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Leaving Guatemala City to the west, the serpentine Carretera Interamericana cuts right through the central highlands as far as the border with Mexico. In its entirety, this road stretches from Alaska to Chile (with a short break in southern Panama), and here in Guatemala it forms the backbone of transport in the highlands. As you travel around, the highway and its junctions will inevitably become all too familiar since, wherever you're going, it's invariably easiest to catch the first local bus to the Carretera Interamericana and then flag down one of the buses heading along the highway. Heading west from the capital, you climb steadily up a three-lane highway to San Lucas Sacatepequez , from where a well-maintained side road descends to Antigua. There are other major junctions on the Interamericana which you'll soon get to know well. The first of these is Chimaltenango , an important town and capital of its own department. From its ugly sprawl along the highway you can also make connections to or from Antigua. Continuing west, Los Encuentros is the next main junction, where one road heads off to the north for Chichicastenango and Santa Cruz del Quiche and another branches south to Panajachel and Lago de Atitlan. Beyond this, the highway climbs high over a mountainous ridge before dropping to Cuatro Caminos , from where side roads lead to Quetzaltenango, Totonicapan and San Francisco El Alto. The Interamericana continues on to Huehuetenango before reaching the Mexican border at La Mesilla. Virtually every bus travelling along the highway will stop at all of these junctions and you'll be able to buy fruit, drink and fast food from a resident army of vendors, some of whom will storm the bus looking for business, while others are content to dangle their wares outside your window. Leaving Guatemala City, the first place of interest is SANTIAGO SACATEPEQUEZ , 1km or so to the north of the highway. The road branches off from San Lucas Sacatepequez and buses shuttle back and forth along the branch road. The best time to visit Santiago is on November 1, for a local fiesta to honour the Day of the Dead . Massive kites made from paper and tobacco are flown in the cemetery to release the souls of the dead from their agony. The festival is immensely popular, and hundreds of Guatemalans and tourists come every year to watch the spectacle. Teams of young men struggle to get the kites aloft while the crowd looks on with bated breath, rushing for cover if a kite comes crashing to the ground. There's also a market in Santiago on Tuesday and Sunday.
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