Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Festivals & Events
The festival of the
Apparition of the Archangel Michael
is on May 8, with fireworks and tradi-
tional dances. The
Feria Titular de San Miguel Arcángel
runs from September 24 to 30, peaking
on September 29. Totonicapán keeps traditional masked dances very much alive with its
Festival Tradicional de Danza
- dates vary but recently it was over a weekend in late October.
Sleeping & Eating
Aventura Maya K'iche' can arrange stays with local families, including breakfast and din-
ner, for Q360/425/500 per person in groups of four/three/two, including dinner and break-
fast.
Hospedaje Paco Centro $
( 7766-2810; 3a Calle 8-18, Zona 2; s/d Q65/130)
Practically hidden inside a shopping center a
couple of blocks from the lower plaza, this sternly managed place has big, tidy rooms of
three to five beds each.
HOTEL
Restaurante Bonanza $$
(7a Calle 7-17, Zona 4; meals Q40-60; 7am-9pm; )
Totonicapán's most conventional restaurant
is a meat-and-tortillas sort of establishment, where bow-tied waiters deliver heaping help-
ings of steak, chicken and seafood.
RESTAURANT
Getting There & Away
'Toto' buses from Quetzaltenango depart every 10 minutes or so (Q6, one hour)
throughout the day from the Rotonda on Calz Independencia (passing through Cuatro
Caminos). The last direct bus to Quetzaltenango leaves Toto at 6:40pm.
San Francisco El Alto
POP 42,108 / ELEV 2582M
High on a hilltop overlooking Quetzaltenango, some 17km away, stands the town of San
Francisco El Alto, whose Friday
market
is regarded as the biggest and most authentic in the
country. The large plaza in front of the 18th-century church is covered in goods. Stalls are
crowded into neighboring streets, and the press of traffic is so great that a special system
of one-way roads is established to avoid colossal traffic jams.
