Pachalum

About Pachalum:

Pachalum lies in the foothills of the Sierra de Chuacús, at the foot of Cerro Tuncaj, whose springs supply water to the area. Joyabaj wraps around it to the west and north, Cubulco and Granados in Baja Verapaz lie to the north and east across the Tumbadero river, and San Martín Jilotepeque in Chimaltenango faces it from the far bank of the Motagua. The usual way to the capital drops to the bridge at Vega de Godínez, passes the turn for the Mixco Viejo ruins and runs on through Montúfar to San Juan Sacatepéquez. That road was built in the mid-1970s, when it first let cargo trucks into the town, and it is paved today. A second road heads south through San Martín Jilotepeque to Chimaltenango, while Santa Cruz del Quiché means going round by Joyabaj: 92 kilometres, an hour and a half at the wheel.

The town grew up around sugar mills. Its first written mention, in 1817, records trapiches set up by families from San Martín Jilotepeque and what is now Baja Verapaz, and panela is still part of what Pachalum makes. Farms grow maize and beans alongside sugarcane, mango, jocote, peaches, tomatoes, loroco and flor de izote, and workshops turn out leather goods, cotton weaving and pottery. Many families have someone working abroad, and it shows: houses of more than one storey in the centre, and motorcycles where people once walked. In the 2017–2018 edition of WWF’s City Challenge, Pachalum was the Guatemalan winner on the strength of a greenhouse-gas inventory and projects on waste, water and sewerage, and recycling and clean-up days are still a fixture of the municipal calendar.

The ground falls from 2,020 metres at the hamlet of Los Tunales to 759 metres at San Vicente, and two-thirds of the municipality lies between 1,000 and 1,500 metres. For a department better known for cold highland towns, this is low, warm country, which is why mango, jocote and sugarcane share the fields with maize. The Las Vegas and Tumbadero rivers run down to the Motagua; the Tumbadero is normally three metres deep and can reach five in the rainy season. Roads wind through ravines, pasture and hills. For a day out there is Turicentro Xemap, with pools, slides, a canopy line and a hotel, and the El Jocote bathing site, with pools and a fishing lake.

Just under 10,000 people live in the municipality. Unlike most of Quiché, the large majority are ladino, with a K’iche’ minority. Besides the town there are eight aldeas, Las Moritas, Los Altos, El Cimarrón, El Ciprés, Llano Grande, Agua Zarca, Volcancillos and Las Vegas, and caseríos such as San Vicente, El Naranjito, Tamarindo, Trapichitos and Guachipilín. The town is laid out in zones, with avenues named after flowers: Los Jazmines in zona 1, where the town hall stands, and Los Geranios in zona 5. A good share of what gets built here is paid for with money sent home by relatives working abroad.

Houses in Pachalum:

Block and concrete is the rule in the casco urbano, where most houses for sale in Pachalum stand on paved streets within reach of the market, the health centre and the town hall. Many were built in stages as money arrived, so check that the upper floor is actually finished, that the roof slab has been sealed where steel was left for a future level, and that the work had the municipality’s licence. Out in the aldeas, houses stand on larger plots with room for fruit trees and animals. Ask where the water comes from before you agree on a price; much of the area’s supply runs down from springs on Cerro Tuncaj, and a house is only as good as its connection.

Land and Lots in Pachalum:

Land is the bulk of the market here. On the edge of town there are small urban lots, among them a subdivision of flat 10 by 20 metre lots by Xemap that come with passes to the turicentro, and other plots sold on a down payment with the balance paid off in monthly instalments. In aldeas such as Los Altos, plots run to several hundred square metres, and lower down, toward San Vicente and the river valleys, farmland is sold by the manzana. Before paying a deposit on land for sale in Pachalum, confirm that the subdivision has municipal approval and that your lot can be registered with its own deed rather than as a share of the whole. On a slope, measure how much of the plot is flat enough to build on, and beside the Tumbadero or the Las Vegas, walk the land in the rainy season.

FAQ:

• How do I get to Pachalum from Guatemala City?

  Head out through San Juan Sacatepéquez and Montúfar, then drop down to the Motagua and cross the bridge at Vega de Godínez into Quiché. The road is paved the whole way. The other way in climbs from Chimaltenango through San Martín Jilotepeque.

• Is Pachalum far from Santa Cruz del Quiché?

  Farther than the capital. Santa Cruz is 92 kilometres away by the Joyabaj road, an hour and a half of driving, so if you will deal often with departmental offices, count that trip in.

• What should I check before buying land in Pachalum?

  Start with 1986. Pachalum was carved out of Joyabaj that year, so any title registered earlier names Joyabaj, and on the western edge the two municipalities’ records may not line up. Check the entry at the property registry against the municipality’s own records, walk the corner markers with the neighbours, and for lots sold in instalments, ask to see the subdivision’s approval before you sign.

• What grows on land here?

  Maize and beans, plus the warm-country crops: mango, jocote, sugarcane, tomatoes, loroco and flor de izote, along with peaches. Water is the deciding factor, so ask whether a parcel has spring water or a share in irrigation before you plan anything.

• When is the town fair?

  At the end of October, leading up to All Saints’ Day. In 1872 the town chose to honour all the saints rather than a single patron, and the fiesta still includes a cattle fair.