July 6th and 7th

July 6^th and 7^th:  Wednesday we went to the temple and did a sealing session.  Mom and I both printed off some names we had in our account that were ready for sealings.  We had a wonderful time in the temple.  The Spirit was strong and we felt the love of the Lord.  Afterward we packed up and headed for Huehuetenango with a stop first in Chiantla.  We read that it was famous for silver and bronze work, but we didn’t find any shops.  We found the LDS church by accident on our way out of town.  

Government building in Chiantla.

The church in Chiantla with the silver Virgin del Rosario.

The silver Virgin del Rosario, believed to have healing power.

Church doors in Chiantla.

We drove straight to Huehuetenango and decided to visit the ruins of Zaculeu before going into the city to find a hotel.  Zaculeu is a remnant of the capital of the Mam people.  The ruins were restored by the United Fruit Company in the 1940’s when they were covered with plaster.  Although hardly authentic, is does preserve the look of the ceremonial center as it would have been 600 years ago. In 1525, the city was attacked by the Spanish during a siege that lasted several months.  Kayb’il B’alam, the city’s last ruler, finally surrendered to the Spanish due to starvation. The ruins were also used in the Tarzan movie “Blue Stone from Heaven” filmed in 1967.  There is also a small museum that we visited. 

These buses are affectionately called "chicken buses".  I think because you might see chickens either on the inside or on the top.  The bus drivers are crazy and they are some of the fastest vehicles on the road.  Get out of their way.  And definitely don't pass them.  I made that mistake and the driver took it personally and chased us down the road until I let him pass me.

The farms are really beautiful.

Zaculeu.

Zaculeu.

Zaculeu.

Zaculeu.

Zaculeu.

Ball courts are found in most Mayan cities.

Zaculeu.

Mam artifacts in the Zaculeu museum.

Notice the Mam huipil.

Some skeletons were found in funerary jars.

I made two friends at Zaculeu.

We then drove into the city and had lunch at a hotel/restaurant.  I was on the street in front of the hotel/restaurant and wanted to park in a public garage, but Mom said, “They say they have parking, just drive in.”  Well, we drove into a small parking lot that was full.  After waiting for 15 minutes for them to move cars and vans around, we were able to park, but would never be able to leave if someone didn’t leave before us.  We had lunch and finally a car left so that we had room to turn around.  But we still had to pull our mirrors in to get passed a car that was parked in the driveway.  This experience ruled out this hotel for the night.  So we went to the next one in the guide book.  They only had rooms next to the street and said it would be very noisy.  Sister Hurst had a different guide book and so we went and found one that was in her book.  It was $15 cheaper and had good parking.  So it ended up costing us $27.00 for our room.  We walked two blocks to the main plaza and visited the church. 

Government building in Huehuetenango.

The church in Huehuetenango.

Inside of the church in Huehuetenango.

This mural in the city offices depicts the battle at Zaculeu. 

We then decided we had enough time to drive to the “Nacimiento del Rio San Juan”, the birth of the San Juan River.  This river begins where water comes out of the ground and then flows down a small waterfall where is quickly becomes a fast flowing river.  It is on the outskirts of Aguacatan.  We finally found it after asking several people.  Everyone would think for a minute and then say, “Recto” (straight).  This made us laugh because President Markham says that is always the answer he gets if he asks for directions and so he is always admonishing his missionaries to be “recto”.  We  took some pictures and then headed back to Huehue.  We realized that it was on our way to Nebaj and we would pass by it again in the morning on our way to Nabaj.  

This is where the water bubbles up and the San Juan river starts.

There is a lot of water pressure and it builds up very quickly to a series of small waterfalls

By the start of the San Juan River.

The trip was filled with beautiful scenery all day long.

We had a dinner of scrambled eggs and beans at the hotel.  We played a game of 5 Crowns and headed to bed.  

5 Crowns anyone?

We could see the Mormon chapel right outside our hotel window in Huehue.  We stopped to talk to 2 Elders (missionaries) on the way back into Huehue and were delighted to learn that there are 3 stakes in the city.

Thursday we got up and headed out of town.  When we got to Aguatacan we realized it was market day.  I found a parking lot and we started walking up the main street toward the market and lo and behold, who crosses the street and gives us a big hug and welcome, but President Funes and his wife and grandson.  Turns out he is from Aguatacan and was there visiting relatives.  Sister Funes is from Huehuetenango and they were visiting her family also. We had a nice chat and each headed our separate way.  The market was great and walking down a back street we came across a woman selling some cortes, native skirts.  She had a beautiful one with lots of embroidery on it.  I asked how much and while I was thinking, she lowered the price.  I bought it for Mom.  She won’t use is as a skirt, but we might cover a bench or chair with it.  It is very heavy fabric and we both love the colors, and of course the memory of our trip. 

We were delighted to run into President and Sister Funes, my new second counselor.  They were visiting family in Aguacatan with their grandson

This lady was promoting some city services using a sound system in Aguacatan..  She asked the question, "What is the right of every child?"  I answered, "Health and education".  But Sister Funes' grandson said, "A name and a place in society".  He won a ball for his answer. 

The church in Aguacatan.

Inside the church in Aguacatan.

Mom loves to take pictures of women selling their vegetables.

The huipiles and cortes in Aguacatan were very different than the ones in Xela or Nebaj.

Fresh lettuce anyone?

We love wandering the markets.  They are crowded with so many sights, sounds and smells.

This little lady was selling several things in the street and this piece of fabric caught our eye.  We drew quite a crowd as we negotiated a price and took pictures.  It is one of our favorite purchases.

The beautiful corte we bought in Aguacatan.  It is over 3 yards long.

Close up of the embroidery.

Most of the women only come up to Mom's shoulders.

These three children all got new bikes at the market.  They were so excited.

Many of the older women still wear cloth braided into their hair.

We then drove to Nabaj.  This is one of the 3 cities that make up the Ixil triangle.  This group of natives suffered the worst during the civil war.  We first found a hotel.  It was right in the middle of town and was charming.  We ate dinner and breakfast in the dining room of a 100 year old home that was next to the hotel and  owned by the owner of the hotel.  

We crossed over a number of mountain ranges and could see villages down below.

A long and winding road.

We can highly recommend the Hotel Santa Maria in Nebaj

We went out to lunch after we arrived and then went to the market.  The weavings from this area are very distinctive and we found a number of huipiles and embroidered cloth to purchase.  

Outside the church in Nebaj.  Notice the murals on the right.

Mural outside the church in Nebaj.

Everybody likes ice cream.

Market in Nabaj.

The cortes in Nebaj are all red with different black or yellow stripes.

The market in Nebaj.

I love all these fabrics and had to buy 3 different ones from my friend, Maria.

You can see the similar designs in the different huipiles.

Close up of the weaving.

This was an old huipil that had been used for many years.  It is worn through in several places, but it is so interesting to see how the designs have evolved over the years.

The old huipil is quite faded.

The Nabaj huipiles are very beautiful.

Close up of the weaving.

You can see the similar designs in the different huipiles.

Close up of the weaving.

Weaving all the colors on a backstrap loom.

It was still early and the lady at the hotel mentioned that there were two farms that made Swiss cheese.  Two brothers had emigrated from northern Italy and started these farms.  They are now run by their sons.  We decided to try and find them.  We added the town of Acul into “Lola” and headed out.  When we got on a dirt trail just barely wide enough for the car we thought,  this can’t be right.  So we stopped a man in a mototaxi and asked if the trail went to Acul.  The response was no.  We knew we needed to turn around and get back to the center of town.  Once in town we asked where the road to Acul was and after asking a few people, we found it and after we were out of town a ways Lola started working again.  It was a dirt road and quite bumpy.  After 45 minutes, we found the first farm.  It looked like it was closed and it was at the end of a very muddy road, so we kept going and found the second farm further down the road.  It was a very steep road down into the farm, but at least it was dry.  We cleaned the middle of the bottom of the car on the grass that was growing in between the tire tracks.  It was a lovely farmhouse with some little cabins you can rent.  We sampled some cheese and bought a wheel of Swiss cheese.  

We felt right at home in the Cuchumatanes mountains.  It reminded us of the Rocky Mountains, only with the addition of palm trees.

There really were a thousand things to love about this place.

Down this dirt road to Mil Amores, A Thousand Loves, the cheese farm.

Beautiful veranda at the cheese farm.

The view across the valley from the cheese farm.

These cute girls sold us cheese. They are sisters.

Collecting wood is one of the time consuming domestic chores.

A family of four on a motorcycle.  This is a common sight.

We drove back to Nabaj and visited a small museum and then had dinner at the hotel and headed to bed.  All the pictures will tell the story much better than my words.  We feel so blessed to have seen so many beautiful places and have had such amazing cultural experiences.  

Sculptures from archaeology museum in Nebaj.

He kind of looks like something from Star Trek.