In Guatemala, just south of the second largest city, Quetzaltenango, is a jagged ancient volcano. Its name is Cerro Quemado, which means ‘Burnt Hill’.
Here, almost every day, Guatemalans come from all across the country, hiking up the steep path in their Sunday best. They clamber over petrified lava boulders and step precariously from rock to rock, never wavering from their pilgrimage.
Because this barren volcanic plateau is one of the Central American country’s holiest religious sites, and they have come here to pray.
While living and studying in nearby Xela I heard about Cerro Quemado and wanted to learn more about it, so one Sunday I followed the streams of people and hiked up with my camera. In this post I’ll share some of my favourite stories and images from my visit, as well as information to help you plan your own visit to Cerro Quemado as part of your Guatemala itinerary.
Where is Cerro Quemado?
Cerro Quemado is a plateau on the volcano Almolonga, which rises to a height of 3,197 metres (10.489 feet) just outside the city of Quetzaltenango (also known as Xela).
Dormant since its last eruption in 1818, the volcano has an uneven, double-peaked shape that makes it look a bit like a tooth, which is why it’s also sometimes known as ‘La Muela’ (the molar).
It’s one of 37 volcanos in Guatemala – the most famous of which is the constantly-erupting Volcan de Fuego. But while Fuego might be the tourists’ favourite, Cerro Quemado/Almolonga is popular with locals not for its dramatic fireworks, but for its spiritual importance.
Is Cerro Quemado active?
Although Cerro Quemado is not considered an active volcano at the moment, it does sit on an active volcanic zone, and you may see steam and volcanic gases wafting out from vents between the rocks. There are also several natural hot springs and thermal baths in the area that make a great stop after your hike.
Why is Volcán Cerro Quemado so important?
The Ancient Maya believed that volcanos were holy places where the Gods and spirits resided. And Cerro Quemado is considered one of the best places to get close to the Gods, and get their attention.
That’s why people come from all over the region to pray and perform ceremonies, bringing bunches of flowers and sometimes food and alcohol to leave as offerings to God and the ancestors.
Some people also believe that ‘Juan Noj’, a supernatural Maya being, lives in the volcano, and you will see prayers and thanks to him painted on the rocks around the area.
The best place to find him is at the Cave of Juan Noj. Because it’s believed that this cave is where the spirit lives, local Maya people often come here to perform ceremonies, bringing food, sweets, candles, incense and even a live animals, to offer to the spirit inside the volcano.
Religion in Guatemala
When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they ordered the Maya to convert to Catholicism or be killed. Many converted, but continued to practise their own religion in secret. Today religion in Guatemala is a fascinating hybrid of Maya, Catholic, Evangelical Protestant and even some Jewish practises, where colourful Maya images sit happily alongside Catholic iconography, and religious festivals incorporate both Maya and Christian elements.
All religion can be seen at Cerro Quemado: Evangelical protestants worship side by side with Catholics, and a Jewish flag and Star of David stand proud at the top of the volcano.
A great example of this religious fusion can also be seen at the Catholic church at San Andres Xecul, also near Xela, where the brilliant yellow façade is decorated with Christian and Maya imagery.
Some of the people I met hiking Cerro Quemado
During my visit to Cerro Quemado, I spent a couple of hours walking around and chatted to many of the pilgrims, who were happy to share their stories and let me take their photos.
In Guatemala’s highlands the majority of the population is indigenous Maya, and most of the women wear traditional Maya dress with heavy woven skirts and sandals or flip flops. Many of the men were in their ‘Sunday best’ and smart shoes. Some were local and come every week, others had come from much further away, as a special pilgrimage with their family or church group.
Juanita Salvador is a church leader from Chichicastenango, about 2 hours’ drive from Quetzaltenango. She’s here on behalf of other people in her congregation who cannot make the journey themselves. She has a list of requests and prayers for people who are hoping for good luck in their business, freedom from debt, or recovery from illness.
After taking this image and several others I took down Juanita’s phone number so I could send her the images. This is always something I try to do where possible, as a thank you to people for giving me their time.
Santos Chacaj was one of the first people I met when I arrived at the Cerro Quemado plateau. He lives locally in Xela, and comes to pray here every week. Like many of the other people I met, he has brought flowers to leave as an offering.
Today Doña Cristina, in the red headscarf, has brought her grandchildren in a bus with about 12 others from her town. They started their journey at 5 am and they usually visit about once every 3 months.
Pedro GarcÃa, below, is a photographer who hikes up every day. He sells images to people to commemorate their visit, which he prints on a portable printer. He charges Q20 (about £2) for a photo; at the time I spoke to him he had sold six so far.
Taking photos in Guatemala
As you can see, I was able to take lots of photos of the people visiting Cerro Quemado. The key to this – especially in a location where people may be extra sensitive – is to be very open about what you are doing, be respectful, and ask permission where possible.
In Guatemala people are, understandably, not keen on tourists just rocking up and shoving a camera or a smartphone in their faces. But if you show respect and are polite, many (though not all) are happy to let you take a photo. This is even more important at Cerro Quemado, where many people may be having private and intimate moments, and it’s not appropriate to photograph them.
I walked around for a while with my camera around my neck without taking any photos, so people could see what I was doing. Then, if I wanted to take someone’s picture, I said hello with a smile, and chatted to them for a little bit, before asking for a photo.
If you are taking photos from a distance, or a wider scene with lots of people in, you don’t need to ask everyone (and it wouldn’t be possible to do so anyway), but you may find that someone spots you and either hides their face, turns away, or shakes their head ‘no’. In which case you should of course put the camera down, smile and walk away.
Read more: The Colourful Market In Solola Guatemala: A Photo Guide
How to visit Cerro Quemado Xela
Cerro Quemado is easily accessible from Quetzaltenango (aka Xela). To get there, you’ll need to get a bus from Guatemala City. Both Alamo and Xelabus run intercity services several times a day; the journey takes about 4-5 hours depending on traffic.
Or if you’re coming from Antigua or Lake Atitlan, the easiest way is to grab a tourist shuttle transfer.
Read more: Backpacking in Guatemala: All You Need To Know Before You Go
From the Parque Central in Xela, you can actually walk all the way to Cerro Quemado in about two hours. To find it, the simplest way is to plug it into Google Maps and follow the directions on your phone.
Otherwise, simply walk south out of Central Park until you can’t go south anymore, then turn left until you reach 9A Avenida, and then follow it uphill and keep going. If you need to ask for directions, ask for Cerro Quemado or Canton Chicua.
If you don’t want to walk all the way from central Xela, you can also easily grab an Uber (which works well in Xela) or a taxi from the taxi rank in Parque Central and ask the driver to take you to Canton Chicua.
Canton Chicua is a small settlement at the foot of Almolonga volcano. When you get here, you’ll almost certainly see a small stream of people heading up the mountain, so simply follow the path (and them). You’ll also see several stalls selling flowers, which people buy and carry up the mountain to leave as offerings to the gods. Ask any one of the vendors and they’ll tell you which way to go.
The walk from Canton Chicua up to the Cerro Quemado plateau will take about 45 minutes to one hour, and is fairly easy, though at times it may require a little bit of scrambling or climbing over large boulders.
Almolonga or Cerro Quemado or La Muela?
As I’ve mentioned, this volcano has three names, and I must admit I did find it a bit confusing working out which was which. To be honest, some people use the names interchangeably for the whole volcano, and some use them to denote different areas on the same volcano. No one seems to know for sure which is which!
However, what I can tell you from having been there is that there are essentially two main areas. One is the plateau you can see in these images, where people go to worship, and which most people call Cerro Quemado. You can walk up to here in about an hour from the foot of the mountain, and you don’t need a guide.
Then there is also the hike to the summit of Almolonga at 3,197 metres (10.489 feet). This is a much more challenging 3-4 hour climb over craggy volcanic debris, and it’s very easy to get lost, so I strongly recommend going with a guide if you want to do this. If you start early and hike all the way to the peak, you can also visit Cerro Quemado and meet the locals on your way back down.
Although a guide is not strictly necessary to hike up to Volcan Cerro Quemado, I went with my friend and local guide Rony Turnil. You can find out more about him in my Santa Maria Volcano post.
Visiting Almolonga
As well as being the name of the volcano, Almolonga is also the name of the nearby town. There’s not much to see here, and if you take the route outlined above you won’t even need to pass through the town. But it’s worth noting that Almolonga is a little bit famous in Guatemala due to apparently being a place where God has worked a miracle. You see, this farming community grows some of the largest vegetables in the country, as a result of which some people call it the ‘Vegetable Basket of the Americas’ (La Hortaliza de las Américas).
Some locals and Christian evangelists credit this abundance to the work of God. But a BBC documentary investigated, and discovered that a more credible reason is that the farmers here use huge amounts of fertiliser and pesticides. A miracle? Or science? You decide.
Rock climbing at Cerro Quemado
The area around the Almolonga volcano is also popular with climbers. I’m not a rock climber at all, so I can’t give you much information about this, but I did hear from those that know that the crag’s sharp volcanic rock is good for sport wall climbing and even crack trad climbing, and that local climbers have traced routes and placed ‘ears’ to help you. There’s more information for rock climbing fans here.
When is the best time to visit Cerro Quemado?
You can hike up any time, but as with all of Guatemala’s volcanos it’s better to go in the morning, as clouds tend to gather over the peaks from late morning onwards. Sundays are the most popular day for worshippers, so if you want to meet some of them, then that’s the day to pick. But you are likely to see some people praying or performing ceremonies most days.
Other great things to do near Cerro Quemado Quetzaltenango
You’ll almost certainly be visiting Cerro Quemado on a morning’s excursion from Xela. Here are a few other similar trips you can do while you’re in town.
Hike up Volcan Santa Maria
This was the first hike I did in Guatemala, and still remains one of my favourites. It’s a steep and challenging 4-hour ascent to the top of Volcan Santa Maria at 3,772 m, but if you manage to get good weather, the views down to the smoking cone of Santaguito and across to Guatemala’s ‘volcano alley’ are second to none.
Read more: A Sunrise Hike Up Volcan Santa Maria In Xela, Guatemala
Hike to Laguna Chicabal
Another deeply sacred religious site, Chicabal is a Crater Lake where local Maya people come to pray and leave offerings of flowers. It’s about an hour’s driver (or Uber ride) to the park entrance and from there a fairly steep 1-hour walk mostly uphill to the viewpoint over the lake, followed by a 10-minute walk down some steps to the lake itself. From there you can walk all the way round the lake edge, passing Maya holy shrines and the remains of past ceremonies, before heading back the way you came.
Visit the thermal baths
As this is a volcanic area there are several natural hot springs and thermal baths you can visit for a soak in the naturally hot mineral water – said to be good for your health and certainly good for relaxing!
I visited two: Aguas Amargas, near Zunil and Fuentes Georginas (the biggest and most popular in the area). There’s a bit more information about those in my post about things to do in Xela.
A third, Banos Los Vahos, has been recommend but I didn’t visit. You can find out more about that one here.
Where to next?
If you liked reading about Cerro Quemado, why not try some of my other Guatemala posts?
- The Thrilling Volcan De Acatenango Hike In Antigua Guatemala
- Crater Azul: Is Guatemala’s Gorgeous Blue Crater Overhyped?
- Guatemala People: 30 Portraits Of Guatemalans That Show Their Rich Culture
- A Colourful Guide To Flores Guatemala: Gateway To The Maya World
- A Perfect Guatemala Itinerary In 10 Days, 2 Weeks Or 3 Weeks
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