Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
American-style food the likes of soy burgers. The bread is freshly baked on the premises.
For steaks, fajitas, and tasty sandwiches,
Restaurante El Rancho
(Cantón Xalacul, Barrio
Tipepala, tel. 7755-8019 or 5715-5360, all meals daily) is a good bet and is popular with
the NGO crowd. On the road out of town heading out to Sacapulas,
Asados El Pasabién
(tel. 5701-2222, noon- 11 P.M. daily) serves scrumptious grilled meats and chicken in a
simple environment.
Information and Services
Nebaj'sdefactotouristinformationofficeisElDescanso(3aCalleZona1,tel.5311-9100).
It also serves as an all-in-one travel clearing-house and services center providing Internet
access ($1.50 per hour). Guías Ixiles is also based here and they run the very informative
website
www.nebaj.com
.
Thepostofficeisat5aAvenida4-37,oneblocknorthofthecent-
ral plaza.
For money, Banrural, on the north side of the plaza, has an ATM.
Established by the same folks who began El Descanso,
Nebaj Language School
(
www.nebaj.com/nls.htm
)
offers 20 hours of one-on-one teaching per week for $130, in-
cluding homestay with a local family (includes two meals a day), two guided treks, and
discounted Internet and food at El Descanso.
Volunteeropportunitiesareavailablethrough
Community Enterprise Solutions (CES),
a nonprofit organization working with local businesses in Nebaj and started by two former
Peace Corps volunteers. CES seeks to get local business enterprises up and running for
the benefit of local inhabitants and acts as a consulting service to those already on their
feet. These businesses are featured on the very useful website found at
www.nebaj.com
,
which it manages. Volunteer opportunities are listed on the website at
www.nebaj.com/vo-
lunteer.htm
and include teaching, marketing/business planning, and translating with com-
mitment times ranging from one week to three months or longer.
Getting There
Bus schedules in Nebaj, as in most small rural towns, are somewhat elastic. The bus depot
is two blocks southeast of the plaza. There are several daily buses and minivans to Santa
Cruz del Quiché, with the last bus leaving sometime around 5 P.M. All of these stop in
Sacapulas along the way. There are frequent buses and minivans to neighboring Chajul,
Cotzal, and Acul.
ACUL
Originallyestablishedasoneofthe“modelvillages”undertheauthoritarianhandofEfraín
Ríos Montt, Acul is starting to come into its own. It features friendly folk and a spectacu-
lar Swiss-like mountain setting enhanced by the presence of quaint dairy farms. There are
