Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
comendero
watching over Mayan workers in the silver mine. The church is a pilgrimage
site throughout the year, but especially on February 2 during the annual town festival. Chi-
antla's town center features two adjacent plazas, with one of them graced by a municipal
building with a clock tower very much like the one in Huehuetenango. There are buses
from Chiantla to Huehuetenango (and vice versa) about every 20 minutes. Heading out
from Huehue, the buses stop at 1a Calle and 1a Avenida on the way out of town, which is
much closer to the city center than the bus terminal.
Aguacatán
Heading east from Chiantla on the paved road toward Sacapulas, you'll pass this small ag-
ricultural town at the base of the Cuchumatanes. The village is the product of a merger of
two distinct groups of people, the Chalchitek and Awakatek, into a single community by
Dominican friars during colonial times. Today, they still speak separate languages. Gold
and silver were mined here during colonial days, though nowadays its economic activit-
ies are centered around the production of abundant crops, most notably garlic. The weekly
market is held on Sunday, with traders arriving and setting up shop on Saturday afternoon.
The town's other claim to fame is the
nacimiento
(source) of the Río San Juan, which
bubblesupfromtheunderbelly ofarockyhillside about20minutes' walkoutsideoftown.
For accommodations and food, your best bet is two blocks north of the plaza at
Hotel y
Restaurante San Juan
(tel.7766-0110,$7-15d),withcleanroomswithorwithoutprivate
bathroom.
El Mirador
The road winds its way out of Chiantla up the vertiginous face of the Cuchumatanes, with
the superimposed quilt pattern of corn- and wheat fields upon the countryside transitioning
tooneofgrassesandheartymagueyplantsatabout2,700meters(9,000feet).Atthetopof
the rise is a lookout point known as El Mirador or La Cumbre (The Summit), from where
thereareviewsofHuehuetenango andGuatemala'simpressive volcanic chaintothesouth.
From the lookout, the road continues along the 3,300 meter (11,000-foot) Paquix plateau,
characterized by smooth, rounded hills with scant vegetation that conjure images of the
Peruvian Andes or Alaska. Windblown grasses, black granite rocks, sturdy maguey plants,
and herds of sheep pepper the surrounding countryside with the occasional adobe house
occupied by ruddy Mayans more closely resembling their South American Inca relatives.
The recent introduction of llamas to these areas adds further similarity.
