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Off the Beaten Path in Guatemala
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Guatemala Off the Beaten Path

Tips and photos of unusual, out-of-the-way Guatemala attractions, posted by real travelers and locals.
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IXIMCHE IS A PICNIC DAYTRIP FROM LAKE ATITLAN
  • Tip Rating:
    • vaticanus
  • Updated By vaticanus on February 6, 2009
  • Guatemala Page by vaticanus
    • Guatemala Off the Beaten Path
    by vaticanus
    Iximche is a soon to be restored Quiche hill top fortress in the pine clad mountains surrounding Solola and Tecpan. It shows significant Mexican (Teotihuacan) influence. You'll find some more information and pictures as a travelogue on my GUATEMALA page.

    You can get here by bus (CA-1 Pan American Highway). The side road is signed and then a mile and a bit more walk.

    This is the Mayan site that President Bush visited in March of 2007. The Mayan priests were prevented from holding a scheduled ceremony (blessing seeds) at the site. Subsequently they held a cleansing ceremony to purify Iximche following the controversial presidential visit.

    PS: If you are interested in these pre-Hispanic era sites make sure to see Utatlan which is within walking distance from Santa Cruz del Quiche (capital of the Department of Quiche)

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    Skip the flight to dirty Guatemala City
  • Tip Rating:
    • atufft
  • Updated By atufft on February 20, 2006
  • Guatemala Page by atufft
    • Usumacinta River Launch - Guatemala
    Usumacinta River Launch
    by atufft, 4 more photos
    Rather than flying to Guatemala City, fly to Tuxla or Villhermosa and take land transportation into Guatemala. If you fly to Villahermosa, visit Pelenque and then cross the Usumacinta River at Frontera Corozal by launch. Catch the afternoon bus in Bethel and you'll arrive around 8pm in Flores. There's plenty of hotels in Flores, so there's no need to worry about arriving late--even during holiday seasons. It's hard to book reservations anyway. If you fly into Tuxla, take a bus to San Cristobal de las Casas and stay a few days before catching a mini-van to the Guatemala border. We took a loop through Peten and the Mayan highlands that allowed us to cross the border at both different places, and we skipped the hassle of Guatemala City. See my pages for Villahermosa, Pelenque, Flores, and Tikal for further details about this route and the activities in which we engaged.

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    GIANT HEADS IN LA DEMOCRACIA
  • Tip Rating:
    • vaticanus
  • Updated By vaticanus on January 4, 2006
  • Guatemala Page by vaticanus
    • Olmecoid Head - Guatemala
    Olmecoid Head
    by vaticanus
    This is an imposing collection of massive stone heads- each one a stone portrait of a king or priest. The heads are now conveniently arranged around the town plaza (moved from the site of Monte Alto- an important city in the Late Formative Period that traded in southern Mexico and with Copan in Honduras).

    La Democracia is 40 KM from Esquintla off the Pacific Highway (CA-2.) Tour agencies in Guatemala, Antigua or Lago Atitlan have packages including El Baul in Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa and also the beach if you wish for $50 per passenger. There is a very good museum in Democracia but other than dubious pensions no place for staying overnight.

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    Chaipas is best accessed from Guatemala
  • Tip Rating:
    • atufft
  • By atufft on June 21, 2004
  • Guatemala Page by atufft
    • San Cristobal de las Casas - Guatemala
    San Cristobal de las Casas
    by atufft
    It's pretty easy to cross the border either way between Guatemala and Mexico, and in a way, the Chaipas region has more in common with Guatemala than with regions of Mexico to the north. San Cristobal de las Casas is a very safe town despite Lonely Planet warnings. The capitol of the Zapatistas movement is very good at marketing dolls of the commidante. In the end, this town looks more like a tourist trap than the headquarters of a rebellion.

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    President of Belén
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    • Ken_Weaver
  • Updated By Ken_Weaver on March 3, 2003
  • Guatemala Page by Ken_Weaver
    • Guatemala Off the Beaten Path
    by Ken_Weaver
    Domingo's story tears your heart out. As a young man he experienced some horrific events that have scarred him deeply. The Army would round up young men, give them weapons and send them on "Civil Defense Patrols." The patrols would go to remote areas, surround villages and the officers would command the patrolers to fire into the village and kill all. Domingo didn't want to kill anybody, his officer forced him into the village, ordered him to go into a house and kill the inhabitants. He went in but couldn't do it. The officer killed the family with his pistol and slapped Domingo around with it. They then went outside to see soldiers burning all the buildings and taking infants, putting a rope around their necks and whirling them around and then flinging them into the burning infernos. Domingo was chastised by the officer and warned that he would not allow him to disobey orders again. They moved to the next village and the Army decided to wait until morning to attack. Domingo and several of his friends asked if they could go pray together(in Ixil) about tomorrows battle. The young men prayed that the villagers would not be there when they arrived. That next morning, they surrounded the village, opened fire as commanded. They then stormed the village to find to the dismay of the Army officers, they everyone in the village had fled during the night.

    Domingo was President of the Agros Village of Belén that I helped build.

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    The Radiant Smile of the Ixil
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    • Ken_Weaver
  • By Ken_Weaver on March 3, 2003
  • Guatemala Page by Ken_Weaver
    • See more on San Juan Cotzal Page - Guatemala
    See more on San Juan
    Cotzal Page
    by Ken_Weaver
    Inspite of all that has happened to the Ixil, they seem to radiate joy when you meet them. This delightful lady is wearing the traditional dress with headpiece. Indigenous women most always wear a specific blouse and a wrap around skirt and a shawl that you see in this picture. The pattern and the color identify their village. All women in the same village dress identically. The men and boys all wear Western clothing.

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    Working in the Ixil Triangle
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    • Ken_Weaver
  • By Ken_Weaver on March 3, 2003
  • Guatemala Page by Ken_Weaver
    • The edge of town - Guatemala
    The edge of town
    by Ken_Weaver
    My purpose in being in Guatemala was to help a community build homes in the Western Highlands about 180 miles north of Guatemala City. The area is called the Ixil Triangle, an area of land bordered by three towns, San Juan Cotzal, Chajul and Nebaj. The inhabitants of this area are mostly indigenous descendents of the Mayas called Ixil. The Ixil language is one of 26 spoken in Guatemala besides Spanish. The Ixil Triangle, of all areas in the country, suffered the most during the civil war. The treatment of the indigenous population was unspeakable. Thousands were tortured and murdered. Whole villages were massacred. Groups of people learned to live in the jungle like animals for 7-8 years to avoid the wrath of the army or the guerillas. Now the war is over and the healing of the land and the people has begun, but it is slow. The organization with which I do volunteer work has help build 12 new villages in this area. The picture you see is the outskirts of San Juan Cotzal. The village that I worked in is called Belén and is about an hours walk up the mountain.

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    An Ixil Family
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    • Ken_Weaver
  • By Ken_Weaver on March 3, 2003
  • Guatemala Page by Ken_Weaver
    • A Small Ixil Family - Guatemala
    A Small Ixil Family
    by Ken_Weaver
    The Ixil men speak Spanish as a second language. Some children who have been to school will also. Women speak only Ixil, a language that was only put into written form this last year after 20 years of work by Wycliffe translators living in San Juan Cotzal.

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    HUGE HIGHLAND MARKET WITH NO TOURISTS
  • Tip Rating:
    • vaticanus
  • Updated By vaticanus on July 14, 2008
  • Guatemala Page by vaticanus
    • More on my
    More on my "Alto" page
    by vaticanus
    The market day at San Francisco el Alto is huge and varied and visited by few tourists. It's easy to get to. It lies just off the Pan American Highway along the turnoff for Momostenango. There is a large sign at the Y shaped junction. - so it's not likely you'll miss the stop. The market starts early and gets crowded by 10 (see photo) and runs into mid afternoon. Livestock sales are a big part of this market. Also, fabrics, untensils, produce and all kinds of agricultural items- you'll be fascinated for hours. I've set up a page which will give you more directions to get there.

    See my Travel Page SAN FRANCISCO EL ALTO

    PASTE THIS INTO YOUR BROWSER
    http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/22fa8/1970f0/

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    Coffee Plantation
  • Tip Rating:
    • mad4travel
  • By mad4travel on January 20, 2005
  • Guatemala Page by mad4travel
    • Coffee beans drying in the sun - Guatemala
    Coffee beans drying in the sun
    by mad4travel
    An interesting side trip you can do from Antigua is the Filadelfia coffee plantation.

    You get a guided tour to see the coffee trees, picking drying and sorting the beans and the packing and grinding.

    You can also have a coffee tasting and learn about different types of bean and how they grade the coffee.

    Antiguan coffee is one of the best coffees in the world - and the next expensive to Jamaican Blue moutain. Most of it is exported to Japan. Fortunately you can buy it really cheaply from the plantation and it was the best coffee I'd ever tasted - ever!

    You also get an appreciation thru visiting the plantation of how much the first world benefits from coffee pricing and how little the farmers get. Many farmers are going out of business as the big supermarkets have forced prices so low. They explained the principles of fair trade coffee and I for one have been buying ever since I got back.

    There are two tours at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Monday through Friday and one tour at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Contact the plantation for details

    ( you can also buy their coffee from the website but only in the USA)

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  • Website: http://www.rdaltoncoffee.com/5_0_tour.html
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