La Ruta de Maya - Guatemala pt 2

Leaving the noisy, dusty towns of Chicicastenango and Santa Cruz del Quiche behind, we head north, into the mountains. From Santa Cruz, the mountains - Guatemala's largest - beckon in the far-away distance. The road, formerly bone-jarring dirt, is now paved, but this makes the ride no less exciting or terrifying. Our driver, an affable fellow named Fidel, seemed like a gentle soul when I spoke to him at the bus station. Behind the wheel a different story emerges. Fidel, I suspect, harbours a deep-rooted dream to be a NASCAR driver. Unfortunately, he has only a mini-van - loaded with 15 passengers - with which to manifest that dream.

You'd never suspect a loaded minivan can be the fastest vehicle on a winding mountain road, but Fidel ensures this is so. Uphill, downhill, around blind corners - all these are to Fidel suitable passing situations. Tanya and I grip the seats in front of us with white-knuckled fright. Rest assured, when we bring our clients back here, Fidel will not be at the wheel. I cross myself in prayer and look forward to Matt's laid-back 'we'll get there when we get there' driving style when we got back to Antigua.

We arrive in Nebaj to the hustle and bustle of a crowded Mayan town. A Mayan ceremony is in progress on the steps of the town church. We transfer to the bus bound for Acul, and load on with about 12 Ixil women and their children. Their huipiles and colourful headdresses are a sight to behold - intricate, bright and tied in Escher-like impossible knots. A girl of about 6 sits in front of us, eating mango and staring straight at us. Tourists are not common in these parts. No one on the bus seems to speak Spanish - we are in Mayan country now, and Ixil is the lingua franca here. It's a fascinating language, full of glottal stops and grunts, yet beautiful in its own way. I sit in this bus, surrounded my descendants of a thousand-year-old culture, and am once again in awe of this wonderful world.

The van climbs further into the mountains, leaving the urban sting of Nebaj behind; soon we are in the pastoral beauty of the Guatemalan countryside, and it's beyond stunning. The mountains are green and lush; we pass small villages that look unchanged from the time of the Maya. When the driver stops and yells 'San Antonio' I feel as if he might as well have said 'Paradise!'

Everywhere is green. A quiet creek meanders alongside the road, and a small Australian shepherd comes out to greet us, tail wagging. The driver points up the road at a beautiful hacienda up the hill. I'd pictured a small, simple farm with a few rustic shacks. This is a scene straight out of The Sound of Music, only far less cheesy.

The valley is ringed on 3 sides by steep mountains. As we stand on the road taking pictures, a group of Mayan men, heading home with horses and machetes in tow, greets us with a friendly wave. We grab our luggage and set off up the driveway to start the next chapter of our Guatemalan journey, in the heart of Ixil country...