A bit of historic Guatemalan culture, architecture, good restaurants, expensive hotels, bank machines, mountains, and local artisans offering wood work, textiles, crafts, and jewellery. Its a short drive from Guatemala City too - an easy day trip by bus or car.

Its soooo worth to see,
maya pyramides,...

October 4th (not sure if this date changes as the years pass) is the Festival for Saint Francis of Assisi, and the fireworks are spectacular! Make sure you stay for the finale which were some of the coolest fireworks you will ever see. It is a real cultural experience- Guatemalans know how to party! The festival is complete with lots of music and drinking and really dodgy rides. (You will see little Guatemalan women carrying several drunk Guatemalan men home at the end of the night- a very funny site.) Anyways, enjoy!

Make sure you check out the natural hot springs! It's a great piece of local fun :) Women should be pretty well covered up though. It's not unusual to see people swimming in shorts and t-shirts, especially if you're female.

Sundays are the best for the market. It is a massive, colorful extravaganza around the cathedral in the center of town. The variety of woven goods, pottery and embroidered goods is wonderous. Mayan women bring masses of flowers and take up positions on the steep stairs leading up to a cathedral. It makes for a perfect "Kodak" moment BUT you must use a telephoto lens: if they notice you taking photos, they hide their faces and that really ruins the moment. For lunch or dinner there is very nice hotel directly behind the cathedral. It has a large courtyard garden and the food is good.

Livingston is a small Guatemalan town with a very large black Garifuna community. It gives the place a very Carribean'esque feeling. You should check it out during Semana Santa when everybody is in a vacation mood and when the sound systems come out at night. Imagine the party going on till very late with the good music, lots of dancing, lots of very local-cheap-delicious rhum etc. ... Lingston? C' est chic.

Chicicastenango is famos for it's market, which is indeed worth the trip to the remoted mountain village. There's still not many tourists around, it's quite an adventure to go there with the local bus and it can get quite difficult to find food. I have to admit that it was in the year 2000 when I've seen this place, so maybe you can find a restaurent there now. The market is huge and you can find anything here, from beautiful handcrafts to fabrics, to tribal clothes and instruments. There's also a food area (well.... for people who've got a strong stomach..) and a section where you can buy chicken, pigs and who knows what else there is still alive. Worth visiting is especially the church. Christian missionaries tried to bring their religion to the tribal people who are living here. When you enter the church you will see and feel that it is still the Gods of nature they're worshipping here. The statues of christian saints have been decorated with clothes, feathers and ornatments. Local people are kneeling and praying in front of them and there's always a fire for sacrifice buring in front of the church entrance. It's an amazing place to visit!

What to see in Quetzaltenango?
- the yellow church in San Andres Xecul
- the hot springs in Las Fuentes Georginas
- hikes to the volcanoe Santa Maria, Laguna de Chicabal and Tajumulco (the higest in Central America, 4250m)
- the market in San Francisco Del Alto on Friday

Do not miss the Sunday local market. It's beautiful and all in colours. Momostenango is known for their wood blankets.

No hay nada en el mundo Maya que ver fuera de Tikal