Travel Guide Los Amates

Located on the Carretera Atlántico, Los Amates is a sleepy little town living off a small business and the huge banana plantations that surround it, managed yesterday by the United Fruit Company, today by a Japanese company. Its only interest is its proximity to the Mayan site of Quiriguá. In spite of its city-street appearance, crossed by an uninterrupted flow of over-powerful trucks, a modest village exists on the right side of the road coming from Guatemala City. Los Amates has a hotel, a few comedores and two banks.The village of Quiriguá, about 3 km east of Los Amates, is more quiet. In the main street, next to the church and the Parque Central, there are two modest hotels, an internet café, small tiendas and a bakery but no banks. Minibuses, taxis and tuk-tuks connect the two villages as well as the site of Quiriguá.