Guatemala Guide
The western highlands
Todos Santos Cuchumatán
As you approach Todos Santos Cuchumatán, you'll start to see villagers wearing the local traditional costume, the men in their red-and-white-striped trousers, black woollen breeches and brilliantly embroidered shirt collars; the women in dark blue cortes and superbly intricate purple huipiles. TODOS SANTOS CUCHUMATÁN sits at the bottom of a steep-sided, deep-cut river valley, and is strung out along an elongated main street that's plotted with tiendas and some venerable old wooden houses. There's an excellent community website – 
www.stetson.edu/~rsitler/TodosSantos – dedicated to the Todos Santos region.
As usual, most of the people the village serves don't actually live here. The immediate population is around 2500, but there are perhaps ten times that many people in the surrounding hills who depend on Todos Santos for trade, supplies and social life. This population is more than the land can support, and many travel to the coast, the capital and the US in search of work. One annual event brings them all home, however – the famous November 1 fiesta for All Saints (todos santos). For three days the village is taken over by unrestrained drinking, dance and marimba music. The event opens with an all-day horse race, which starts out as a massive stampede. On the second day, "The Day of the Dead", the action moves to the cemetery, with marimba bands and drink stalls setting up amongst the graves for a day of intense ritual that combines grief and celebration.
If you can't make it for the fiesta, the Saturday market also fills the village – although it's not as riotous – and is well worth checking out. During the week the village is fairly quiet, making it a pleasant and peaceful place to spend some time and the surrounding scenery is unbelievably beautiful. You could drop by the little museum (9am–5pm; US$0.75) a couple of blocks from the plaza, which has some festival costumes, a marimba or two and some wonderful old photos. The language schools also organize evening events, showing films and documentaries and cultural lectures.
Ten daily buses leave Huehuetenango for Todos Santos (2hr 15min), the last at 4.30pm – get there early to mark your seat and buy a ticket. A few buses carry on down the valley to Jacaltenango. Check the latest schedule at the Hispano Maya.
Of the places to stay, Hospedaje Casa Familiar ( 
7783 0656; Price: $8-12), just uphill from the plaza, has large sparse rooms with wood-plank walls and a very popular terrace café. Hotelito Todos Santos ( 7783 0603; Price: $13-20) – turn left just before you reach the Casa Familiar – is another good choice with small clean rooms, a few with bathroom, friendly staff and a comedor. Just uphill from the end of this street, El Viajero ( 7783 0705; Price: $8-12) is a two-storey concrete structure with humble, fairly clean rooms, and shared bathrooms.
For a meal, cheap and cheerful comida típica is served at the Comedor Katy, just behind the church; a veggie meal goes for just over US$1. Casa Familiar's café enjoys a great setting, and has granola and porridge on the breakfast menu, but the prices are a little steep at around US$3–4 a meal.