[UnderWhelmed]

Author: Steve Hendrix
Date: Mar 5, 2006
Start Page: W.18
Section: MAGAZINE
Document Types: Commentary
Text Word Count: 4971

A wave of hippie travelers settled around Atitlan in the 1970s, lured from their wandering by the hypnotizing views, the laid-back vibe and, not least, the cheap and potent marijuana. Panajachel, the largest town, became known as a good-time outpost amid a ring of placid, traditional Maya villages. Even during Guatemala's vicious civil war, Lake Atitlan remained largely isolated from the worst of the paramilitary campaigns that killed hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans before peace arrived in 1996. One community on the lake, Santiago Atitlan, still takes great pride in having kicked the army out of town after a massacre of 13 Maya villagers in 1990.

thanks man, that was very interesting cratch: