hillsides, and beans, cabbage and other crops were planted in tidy rows. My friends said the farms are owned by the region's indigenous population, descendants of the ancient Maya whose advanced civilization once dominated the area. They make up a little less than half of the country's 14.5 million people.

The other segment of the population is mestizos — or ladinos — people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry. They control most of the nation's economy.

"The Maya are grindingly poor," said Jonathan Kaplan, an anthropologist and Maya scholar with the University of New Mexico. "A poor campesino lives a lifetime traveling but 1 kilometer on a bus." But his culture is so deep and vivid that "life comes abundantly and richly."

We were making our way toward the rural highlands,where the Maya culture prevails. The people speak their own languages, worship their own gods and produce their own striking textiles and handicrafts.

Our first stop was Lake Atitlán; we strolled around Panajachel, a onetime hippie hangout nicknamed Gringotenango more than a quarter-century ago. It's as unattractive now as it was the last time I visited. I wished I'd had enough time to take a boat across the lake to some of the small indigenous villages on the northern and western shores, towns where life is simple and tourist billboards are nonexistent.

Instead, we drove to nearby Hotel Atitlán, a tranquil lakefront jewel with formal gardens, strolling peacocks and a swimming pool that overlooks the lake. Away from the tacky tourist shops of Panajachel, it was easier to appreciate the