magica.

with antigua in the rearview of the mirrors we were off, heading towards what i consider paradise. *it's incredible how 1 word "paradise" can have only 1 definition yet so many different meanings. what does paradise mean to you? for me it's the following journey.

- road tripping with the one i love spending my time with the most.

(antigua --> xela)

after a few hours we arrived in the first stop of the day Salcajá.  Salcajá is a municipality in the Quetzaltenango department. This little town is known for its production of Caldo de Frutas. This homemade liquor is vivid red in color due to the brewing of hibiscus flower with several native fruits. Rompopo, a yellow alcoholic beverage made from eggs, is also manufactured in the town. Not going to lie the liquor is 1 of the reasons Salcajá made it to our list of destinations. That and their beautiful church.

Salcajá is best known for the Church of San Jacinto, founded in 1524, which was the first church built in Central America. Lucky for us when we arrived it was cleaning hour, which enabled us to enter in. Not only did we get to visit the church as planned but we got the entire place to ourselves. We even explored the attic, which probably seems a bit more interesting than it really was. Sadly, we didn't find any mysterious crosses or antique bibles. After inspecting every square inch of the antique venue it was time to continue on the journey for what we had really set out for - San Andres Xecul.

San Andres Xecul is a small indigenous village in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Although it is really only known for its brightly-painted Catholic church it was enough to make me want to trek cross country. Was it worth the drive for only a short visit? HELL YEAH! Will we return again for another visit? 1000%. Have I stopped thinking about the village and that beautiful bright building since? No way, Jose. (Who's Jose?)

*

Now, let's do the math and sum up our time both getting to and within the village: MAGICAL.