Top Things to do in Western Highlands
Countries
10 Sights & Landmarks in Western Highlands That You Shouldn't Miss
Guatemalas spectacular Western Highlands run from Antigua to the Mexican border. Pines blanket misty hillsides, rivers cascade through sliver-thin ravines, volcanoes rumble overhead. Catch market day or witness offerings to drinking, smoking St. Maximon, in Chichicastenango. See traditional life in the Ixil Triangle. Clamber the Cuchumatanes Mountains. Mayan dialects and ceremonies are still part of everyday life for the majority of Guatemalas indigenous population, living where their ancestors trod.
Restaurants in Western Highlands
1. Iglesia San Andres Xecul
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2 reviews
2. Santa Cruz Spanish School
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 48 reviews
Since 2006. The school is located at Our Hotel Arca de Noe - 1 minute away from the main public dock in Santa Cruz la Laguna. Our teachers are highly qualified and flexible. Students can share different experiences with other teachers! It is possible. Our courses are individually or in a small group designed for everyone. All materials provided by the school are free. Our school includes free WIFI and a great place for coffee or just relax. Though we offer structure, we are always ready to accommodate student's particular needs and desires. Our teachers are ready to help if a student feels the need to spend more time on any phase of the learning process...
Reviewed By laurarU2942BZ
My husband and I were most impressed with the Santa Cruz Spanish School. The communications, price, and reception were all great, but above all the teachers were excellent. My teacher, Juana, a remarkable young woman from the local town, used a diverse range of teaching tools and techniques, which kept things fun and interesting. She was so patient with me and my awful pronunciation. In the beginning, I thought I wasn't advanced enough for a language school, but I was amazed how much I had learned by the end of the week. The school is located lakeside, and the beautiful views offered inspiration and respite. Combined with a stay a few minutes up the hill as Casa de Cameron (Panorama), it was the perfect place to do a language school.
3. The Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute
4. Centro Cultural Santa Catarina
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 4 reviews
Reviewed By Bar67_10
Hidden in Santa Catarina, this center run by a local women cooperative, offers a unique experience not found anywhere else! To get dressed up in traditional Mayan clothes! Don’t miss this opportunity. A must. The center also has a small shop with local crafts, explanations of the different crafts and clothes that define each village, and a coffee house. Enjoy the experience !!!! We definitely did!!!
5. Municipalidad de Quetzaltenango
6. Cafe La Voz
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 3 reviews
Live the adventure of the coffee tour in San Juan La Laguna. A short one kilometer walk that lasts approximately an hour and a half that will allow you to get to know the full cycle of organic coffee production, from harvest to coffee cup. The tour takes place in the plantations and in the processing facilities and also includes your choice of a fine organic coffee cup.
7. Cerro Kiaq’Aiswaan
8. San Antonio Palopo
9. Santa Catarina Palopo Church
10. Colonial Church
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 118 reviews
Reviewed By maritimeexplorer - Nova Scotia, Canada
As most people know, Santiago is the Spanish equivalent of St. James and this rather unprepossessing looking church is, in English, Saint James the Apostle Church. It dates all the way back to the 1540's and lies in the shadow of the mighty Atitlan volcano which rises to 11,598 feet (3,535 metres) which in the Rockies would be a good sized mountain. The steps you see are actually over a thousand years old and once led to a Mayan temple which the Christians of course destroyed to build the church atop in an act of religious oneupmanship. But it didn't actually work as I entered what is one of the most fascinating churches I've ever visited anywhere. Tony our guide took us on a tour of the interior which has more than a few things of passing interest starting with the various saints decorated by groups that are unique to Guatemala, the cofradias. These are religious brotherhoods that date back to the Spanish conquest and were originally intended to help spread Catholicism and stamp out native beliefs. Instead they have morphed into something similar to the krewes of Louisiana who each have their own distinct colours and symbols. The entire church is lined with these brightly coloured figures. Sometimes things are not as they first seem to appear. I've included a photo of the pink cofradia. But take a closer look at the Virgin Mary. She's got two babies, not just the usual one. Here's where things get tricky and try as I might, I can find no one coherent explanation for the two babies. Here is Tony's version. The second baby is actually Judas. Yes, you read that right. For Mayans, the death of their religion at the hands of the Spanish priests was not cause for celebration or a great awakening, but rather an execration. The one figure from Christianity that many of them could embrace was Judas who was responsible for getting Christ killed and thus in their eyes, more powerful than Jesus. There are umpteen versions of the story and they are all bizarre. The altar of the church is fairly standard, but what's behind it is not. The apse has some beautiful woods carvings and a very nice trinity which at first glance looks like an old guy on a motorized scooter. One a more serious note, there is an important monument near the church entrance that is worth examining and learning the story of Father Stanley Rother. He was an American priest who came to Santiago Atitlan and during the civil war, defied the authorities and stood up for the Mayan people that were frequently the target of massacres during this time. For that, he paid with his life and has been recognized as a genuine martyr in every sense of the that word. Although his body is buried in his native state of Oklahoma, Stanley Rother's heart is buried here and that seems appropriate because he gave his heart and his life to the Tz'ujutil people. While I might not agree with religious proselytizing, no one can dispute the goodness of this man's intentions to help the poor and downtrodden. In this world where Catholic priests are just as often seen as predators rather than protectors, it is comforting to know that that some truly follow the true teachings and example of Jesus, even if it costs them their lives. Beside the church is the rectory and Tony points out the very spot where Rother was murdered by a government backed death squad in 1981. Sadly that was not the end of the violence. In 1990, eleven more people were killed in Santiago Atitlan by the army which had a base nearby. That event caused such an international uproar that the base was closed and since then life in this small place has returned to a semblance of normalcy.
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