The main draws in and around Huehuetenango are the pre-Columbian ruins of Zaculeu, a few kilometres outside the town, and the extraordinary mountain village of Todos Santos Cuchumatán, two hours up into the Cuchumatanes. Zaculeu was the capital of the Mam Maya kingdom until it fell to Pedro de Alvarado's forces after a two-month siege in 1525; its dramatic hilltop position is still worth a visit, though the 1940s restoration by the United Fruit Company — who covered the ruins in bright white plaster — gave it an oddly uniform look that archaeologists have never forgiven. Todos Santos is one of the most traditional Maya towns in Guatemala: the men still wear the distinctive red-and-white striped trousers and embroidered shirts, and the All Saints' Day (1 November) horse race — in which drunk horsemen charge up and down the town on borrowed horses — is one of the most extraordinary sights in Central America. Further into the mountains, the Cuchumatanes themselves offer long walks, high-altitude villages, and some of the best mountain scenery in Guatemala for hikers prepared to rough it.