Lake Atitlan and its villages

Whether or not they agree with the English novelist Aldous Huxley who called it "the most beautiful lake in the world," visitors who travel the winding mountain road to Lake Atitlan cannot help but be impressed by this glorious body of water.

The volcanic lake is more than 5,000 feet above sea level and the maximum recorded depth is over 1,000 feet. At 12 miles long and between 4.5 and 7.5 miles wide, it covers an area of more than 80 square miles. Volcanic in origin, the lake is framed by the three volcanoes - Toliman, Atitlan and San Pedro.

It's a comfortable drive from Guatemala City to Panajachel, which has a fine view of the lake and the volcanoes and is a convenient place to begin your explorations of the many picturesque lakeside villages. We recommend a visit to Santiago Atitlan, the largest of the lake towns, which is noted for its beautiful textiles.

Boats for Santiago leave Panajachel at 9 am every day and return at about 1 pm.

Chichicastenango

This is the market town of Guatemala, a twice-a-week bustling mass of highlands Indians who bring their produce, textiles and other handicrafts from the surrounding towns to sell to merchants from far and wide. The market is on Thursdays and Sundays and is an absolute must if you are in the vicinity.

Stay on an extra day for a chance to concentrate on their other sights of Chichi, including the Church of Santo Tomas, a whitewashed colonial building built around 1540, and the museum which houses a fine collection of jade and incense burners.

Huehuetenango

In the foothills of the towering Cuchumatanes mountains, the city of Huehuetenango is a good starting point for exploring the surrounding towns and countryside.

Try to make it to Todos Santos Cuchumatan, an isolated mountain village where where time seems to have stood still for a few hundred years or so. There is little evidence of the modern world and the people have retained their traditional customs and forms of dress.

Best time to visit is during the town's fiesta which runs from October 31 to November 5.

Quetzaltenango

Beautiful buildings and a colonial-style layout distinguish this city, ranked second in size and importance as an industrial, cultural trading center in Guatemala.

The city's Natural History Museum, housed in one of the city's many neo-classical buildings, contains displays of pottery from the Pacific lowlands, pre-Columbian jade and ceramics, Indian costumes and stuffed animals and birds. There are hot sulfur springs throughout the Quetzaltenango region, including Los Vahos and Almolonga, just outside the city.

There are also many beautiful towns in the region, perhaps the most picturesque being San Francisco el Alto. From the plaza you can see the volcanos Santa Maria and Cerro Quemado as well as the mighty peak of Zunil.

The Friday livestock market is the country's best.

- Nuevo Mundo -