The wild ride on the chicken bus came to an end at Chichi. Phew! As soon as we got off a man came up to us asking where we were staying. He spoke English pretty well and was wearing a vest that said “guida autirazad” (or something like that) so we decided he must be trustworthy. We told him we did not have a room, yet, so he grabbed one of our bags, “come, I show you nice place” and began walking away from us.
We followed him a few blocks and he led us into Hotel Pop Wuj where we were introduced to Emilio.
Emilio showed us a room and we decided it would be fine for one night. It was $30, had a private bathroom and hot water. Works for us! What we didn’t notice until after we checked in was the shower. It was definitely use at your own risk! lol
We had decided to go to Chichi the night before market day (only Thursday and Sunday) so we could watch the vendors set up. After checking into the hotel, we set out to explore Chichi and promptly got rained on. It rains every day here in Guatemala. We found a fabulous little restaurant with a covered balcony overlooking the market streets.
Later, back at the hotel we played cards and had a few beers. Emilio was super sweet. He ran down the street to a tienda for us and got ice and cervezas. He found a bucket in the hotel and, wala!, we had a cooler!
The next morning we strolled through the market. What a difference from last night. This market in Chichi is one of the biggest in Guatemala and vendors and shoppers come from hours away. Everywhere we looked was a lady selling chickens, colorful hand-woven blankets, skirts, shirts, bags, anything you could think of!
There were also kids. Lots and lots of kids selling flutes, pens and bookmarks. I couldn’t resist and bought a pen from a little girl and a flute from a little boy. He was only 9 years old.
After we had our fill of the market we found a guide, Oscar, who gave us a tour of the Mayan cemetery and other local spots of interest. More on that later. For now, here are a few more pictures of the market in Chichicastenango.
Audrey and Carrie – two shoppers who need flute lessons now
