Quetzaltenango (known as Xela)
It took 1 boat ride and 2 bus rides to get from Santiago to Xela. First we took a boat from our hotel to Panajachel then a mini bus up through Solola where we had to wait for a connection for a private bus, thankfully we didn’t take a ‘chicken bus’. These ex-American yellow school buses are generally rented individually by the drivers from the large companies who import them. They are highly decorated with bright paint and chrome and are the drivers’ pride and joy.
The driver has to earn the daily rental cost, fuel, maintenance, cost of hiring a helper before he can even think about making a profit. So they drive as fast as they can, the helpers push and shove people on, quite often it’s standing room only and for a slightly lower fare you can hang off the ladders on the back!! All goods are slung precariously and unceremoniously on the roof.
The reputation of the Chicken buses are rife with stories of many breakdowns, fatal accidents and thefts at gun point, which unsurprisingly put visitors off from using them!
Quetzaltenango
Quetzaltenango is the second largest city in Guatemala after Guatemala City. It was almost all destroyed in a volcanic eruption in 1902. The Central Park still remains as do the 17th and 18th century buildings which surround it. Other than that it’s fairly new.
All that remains of the Cathedral is the front, the rest was rebuilt with more substantial stone after the volcano to withstand the quakes.
Guatemalan Highlands
The following day we hired a guide to show us around the local countryside. He took us to small villages like Almolonga, San Andres Xecul and Totonicapan were we saw amazingly fertile farms. The Guatemalan Highlands are known as the vegetable garden of Central America. The farmers earn around 25 Quetzals a day (that’s around £2.50) and they have to raise a family on that. It very hard manual work but they are ‘lucky’ that they can get 3 or 4 harvests a year.
We saw some wonderful churches. This next one is the very first one the Conquistadors built and had bunches of bananas, fruit and vegetables on the stucco outside to remind the locals what to offer up to their new God.
This next one has all sorts of statues which show the realities of life.
See if you can spot the pregnant nun in the bottom right hand side.
So our travels in Guatemala came to an end, we thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it and will always have very fond memories of our visit.
We were especially taken by the vast array of beautiful doors and knockers and took loads of photos, far too many to share on here. Here is a little taster, hope you like them too.
