Nebaj, the long and winding road.

After two chicken bus changes (this was again meant to be a direct service!!!) we arrived in Sacapulas, and from there on the road just went up and up towards Nebaj. The road was steep and winding, with many switchbacks, and we climbed constantly for 40 minutes before finally descending into Nebaj, which is still at over 1900m high.

The village is very rural, and is hidden away high in the Cuchumantanes mountains. During the Civil War this village suffered greatly. Here the locals cling proudly to their traditions and the Nebaj women are famous for their green, yellow and purple pom-pommed hair braids. In the market most of the women wear the traditional dress which is stunningly beautiful.

As it is New Year's Eve, many businesses were closed, and unfortunately the Guide Company was also closed for the holiday.

However we found a guide, Gaspar  (or maybe he found us) and he showed us his entry in an older edition of Lonely Planet. He told us about the suffering of the people during the War, and his own personal story of suffering. Apparently his father and mother were killed during the war, when he was just 9 years old. He fled over the border to Chiapas state, in Mexico, and he only returned when the Civil War had finished. While in Mexico he learned Spanish, as until then he had only spoken the local Ixil dialect.

He now works as a guide and uses some of the money to support a safe house for orphans.

Late in the evening the Evangelical church next door to our hotel was blasting out live gospel music, with the help of massive speakers.

At about 5 minutes to midnight bangers started to crack all around, as revellers got ready for the countdown to midnight. No sooner had the bells tolled, than the sky was illuminated with hundreds of rockets and mortars shooting into the night sky. The noise was deafening but the display was awe inspiring as we watched it from our balcony.

It's a New Year's Eve we won't forget in a hurry.

New Year's Day

The New Year greeted us with a sunny morning as we set off up the mountain with our guide. The view over the town and of the mountains all around was stunning, and the sound of mortars and rockets being fired could still be heard in the village far below.

Our guide took us to some ceremonial sites and to the graveyard where the names of the war dead are inscribed on a memorial. It was a very sombre experience.

Once our walk was finished, we headed back to the village where the New Year was being celebrated with some pretty scary dancers, or rather their masks were scary, nothing particularly happy about them - see the pictures!

Although we had considered staying in Nebaj for longer, we decided it was better to move on as we are now running out of time (holidays are never long enough).

We caught the last colectivo (minibus) out of Nebaj at around mid-day, which would take us back to Sacapulas, although we weren't sure if we would get any further due to the New Year holidays.

We "parked" ourselves by the bridge and waited for a bus to appear...but it never did. Luckily what did appear was an open backed pick-up truck which was heading for Aguacatán - that was good enough for us and we climbed into the back. Although it was standing room only on this mode of transport (a mode used frequently by locals) we can honestly say it has been the most thrilling and exhilirating journey we have had so far. With 360 degree views, wind in your hair and a beautiful mountainous landscape the only dampner initially was that it started to rain, but that didn't last and we soon dried out.

The company was good and we had a very interesting and open discussion with some of the locals.

Once at Aguacatán we managed to grab the last two seats on a colectivo to Huehuetenango (Huehue). After an hour in a cramped minibus (not nearly as much fun as an open backed pick-up) we arrived in Huehue.