Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Banrural
(Central Plaza)
changes US dollars (cash or traveler's checks) and has an intermit-
tently functional ATM.
Getting There & Away
Buses and microbuses depart from the main street between the plaza and the church.
About 10 buses leave for Huehuetenango (Q25, 2½ hours) between 4:30am and 2pm. Mi-
crobuses leave throughout the day, whenever they fill up. There are three buses northwest
to Jacaltenango between 3pm and 5 pm. Another heads for La Mesilla at 11 am.
North to San Mateo Ixtatán
North of the Todos Santos turnoff, the paved road winds up between often mist-shrouded
cliffs and a precipitous gorge. Out of the mists emerge a pair of massive fingers of granite,
known as the
Piedras de Captzín
.
Soon after, you arrive in
San Juan Ixcoy
, where the women wear traditional white
huipiles
embroidered at the collar and hanging almost to their ankles. A rough 10km track leads to
the
Pepajaú waterfalls
from the village of
San Lucas Quisil
, just north of San Juan. Their 250m
drop is an impressive sight, particularly after the rains. Pickup trucks can get you to the
trailhead at the Río Quisil, from where it's a delightful two- to three-hour walk to the falls.
Some 70km north of Huehuetenango,
Soloma
fills a valley and spreads up into the hills.
This agricultural town is one of the biggest in the Cuchumatanes. The Maya here speak
Q'anjob'al, but most of the
ladino
cowboys will greet you in English! Soloma's prosperity
and its residents' language skills can be attributed to the migratory laborers who annually
make the arduous trip to the US, working as cowhands, auto detailers or landscapers. On
Sunday, market day, the town floods with people from surrounding villages. The pink-
and-pastel
Hotel Don Chico
(
)
, opposite the main Catholic
7780-6087; 4a Av 3-65; s/d Q90/180;
church, is the most comfortable lodging in town.
Just over the hill from Soloma, the town of
Santa Eulalia
feels much more remote and tra-
ditional. It can get quite chilly here. This is sheep-farming territory, and you'll see shep-
herds wearing
capixays
(short woollen ponchos) in the fields. The town has a reputation
for producing some of the finest marimbas in the country, with locally grown hormigo
trees providing the wood for the keys. Factories and workshops producing marimbas line
the streets around the plaza. If you're interested in the production process, wander in and
ask to be shown around.
