The Market

Selling on steps of church
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Chichicastenango is the largest indigenous market in the country.  The market is only held on Thursdays and Sundays so you need to make sure you time your visit properly. We had booked it in advance and were looking forward to the photo opportunities more than the the idea of buying things. 

The bus picked us up at our hotel in Panajachel (see review in previous journal) at 9:00 in the morning so we had plenty of time to go for breakfast first.   It took about an hour and half to get there and was a very enjoyable ride with lots of nice country scenery on the way.  When we arrived the market was already in full swing. 

Crafts, people and photos

Carrying everything
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Chichicastenango itself is a cool old town with cobblestone roads, red tiled roofs and a traditional town square with churches at either side.  The market is centered around the town square and spreads out into the surrounding side streets.  There are many traders who have permanent stalls with plastic sheeting for roofs but the more interesting sights are the people who come to trade their goods (many of them still walk for miles to the market with their goods  the night before) spread out on blankets and the steps of the churches. 

Interesting people
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Other great sights include the people walking through the market.  Daph and I spent about an hour at one corner of the market with the sun behind us just taking pictures of the crowds passing by.

After a couple of hours of taking pictures and checking out the various offerings we decided to take a break and have a bite to eat.  We found a great restaurant a block or so off of the town square towards the gas station) on the second floor of a building.  We were able to get a table on the tiny balcony overlooking the street.  We were able to eat and still watch the sights.

How they carry pots to market
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While we on the balcony we witnessed what appeared to be an attempted robbery.  A large man had been caught by bunch of women trying to steal something.  The women made all sorts of noise and a crowd quickly encircled the man.  The man did not try to fight or escape even though he was easily two or three times the size of most of the people around him.  Instead he went limp and just stood there with his head down.  Very different reactions than  you would see in the States in a similar situation.  Eventually the police made their way around to the commotion and the crowd  disperse. 

At entrance to square
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After lunch we walked around a bit more and took some more pictures but were pretty much down.  While the market is big a couple of hours is more than enough to cover it.