During my week in Guatemala, I stayed at a yoga retreat center that was built right into the side of the mountain. It was a wonderful and beautiful place to stay. I couldn't get over the amazing views of the volcanoes, lake, greenery, and sky the entire time I was there.
We traveled mostly by boat from place to place around the lake. These pictures are from the first day when we first got there.
Pulling up to the dock
The hardest thing was that to get up to and down from the retreat center, you had to climb up or down around 200 steep and winding steps at high altitude. The first time that we did it, it was especially punishing. Most of us were in good shape, too, and it was still hard. Forget the yoga; those steps alone kept me in good shape that week!
The view from the top!
The next many pictures are of views and other things from around the retreat center, my room, and the stunning views that never got old!
The blue and green colors were 😍
This was the incredible view from my room.
A fresh pitcher of filtered water was left in our rooms each morning. In retrospect, I probably should have brushed my teeth with that water!
I paid a little extra for my own room. Other people did, too, including my trip BFF Kelli, whose room was right across from mine. Totally worth it!
Keychain (and key) to my room (and heart, ha ha)
Morning light
My room was the red-roofed one on the right, and Kelli's was on the left. Because everything was built into the side of the mountain, we always approached our rooms from above.
There were a lot of stray dogs in Guatemala, but many of the ones I saw looked like they were well-treated and well-fed. This one was at the retreat center a lot and was gentle and laid back.
I enjoyed a morning of relaxing and reading out on my balcony. Heaven!
I like how you can see the reflection of the volcanoes in the glass behind me.
This was one end of the balcony that was right off the dining room.
And this was the dining room where we ate all of our meals, which were delicious and fun.
A wonderful breakfast, food, view, and company-wise.
Steps up to the dining area
The shala was the building where we did yoga twice a day.
Cloud shadows on the lake and steps down to the pool and sauna
I spent some time one afternoon using the sauna and dipping my legs in the pool. The water wasn't warm enough and I wasn't hot enough (even with the sauna) to actually go swimming. My friend Melissa took some nice poolside pictures of me and the view behind me instead!
Late afternoon light in my room
Sunset 😍
My shadow outside the steps down to my room. That's my roof on the left.
We traveled around in these two boats all week. The boat rides were low on the water, sometimes pretty bumpy, and fun!
(Can you find me?)
Grace was the tour planner who helped all week. She was great!
There were a couple of changes to it, but this was our schedule for the week. It was an excellent schedule that was full of wonderful experiences. I'll be posting about some of them in the days ahead!
