Departing Antigua around 1330, we arrived in San Pedro about 1700. Driving out of Antigua along Route 14 to CA1 (the Pan-American Highway) was fine. The roads were well maintained and with the exception of a few towns traffic moved along at highway speeds.
The last hour and a half of our journey to San Pedro was down the mountain to Lake Atitlan, and the roads went to crap. For the most part they were unpaved, rutted with plenty of pot holes, several switchback turns, and a 20 minute delay due to road construction.
Traveling through small towns like Santa Maria, Santa Clara, and San Juan, we encountered navigational challenges; the GPS and roads did not coincide with each other. As locals watched, pointed, and laughed, we went the wrong way several one-way streets. A couple of locals told us not to worry about going the wrong way, and indeed we were not the only ones doing it.
When we finally found our way to the
Luna Azul (FB page), an
AirBnB rental, the car had no brakes. Even after driving downhill in 1st and 2nd gear most of the way, I felt like Fred Flintstone, dragging my feet to stop. Needless to say,we requested a replacement car. A bit more on that later.
