Nebaj to Todos Santos: All Saints' Day Special Offer

High season is about to begin and we are kicking it off with an Old Town Outfitters special! We have been hiking and biking out in the Cuchumatanes in the past, but now we have finally wrapped our heads around a unique trek and made it work. “Nebaj to Todos Santos, Hut-to-Hut” is a 6-day, 5-night hike across a roughly 70km stretch of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, heading west from the center of the Ixil triangle in Quiché all the way to Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Huehuetenango. 

Not only are you hiking through one of Guatemala’s most serene and remote regions, rich in culturally and historically significant references – you have the chance to do so in time for one of the most important holidays of the year: Día de Todos Los Santos, or All Saints’ Day. Every year on November 1^st, Todos Santos hosts some of the more remarkable and memorable All Saints’ Day festivities you can experience. 

This predominantly Maya Mam town is known throughout Guatemala for the distinctive traditional garb that the locals wear year round. And for All Saints’ Day, they bring out their Sunday best, so to speak. Topping off the festivities is the horse race, an adrenaline-inducing spectacle fueled by the fact that most of the riders are drinking and have been doing so since All Hallows’ Eve, i.e. the night before. 

After the relative craziness of All Saints’ Day, things calm down somewhat on the following day, when people gather to honor the deceased on Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). You don’t have to participate in the race, just being there to watch and take it all in will make for an incomparable adventure and an unforgettable experience.

Would you like to know more about this trip? Here is the summary from our Adventure Guatemala website: 6 days of “out there” trekking across the remote departments of Quiché and Huehuetenango. This trek traverses areas only accessible by foot. We’ll walk through small, seemingly forgotten Mayan villages of people that were displaced by nearly 35 years of civil war. Along the way we stay in small community run hostels and/or hotels and break bread with local families.  Much of the route is above 10,000 ft. across the Guatemalan altiplano.  

We offer 2 options along this classic route; both treks start in the Ixil Mayan stronghold of Nebaj and finish in the remote mountain village of Todos Santos, famous for its “Day of the Dead” festivities. On our hut-to-hut option we rely each night on the hospitality of the local communities we pass through. We will spend 4 nights in community hostels that are set up across the highlands.  We’ll sit around the hearth of a local home and break bread with a local family.  

Our hut and hotel route plies much of the same route with a couple detours to visit 2 boutique hotels nestled in the area.  This is the perfect mix between the more rustic hut to hut and full luxury.  We’ll spend two nights in community hostels and 2 nights in beautiful unique boutique hotels; one a working artisanal cheese farm and the other a horseback riding center.

Can you think of a better way to spend Halloween this year? Thought so. Get in touch with us at adventureguatemala.com, and do so sooner rather than later! We only have 4 spots left on this trip, and Todos Santos is a popular destination this time of the year.