Introducing Quetzaltenango (Xela)
Quetzaltenango, which the locals kindly shorten to Xela (shell-ah), itself an abbreviation of the original Quiché Maya name, Xelajú, may well be the perfect Guatemalan town – not too big, not too small, enough foreigners to support a good range of hotels and restaurants, but not so many that it loses its national flavor. The Guatemalan ‘layering’ effect is at work in the city center here – once the Spanish moved out, the Germans moved in and their architecture gives the zone a somber, some would say Gothic, feel.
Xela attracts a more serious type of traveler –people who really want to learn Spanish, and then stay around and get involved in the myriad volunteer projects on offer.
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