the occasional 2 wheel moto traffic and mostly foot traffic just horses, humans, dogs, kitties and a pesky little black squirrel I saw from time to time. There’s also way less if not zero crackheadz and drunk ass locals.

Be prepared to stay longer (perhaps WAY longer) than you plan! The town is truly the black hole of Central America. You think you’ll visit for a weekend, you stay a week. Visit for a week, expect to make it a month. Yes, it’s gringo-packed, but I actually like the town far better than other tourist hotspots in Guatemala – Antigua, for example. San Pedro is not for fanny-pack tourists (unless they come over for the day from San Marcos or Panajachel), it’s for grittier travellers and freaks and fun. You can easily live for five dollars a day, less if you’re smart and make friends with the bartenders at Freedom and don’t eat out too often, and that would include a gorgeous lakeview room with a yard full of hammocks.

But please, don’t just hang out at Freedom and lounge on the pillow piles eating pot cookies at Zoolah (although those things are fun) – hang out at the market everyday (the restaurants in town are nice, but so are the cheap cheap tostadas and fresh fruit), meet the people who lived there before the gringos came, and learn (as well as share) something with the locals. It’s easy to form a bubble around yourself in San Pedro, but you’ll have more fun if you don’t!

if u go to san pedro dont forget to visit freedom, and eat the potatoe pizza, also visit el buda. San pedro its just awesome

is on in a few minutes. Two Sundays ago, I was in the Alegre Pub, just up from the Pana dock in San Pedro, with a motley crew of expats and travelers, watching the playoffs. There were a bunch from Seattle, a few from Chicago, 3 heartbroken girls from San Diego(one said she flew Learjets for Girls Gone Wild),the beatiful Irish bartendress, the Scottish owner, and numerous Euro and US expats who I’m sure wouldn’t want their names out there. It was a special night, because a couple, who had been bartending at the Barrio, a great bar for making friends and playin Texas Hold’em, were leaving the next day, and would be missed. The stories, and friends, don’t end in San Pedro, every day is a new experience, like the couple who had 2 beautiful 8 year old twins, the fa ther was a computer programmer, the wife was a roller derby queen. And then there’s the nightlife. It just doesn’t end in San Pedro. Drugs are there, but unnecessary, because its all such a trip any way. Go with an open mind and heart.

I lived there for 9 months, I have many good friends in San Pedro LA LOCURA. I can say so many things about this place that I don’t know where to start, so to be briefly I just say :“there, I had some of the best moments of my life”.

Do not miss those restaurants!!!! PUNTOROJO, TIKAAJ and VAYAVOS, and of course do not forget climb San Pedro volcano and be in a full moon party…