Xela — Guatemala's highland Maya capital, volcano treks, and the most authentic colonial city you've never heard of
Quetzaltenango — universally called Xela (SHAY-la) — is Guatemala's second city and the de facto capital of the Maya K'iche' world. Where Antigua is polished for tourists, Xela is the real thing: indigenous market vendors, Spanish-language schools that changed travellers' lives in the 1990s, and a cool Andean-altitude energy (2,333m above sea level) that suits long stays. The Parque Centroamérica is lined with neoclassical buildings that were ambitious in 1880. Volcán Santa María (3,772m) is a demanding but accessible day hike with views over four departments; the active Santiaguito lava dome…
Xela (short for Xelajú) was a major K'iche' Maya city-state before the Spanish conquest — it was here in 1524 that the conquistador Pedro de Alvarado defeated the K'iche' king Tecún Umán, whose spirit is said to have transformed into a quetzal bird that died when its feathers touched the blood of its fallen king (the national symbol of Guatemala). The city grew into a prosperous coffee-export centre in the 19th century and briefly declared independence as part of Los Altos, a sixth Central American state, in 1838 before being reincorporated into Guatemala. The 1902 eruption of Santa María — o…