Quetzaltenango is a medium sized city in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. It is at over 2300 meters above sea level and therefore cold compared to other places I had been to so far. Also, nobody calls it “Quetzaltenango”, everyone calls it “Xela” (pronounce “Shell-ah”). I seem to have noticed that any city or town with more than 3 syllables doesn't get called by its full name. We have Xela, Guate, Huehue (Huehuetenango), Pana (Panajachel), Chimal (Chimaltenango), Chichi (Chichitenango) and so on... This is important when you try and get the bus because all the little helpers are shouting the name of where the bus is going, so you'd better know the common name if you want to have a chance to get to where you want to go... According to my guide book, Xela is
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