The “Nariz del Indio” is one of the unmissable hikes to do around the area of Lake Atitlan (Guatemala). Finding information about the hike seems to be pretty difficult if planning to go on your own and not through a trekking agency (of which theres plenty) but don’t you worry, chances are that Google Maps or a kind tuk-tuk driver will help you out.

Officially, the entrance for the trek is located in the village of San Juan and more specifically just next to the petrol pump of the town (this can be found on Google Maps). Though, an easier and more accessible entrance is found in the village of Santa Clara. Now, when we trekked the Indian Nose we decided to go through San Juan not only because we were told it was safer (less bandidos asking you for money) but also because our hostel was in San Juan (no need for additional transport!).

Entering through San Juan

Entrance & Ticket Booth

The main difference between the two entrances is time. While from Santa Clara it takes just 45min to climb to the top, from San Juan it could take you anything in-between 1½-2hrs. In all honesty, many people have been saying and/or writing on blogs that it takes about 3hrs but in reality anybody fit enough could do the trek with the time mentioned above. Anyway, the first thing to keep in mind when entering here is that something like 50m up the dirt road there’s the official ticket booth where you need to pay the fee 30Q to the village of San Juan.

Considering you might want to be on the top for the amazing sunrise that means you have to be at the entrance of the trail by 3.30-4am but at that time will the ticket booth be open? The answer is no! In fact, the ticket booth opens at 5am, hence when ascending the path there’s no possibility of paying the entrance.

On the way back, we passed in front of the ticket booth but nobody stopped us asking to pay the entrance fee: 30Q each saved! We also noticed that, for those not wanting to risk to pay the entrance ticket, there’s also another small path (just before the ticket booth) that leads you inside a coffee plantation, then inside a corn field and finally to a basketball open court, where you can go back to the main road. This path is usually used by local farmers (thats how we discovered it) who climb up in the morning to harvest their crops.

The Path

Leaving before the sun is out has its disadvantages, one of which not being able to see the path very well but don’t you worry, keep in mind the following and you’ll be alright. First of all, the path is very easy to follow even at night and although it’s pretty bad in some parts, it is far from not being walkable.

From the entrance to the top of Indian Nose there are 4 junctions where you have either the option to go left or right, it is crucial to get this junctions right in order to get to the top and not get lost.

The first junction is found just after 10-15min of walking, you’ll see a stone wall on the left with the path following and another open path on the right. Here you have to take a LEFT because the path on the right will lead you to the big cross you can see from San Juan.

The second junction is way later on (c.a. 40min in) and it will be a simple left or right. You will notice that the path on the right keeps going up but instead the one on the left has stairs going down. As crazy as it might sound, take a LEFT again and follow the paths that goes down, later it will start going up again.

After the second junction, there are not going to be any other junction until close to the top.

The third junction is the easiest of all. In fact, whether you turn left or right, it will lead you to the same place; a handful of meters above, the two paths will become one again. We found that the LEFT was the easiest one to walk on though.

The free and “paid” mirador on the top

The fourth and last junction is very close to the top. Taking a left there will lead you to the last mirador before the Nariz del Indio whereas taking a right will lead you to the top of everything.

Fees & Thieves

At the moment, the top of Indian Nose seems to belong to the village of Santa Clara, whereas the last mirador before the top (read paragraph above) seems to be part of the San Juan jurisdiction. Unfortunately, since the two villages don’t recognise one of the two the right “owner” of the place nor agree on a certain fee to enter the park, this causes a lot of misunderstanding for those wanting to reach the top.

Let’s clarify the concept here. Until the last mirador you don’t need to pay any additional fee since you’re technically still in their jurisdiction but the moment you get to the top of Indian Nose then you also have to pay the entrance fee to Santa Clara village which seems to be 50Q/pp but here is when things starts to get shady. We were aware of people asking for money to access the top but didn’t meet any on the way up (too early for them) and so reached the top without any issue. On the other hand, on the way down we got stopped halfway through (from two guys that were on the top earlier) and were told that we had to pay the Santa Clara fee. In all honesty, they were not threatening at all and even gave us a “personal ticket” showing the website where these fees are meticulously listed. We’re not aware if these are the bandidos (thieves) everybody has been talking about but it seemed like they were telling us the bare truth. Whether thats legal or not, well that’s another story…

Luckily enough, we told them that the only money we brought with us (glad we did bring just the necessary) was the amount of the entrance fee that we could have been asked to pay on the way back (60Q in total). After a bit of them arguing that we had wallets and us willing to show them that that was all we had, they agreed that the 60Q were enough. Handshake, asking sorry for bothering us (yeah, that was unexpectedly weird) and then leaving, each group on its own way. What a strange encounter!

Summary & Tips

*If you want to avoid the hassle of having to pay the additional fee of 50Q for the top, either hire a guide (c.a. 100Q/pp+ sometimes transport) or stop at the last mirador.

*Make sure start from San Juan at around 3.30-4am in order to make it up by 5.30am and enjoy sunrise at its fullest but remember to bring torches/headlamps as its going to be pitch black.

*Bring with you the money you’re planning to spend and leave wallets and phones home (only if hiking without guide); cameras are not a problem, we hiked with both of our cameras equipment and a GoPro and never felt in danger once.

*Bring something warm to wear once on the top. Up until the moment the sun comes up, on the top is pretty windy and chilly so a light sweater and a wind-jacket should make the trick.

PLANNING A TRIP TO GUATEMALA? CHECK MORE GUIDES BELOW!