Todos Santos Cuchumatan, Guatemala

Every year the sleepy town of Todos Santos comes alive for All Saint’s Day (“Todos Santos” means “All Saints” in Spanish).  A few days before and after November 1st, street vendors setup shop, men start drinking, and a few more gringos than normal trickle in to participate in the festivities.

The culminating event is the horse race where drunk men race horses back and forth in a dangerous display of machismo and debauchery.  It’s quite a sight to see them galloping back and forth in their traditional garb yelling out to the throngs of onlookers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aside from the event, Todos Santos is a pretty special place.  The men and women still wear their traditional clothing.  You’ll hear more Mam (their indigenous language) than Spanish.  And the town itself is nestled among the mountains at 2500m elevation.  It was great to see the cultural identity of the people here and to have the opportunity to participate in their celebration of All Saint’s Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where We Stayed:  Hotelito Todos Santos.  Roof deck that overlooks the town, hot water, friendly, clean.

Where We Ate:  There’s street vendors all over town during the festival.  Another great option was Comedor Katy.  They have really tasty cheap traditional food.   It was also where we heard a tragic story from one of the women that worked there.  She had lived in the US and her children were in the US, but she had been recently deported (we think) back to Guatemala.

What We Did:  Drank with locals, watched horse races, froze in the crisp mountain air, ate too many street tacos, drank bad instant coffee