Very peaceful, very quiet and surprisingly large. Panajachel doesn’t seem that big when you first arrive. The centre, or tourist area, is quite compact, full of hotels, hostels, shops, souvenir stalls, bars, restaurants and beautiful views of the lake. But when you really get away from it all, you get to see the real Panajachel which actually is very quiet and peaceful.
I found a whole wall of graffiti next to a dried-up riverbed, offering a beautiful view of two of the mountains on Lago Atitlán in the background. As I got deeper into the streets, it became super quiet and I hardly ran into anyone. On my the way through the streets I also stumbled upon a kind of cemetery in form of a house with graves and urns. And when I reached one very end of Panajachel, I found a few old houses with cool graffiti on them.
Towards the centre the streets became lively and a bit chaotic again and I could see the difference between the tourist centre and the centre of Panajachel. All in all very worthwhile 😊

Go on a discovery tour or not? Personally I loved my walk through Panajachel. And getting to know a place a little better and realising that it can also be cool off the beaten track is always really nice 😊