| Easter A Different View - SHORTENED
March 29 - April 08, 2007
March 13-23, 2008
11 days/ 10 nights
Thursday
Leave early and fly to Guatemala City. Arrival time will depend
on your departure city. You will be picked up at the airport and
taken to Antigua.
Friday
You have arrived on the important Holy Day of La Virgen de los Dolores.
Processions start at 3a.m. and go on all day. In the afternoon we
may see the children’s procession where the boys carry a float
of Jesus Nazareno and the girls carry a float of La Virgen. A funeral
march band concert in front of La Merced church at 8p.m. concludes
the week of procession for the “Virgin of Sorrows”.
Saturday
For early risers a women’s procession leaves the San Francisco
church, winds down the Calle de los Pasos, stopping for the 14 Stations
of the Cross. This commemorates the journey Jesus took to his crucifixion.
Another procession takes place in the afternoon. We leave after
lunch for Chichicastenango. We now will start our tour of the fabulous
Maya Highlands. There is not a better way to start than our night
in the famous Mayan Inn…built in the 1930’s, long before
paved roads, this hotel is virtually a museum of colonial furniture
and artwork.
Sunday
Palm Sunday. Chichicastenango, with the famous Sunday market. We
will be on site to see the colorful procession and observance of
Palm Sunday in this heart of Quiche Maya territory. In addition,
this highlands town has the most impressive native market in Guatemala.
For over 1,000 years this market has been barter and trading grounds
for various groups… etc, descend from highland villages to
bring textiles, crafts, etc, in a long-standing tradition.
The famous church of Santo Tomas is home to both Indian and Catholic
traditions and friendly to tourists. Altars full of candles and
flower offerings, burning corncobs of copal resin, greet the eyes
and nose.
A second night at the famous Mayan Inn.
Monday
A three-hour drive takes us to Quetzaltenango, the largest town
in the Highlands. If time permits, we will stop in a small village
to see the most “Mayan Folk-Art Baroque” of churches
in Guatemala. Museums, parks, and churches are worth seeing as you
walk around town. Lunch in Quetzaltenango. Afterwards, an optional
activity of visiting the nearby town of Salcaja, home to the oldest
church in Guatemala, as well as center of the foot-loom weaving
industry of ikat cloth. A visit to a weaving cottage is possible.
Tuesday
We will visit small villages around Quetzaltenango…we will
choose from among the five that are within 5-15 miles of the “city”.
Some have hot springs, some unusual textiles, one musical instruments
etc. A must is a stop in Zunil to see the church and saint figures.
Also this is one of the few towns in Guatemala where the indigenous
saint, San Simon, is still a revered and holy figure. We will pay
a visit to his shrine. After returning to Quetzaltenango, at dusk
there is a simple and moving procession of indigenous women carrying
religious figures from the local church. A living tableau of local
traditional dress and faces, this simple procession is one of my
favorite experiences in Guatemala.
Wednesday
We will make the scenic drive to Lake Atitlan.
As we approach the lake, you will see the breathtaking views as
we drop down into the “center of the world”(as the ancient
Maya call it). The vast expanse of blue waters surrounded by volcanoes
and hills quilted by “milpas” and coffee fincas is unforgettable.
We will lunch in Panajachel.
After lunch, we launch. Yes, a boat ride across
the lake to the town of Santiago Atitlan, home of the Tzutujil Maya.
This town is the center of the Maya Catholicism called “La
Costumbre”. Pre-Hispanic deities and customs are layered by
Catholic Saints. The patron saint, Tzutujil style, is named Maximon
(San Simon) and he is given top billing over “NawaJesuchristo”
during Holy Week.
For the next three days we will be staying at a
lovely hotel on the bay Hotel Santiago Atitlan (with private access
to the beach and waters of the lake), and observe the Mayan version
of Semana Santa. Between the festivities and the natural surroundings,
it will be hard to put the camera down. Should things pale, there
is kayaking, swimming, hang gliding, walking, bicycling, horseback
riding, and boat trips to the other colorful towns around the lake.
(Be forewarned…by this time you might be dizzy from all the
color in Guatemala and you might want to stay in the hotel with
night shades on or watch a black-and-white movie on TV.) We will
be here thru Holy Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Saturday
After lunch, we will take the boat back across the lake, and then
the van for the 3-hour drive back to Guatemala City. A night in
hotel in Guatemala City.
Sunday
We fly back on Easter Sunday. Your Easter eggs and jellybeans will
look pretty bland after the swirling colors and Indian pageantry
of Guatemala. But the indelible sights and sounds of Guatemala will
live on in your mind’s eye and thru your camera lens!
Optional Extension: Spend one more night in Santiago
Atitlan to extend the trip to Monday |
