Barely on the map

Nebaj is a little town tucked away in the region of Quiche in the Guatemalan altiplano, around 2,000 metres high. It´s part of what´s called the Ixil triangle, which is the name of the local indigeneous population.

This place is remote... In fact, on many maps of Guatemala, Quiche is just one big blank space... Apparently, the Ixil region was virtually unknown to the rest of the country up until the end of the nineteenth century! As a result, the local culture is still pretty strong, for example not everyone speaks spanish or when they do it sounds even funkier than mine...

Market day

This region got it pretty bad during the country´s civil war. Massacres and disappearances were pretty common. For example, in1981, sixty-eight people were massacred  . Army presence can still be seen.

Trekking to the next town over

Kinda looks like Switzerland

Except that there´s a huge pollution and trash problem. Below is the same picture looking down...

I stayed clear of the milk...

Deforestation is also rampant...

...Because a key source of energy is firewood. A huge amount of people, time and energy gets dedicated to wood gathering. Wood smoke and smell is omnipresent...

Especially a job from the local kids...

Still, pretty though

Arriving in Copop, the next village over...

Nebaj also has a cool litle museum. Even though many found pieces just get sold in Antigua to tourists...

Full picture set Here.

The Lake

Lake Atitlan must be Guatemala's answer to Italy's lake Cuomo. A very special place...

Casa Del Mundo, the great hotel where I´m staying...







More pictures here. 

The presidential election

No not the US` donkeys Vs.elephants, or even France's election... But Guatemala had its very own presidential election in September 2011. And the advertising is still everywhere, expecially on billboards and street ads. You`d think the election is tomorrow... Along the roads, probably one out of every four house has some type of spray painted logo like the one below.

Partido Patriota actually won the election with law and order being the #1 campaign issue. And despite Guatemala being a fairly macho country, all the main parties had women as vice presidents on their ticket.

It probably doesn t take a symbology expert to figure out that Partido Patriota is a right wing party...

And the flying hands logo would be your left-wing party... Oddly enough, all the logos of the main parties seem to involve hands for some reason.

Centrist party.

Most interesting were the billboards below which I saw a few times

Translation? Politicians are shits and we've had enough.
Now that`s something that would also resonate in the US and French presidential elections!

Mount Doom

One morning I decided to trek up Pacayo, the local volcan. It's aactually a live volcano which last erupted in 2010 when the lava eruption reached a height of about 1 km, 3 people killed, airport closed... But when it's not acting up, there's a geothermal plant that transforms the heat into electricity, servicing a few hundred thousand people and exports electricity all the way to Honduras.

It's looking pretty calm at the moment. In fact, it's completely covered in fog and mist...

This landscape feels familiar...

Oh yeah, Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings:

Let´s go hobbits!

The fellowship of the ring + a dog...

Expecting to be attacked by an orc at any minute but still smiling...

To really get a sense of the vibe check out the videos shot all the way at the top:

VIDEO 1

VIDEO 2.

I think we can all agree I look the part...

Magma heat is coming up through this hole. Quite comfy on a cold morning.

In fact, it's hot enough for some s'mores a la magma...

That dog just caught a marshmallow! Now I know why they were following us...

The hound of the marshmallows.

Naturally the weather improved as soon as we walked down....

CLICK HERE for more pictures (with witty captions) of the Mount Doom trek 

The procession

The day I arrived was Lent, which is kind of a big deal here. They had a whole procession through town. And yes, those women are carrying that. Check out the videos below...

That's a lot of dudes in purple robes...

CLICK HERE for video 1: Women carrying Mary.


CLICK HERE for video 2: Men carrying Jesus, himself carrying the cross...

I think this is where the procession gets on its knees...

These were just lying around in an abandoned church....

The robe shop which does very brisk business one week per year....