Of Markets, Capitals and Endings

Chichicastenango
 
Chichicastenango boasts the largest market in Guatemala. The town is in the mountains, about 2 hours from Lago Atitlan and villagers from all over the area come there twice a week to hawk their wares. This includes both things for locals such as vegetables, chickens, and clothing, as well as tourist oriented merchandise such as colorful pillow cases, blankets, masks and what-not.
 
Turkeys for sale:

 
Local indian skirt style:

 
"Skirt Alley" boasts skirts in the local style:

 
While these seem to be for the benefits of tourists:

 

 

The market takes over the entire main square in front of the church, as well as many adjoining streets.  The stairs of the church are full of "florists" selling their fresh flowers:
 
 
All locals know that pictures are worth money. Indeed, when asked if her photo could be taken one woman replied "10 quetzales" without even thinking about it. Cindy Crawford in her heyday did not receive so much for a single picture. I quickly turned to the next woman and negotiated her down from 5 to Q3:
  
  
The streets are full of locals buying and selling and a few tourists here and there. The colors are simply amazing:

 
There are also some strange characters walking about.
 
"Negotiate prices you must, young skywalker. Teach you how I will, hem:"
  
 
Guatemalan Workout
 
To get to Chichi from the lake we took a guatemalan chicken bus. These buses are 20 or 30 year old US buses (sometimes old school buses) were the usual two-kids-per-bench are replaced with as-many-as-can-fit-but-no-less-than-three-per-bench sitting arrangements:
 
 
Getting back, we caught a bus that was already full. Needless to say I could not fit with any other two people together on a bench. I ended up standing for the 30 minute ride to the next bus change. Buses zoom along the mountain roads to get as quickly as possible from one place to the next. Turns are taken as fast as possible and road bumps are only slowly negotiated with the front wheels (since that's where the driver is). After 30 minutes of this my hands, arms and shoulders were aching from the strain of holding on.
 
By the end of the ride I've invented a new sport. In spinning you sit on a bike that goes nowhere and cycle to the music. In Chicken-Bus-Standing(TM) you stand between two poles that pull you left and right, forward and back while you have to maintain your firm grip on them and not fall. From time to time, the ground will rise up quickly to simulate a road bump.
 
The easier version of this sport will have a screen in front of you showing you turns coming up in the road.

Antigua

Antigua is situated in a valley flanked by three volcanoes on one side and other mountains on the other. It is the old (Antigua means antique) capital of Guatemala. The spanish settled in it and built it up with many churches and fine houses. In 1773 a huge earthquake devastated the city and the capital was moved to Guatemala City.
 

Below is the main volcano, directly south of the city:

 
 
Antigua still looks something like after an earthquake. The streets have all been cobbled and low houses flunk the streets in what looks like a European city, but many streets have the remains of old crumbling churches with collapsed roofs but still-standing walls.


There's a lively scene in Antigua - many fine restaurants, places to hang out, a wonderful main plaza where you can sip coffee from the Cafe Condessa (countess cafe) express and relax. Many locals in traditional dress line the streets and walk through the plaza selling tourist stuff.

 

 

We walked a bit through the market in Antigua and saw both the tourist shops and the locals' market where I bought a better watch than the humidity-meter one for 20 Quetzales (under $3). We also went into a clothing museum where they showed us different traditional dress from different villages in Guatemala and also how they are made - the back loom (which is strapped to the back for support) and the full loom.

All in all it's a pleasant town and a nice place to hang out if you have time for it. Our total stay there was 3 nights, before and after Lago Atitlan.

Antigua is also home of the elusive and extremely rare Guatemalan Giraffe. It is only here that it can be found, mostly in wood form:

It seems local artists have heard of the great success of the wooden giraffes sold in Africa and decided to create a local version. The only drawback is that there is no real giraffe that can be copied and so some artistic freedom is exercised by the locals when creating the giraffes.
 
All Good Things Must End
 
And so does this blog. I will send out one more post with links to many many more pictures, but as far as stories are concerned I am now back at home and can create a Sunnyvale blog. I hope you enjoyed the stories and pictures as much as I enjoyed writing and taking them.
 
Eran