Ending up at the Lake

Upon leaving Honduras, my plan was to take the tourist shuttle to Panajachel via Antigua. It's one of the small towns by Lake Atitlan.
I know...I ended up in Honduras because I wasn't interested in the lakes region a few days ago. They still weren't that appealing to me, definitely not a must-see sight, but I figured that I might as well go. So, I bought the $12 ticket and hopped on the minivan early in the morning.

I never made it to the lakes. After crossing the Honduras/Guatemala border, the van stopped at a junction. It turned out that two passengers were getting off here, and we were waiting for the local bus to come through to pick them up. Their destination – Flores. It's a must for the majority of tourists in Guatemala, given that it is the entry point for the famous Mayan ruins of Tikal. I was definitely headed up there before leaving the country.
While waiting for the bus to come, I kept thinking...why am I going to the lakes??? Why waste my precious time there??? Why not go directly north from here to save time and the costs???
With the help of another passenger who spoke Spanish, I learned that the junction was actually a bus stop and that I could purchase my own local bus ticket to Flores from here. I immediately changed my mind on the lakes idea, and purchased the ticket for 90 quetzales (~$11).
...And that's how I ended up in Flores with the German couple. Who incidentally paid $45 each for the transport from Copan to Flores. What a ripoff!!! Even though I didn't get a penny back for not going all the way to Antigua and Panajachel, I still only paid about $20. I'm sure I could've done it for much cheaper if I hadn't taken the "tourist shuttle" route, but you know...if there's an easy way out, I take it.

I got along really well with the Germans. We ended up having dinner at a lakeside restaurant (FYI – Flores is a tiny island, a better place to stay than Santa Elena on the mainland) owned by Germans serving random food. You'd be amazed at how many German-owned places there are in Flores!!!
And I just realized that I ended up at a lake anyways. I guess it was inevitable...a different one, but a lake nonetheless.
We chatted away our evening at the restaurant (excluding the 10 minute time-out I had to take in which I ran back to my room and grabbed insect repellent!) and enjoyed the beautiful sunset:

After dinner, I went in search for cash – I was running out of Guatemalan quetzales by now. Unfortunately, the only ATM on the island was out of cash and would not be replenished until Monday (tomorrow) afternoon. There were several other ATMs on the mainland, but I didn't feel like walking all the way there with no guarantees that they were going to work. Plus, it's not really safe out there...
Most places accept USD but the rates in Flores are terrible. In Antigua, $1 = 8GTQ, but in Flores, they only give you 7GTQ! What the heck!