For the first time since arriving in Ecuador a couple of months ago, I was able to add a new country to my list of places visited - Guatemala. It took just under 12 hours and 3 different buses from San Cristóbal, but I finally made it to Panajachel, which is located on the northeast shore of the beautiful Lago de Atitlán (Lake Atitlán).

Lake Atitlán is the deepest lake in Central America (with a maximum depth of about 340m) and while considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, I didn't find it quite as serene as Lake Titicaca, which I visited from both the Peruvian and Bolivian sides.

Jorden, his girlfriend Victoria and a few other friends were already here, but across the lake in a little town called San Pedro la Laguna. It was late at night so I decided to spend the night in Panajachel with Sara, a girl from Tokyo who I met on the bus earlier.

The next morning started with a superb, the best I've had in months, coffee from the Korean run Cafe Loco, near our hotel. Then I hopped on the ferry to another nearby lake town - San Marcos la Laguna.

Renowned for being a laid back hippie town, commonly used for yoga or meditation retreats, I initially intended to spend a night here before meeting up with Jorden and the gang in San Pedro the following day. But, remembering my time in Vilcabamba, I decided it would be much more fun partying with my mates and so hopped on another lancha (powered boat) to San Pedro.

As is common whenever Jorden and I are together, the partying was inevitable. It started off innocently enough with a few games of Yaniv at the hostel - then we ventured out into the town, bar hopping and cashing in on any promotions for free shots that we could find. We parked down at Buddha Bar for a while, where things escalated before finally stumbling into bed in the early hours of the morning.

For our final morning in San Pedro and Lake Atitlán, we rose at 3AM and trekked up The Indian's Nose, a mountain perched atop the cities of San Juan and San Marcos - giving an incredible view of sunrise over the lake.

After a nap and some lunch, we departed San Pedro, taking the "chicken bus" to Antigua. These buses are old recycled (definitely not refurbished) school buses from the USA. They cram as many people as they can on to these things, and, braving cracked windscreens, bald tyres, wet roads and a sleepy driver, it's probably surprising we made it safely to Antigua.