Last Day of Contemporary Mayans

Today we travelled to Antigua which used to be the capital of Guatamala. It is a pretty colonial city.

Before we departed we went by boat across Lake Atitlan to visit one final Mayan community. After visiting a conventional church we were finally able to visit one of the break away communities whose belief is centred around reverence to their ancestors. A figure of a grandfather seen here on the left has all the things he liked when he lived: money, cigarettes, rum and music. The man on the right removes the cigarette and pours rum into the mouth of the figure. I believe a lot of drinking goes on in the community! It has a democratic structure of sorts with a new leader taking responsibility for the place of worship for a year.

I will miss these colourful communities but I am sure there are more delights to come.