Jan. 12/13 – Guatemala
Day 164/165 – Guatemala, here we are!! Let me start with when we came within a few miles of the Guatemalan boarder. As we drove over the last hill in Mexico the landscape suddenly changed, creating a new level of green and a crazy vertical dimension for our eyes to take in. Curving our way down to the last village, we could see over the border to a vast volcano-like mountain range, lush with dense tropical plant life that was sweet our eyes and welcomed us to Central America.
The clouds are covering the mountains, but this on the way to the boarder from Mexico
This afternoon’s drive to Quetzaltenango was tranquil, the best reward we could receive after the border crossing. We climbed and crawled (at times in 1st gear, poor Henry) up the retired volcanos, along all the villages which had abundant crops. We moved through the clouds to explore this new environment. We started to get a taste of the culture in this region of Guatemala, where men and women carry loads of wood or dried stalks on their upper backs, and women also carry baskets of goods balanced on their heads, up the mountain highway, back to their abodes. There were so many new plants surrounding us, and water in the form of falls, rivers, and dew. A climate of clouds, forests, continuous grass, and cold air embraced us on our drive.
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Guatemala…..
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joining the clouds
We reached the city right after night and decided to spoil ourselves by staying at a nice hotel, at a great price. Quetzaltenango, (aka Xela – the Mayan name) is a colonial town from the Spanish Conquest. It has a historic center around the Parque Centro America. Our hotel, Kiktem-Ja 13 Ave 7-18 bwt 7 & 8 Calle – 761.4303, is one block off the park, with a stone courtyard where Henry was able to rest. Off the courtyard are the rooms.
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The rooms are held to their original charm, with all wood floors, ceilings, and furniture. We also have a fireplace to help keep the room warm. Trust me, Xela at this time of year is cold! The temperature gets close to freezing in the middle of the night, but during the day it will warm up. When the sun comes out we can even take off our hats and jackets.
warming up after a cold evening.
We spent our first day searching for a Spanish School. We decided to go with INEPAS, a non-profit group that has two programs. A Spanish School program that caters to all levels of learning, and a Social Service program that helps the surrounding area, which students can get involved in. We decided to stay in the hotel for the rest of the weekend while we explored the city and enjoyed our historic surroundings.
Tags: 09 - Guatemala, guatemala, hotel, Quetzaltenango, spanish school, xela
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Hi — Enjoyed reading your adventures in Xela, Guatemala. We are going in Jan 2007 and considering school at INEPAS. It sounds as though you were pleased with the language classes there. Any other comments you’d like to pass along, in terms of quality of teachers, after-class excursions, etc? Thanks. Happy travels, Rita