Rainbow Upon the Mountains

The Mayan culture throbs at the Guatemalan highlands, for this reason you should not skip the area

Quetzaltenango, or Xelajú the second largest city in the country. It has a beautiful historic center, better preserved maybe than the one in Guatemala City, with a lordly central park surrounded by buildings that remind one of certain little very charming European cities. Enjoy its stone bridges, the sober and imposing Teatro Municipal, its many cafes and the rich cultural offer that thrives for some years now in this city.

Spectacular Lake Atitlán is surrounded by twelve towns, each withits own particular personality. Panajachel busts with bars, cafes, handcraft shops and cultural life. San Pedro La Laguna is famous for the intensity of its night life, although lately local authorities have set some restrictions. San Marcos La Laguna is for lovers of meditation, vegetarian food and naturism, and Santiago Atitlán is an indigenous community of great commercial activity, where a mysterious and ancient deity, the Maximón, is revered.

In the department of Quiché is the town of Chichicastenango, renowned for its colorful market, which takes place on Thursdays and Sundays, and its twin churches, built upon the ruins of old ceremonial pyramids. Two hours after leaving Chichi you reach the beautiful Ixil area, with its three main towns, Nebaj, Chajul y Cotzal.

Finally there´s Cuchumatanes mountain range, located in Huehuetenango, in the westernmost part of the country, with its ragged peaks that provide a lunar, startling landscape, and that houses charming towns such as Todos Santos Cuchumatán, famous for the horse race that takes place there every November first.

Extract obtained from Destinations