Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the Ixcán wilderness
Affectionately called “Huehue” (WAY-way) by locals, this somewhat busy coffee-trading
town sits in a valley overlooking the glaciated peaks of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes.
Because of its location in the mountain chain's rain shadow, the town and surrounding
areas are somewhat drier than the Quiché highlands to the east, which lie on the mountain
chain's windward side. The departmental capital is busy with travelers heading to or from
the western border with Mexico as well as with coffee farmers and traders heading to or
from nearby farms. Since first coming here at the age of three, I watched the town grow
up into a somewhat disorganized agglomeration of trade and commerce, though there has
been a remarkable improvement in the level of its services. It makes a great jumping-off
point for deeper explorations of the very diverse department of Huehuetenango and even
includes a worthwhile site of its own, this being the ruins of Zaculeu just outside of town.
Access to Huehue is mainly via the Pan-American Highway, with the turnoff into town
at Km. 264, from where it's another three kilometers to its center via a boulevard. A re-
