Jocotenango

Just 2km north of Antigua, the unappealing suburb of JOCOTENANGO , "place of bitter fruit", set around a huge, dusty plaza and long notorious for its sleazy bars, now boasts a couple of interesting new attractions. Casa K'ojom (daily 9am-5pm; US$2.50 including tour; www.kojom.com ) is a purpose-built museum dedicated to Maya culture, especially music. The history of indigenous musical traditions is clearly presented from its pre-Columbian origins, through sixteenth-century Spanish and African influences - which brought the marimba, bugles and drums - to the present day, with audio-visual documentaries of fiestas and ceremonies. Other rooms are dedicated to the village weavings of the Sacatepéquez department and the cult of Maximón. Next door, the Museo de Café (daily 9am-5pm; US$2.50), based in the Finca La Azotea, a 34-hectare plantation dating from 1883, offers the chance to look around a working organic coffee farm. All the technicalities of husking, sieving and roasting are clearly explained, and you're served a cup of the aromatic home-grown brew after your tour. Buses from the Antigua terminal pass Jocotenango every thirty minutes on their way to Chimaltenango; the museums are 500m west of the plaza, down a dirt road.