Acul to Quezeltenango, Guatemala

The main square in Nebaj - getting ready for one of the
constant events going on before Navidad

We left early from the Hacienda for the long drive to Quetzaltenango and as expected it took about 5.5 hours. Again, the scenery was beautiful and the towns interesting. Most people in Guatemala refer to this city as Xela (shellah), a lot easier. It's the second largest city in the country and a Colonial city built over the original Mayan city Xelaju. We had reservations for the Casa Renaissance but stayed one night in the Gato Negro Hostel (Black Cat - ), when the former wasn't available for an additional night.  Both were great. The Black Cat has a bar/restaurant and is a wonderful place to meet lots of people, mostly young. Casa Renaissance is an old home restored with 4 rooms sharing baths and 1 apartment, which we had. Our hostess Marieke is Dutch and made us very comfortable. There's a well equipped kitchen to cook in and a big TV with streaming movies. We watched several, noteworthy was The Big Lebowski and Willow. More on our time in Xela later.

The Church facade in Nebaj

Women are wearing the traditional colors and designs of
this community. They are predominately red. It's a cool
morning so many are wearing sweaters but the older women
still use shawls.

It's hard to take photos of the women so I often get their backs

You can see a variety of headdresses being worn. Some like the woman third from left were elaborate winding of ribbons while many wear a folded cloths on their heads like the woman in the center.

The younger women are likely not to wear
headdresses at all.

Snapped from the car on the road. It was too narrow with
steep drop offs or ditches for us to stop anywhere where there
were views.

I took this picture and the similar one to the left
through the car windshield. People pack into the
back of the trucks and go long distances!

It's clearly a job to hang on!

After we left Santa Cruz de Quince we joined an even
smaller road and found this barricade not far along. They
were rebuilding the road (on the Sunday before Christmas)
and closed the road for 40 minutes. A crowd of cars joined
the line behind us and everyone got out, visited and snacked
until it finally opened again. No one seemed upset!

We stayed one night at a the Black Cat Hostel in
Quezeltenango and then moved to the Casa Renaissance.
This charming American girl, Ann, was working there
temporarily, here with a friend.

The children are so beautiful and once in awhile let
me take their photo. They love seeing the picture
afterwards.

This galleria had shops and restaurants inside under the glass
roof, a copy of an Italian design.

We loved this family group performing in the city square.

This bridge was built during a huge flood to cross the street?
That's what the sign said.

Families are all out at night in the Plaza and this one
asked me to take their photo with their cameras
 and then, as you can see, took one of us with them.

It's really cold at night here and this woman was really
bundled up. I love her hat!

The streets around the Plaza are blocked with temporary
restaurants and people selling food and goods.

It was early in the evening - the action really starts quite late.

We couldn't resist these freshly made churros - Yum!

The Plaza in the morning mist

Our hostess Marieke outside our "apartment" at Casa
Renaissance

Our living room.