Via Byway, My Way.

While I am spending the week hiking to the Mayan ruins of El Mirador north of Tikal, please enjoy some pics of previous weeks in and around Xela. A big thanks to my bud Yuhwen from Chicago, who has generously let me use her card reader to upload these photos. Check back each day as I’ll have other photos and trips posted to this blog.

Today is a recap of my visit to Chichitenango, home of one of the biggest crafts and vendor markets in Central America. Every Sunday and Thursday the town is transformed into hundreds of vendors and stalls selling everything from livestock, food, fabrics, masks and other crafts.

On one Sunday I had signed up with my school, Sakribal, to go with a maestro and another student, Chelsia, to the market. We were supposed to leave at 7am, but by 7:15 when no one had shown up, I decided to go on my own. Fortunately the day before, I ran into another acquaintance from another school, and she had mentioned that her school was also going. So I figured I could try to find her and hitch a ride…

I stowed away on this bus with students from Xelas Maya. On this week they had almost 100 students in the school, and about 40 took the trip to Chichi.

Bus stop with a view.

Another view of the countryside around and below.

Walking through the market to the Mayan ceremonial ground. I was accompanied by 6 other students and 2 maestros from the school. Otherwise there are independent guides hanging around the town offering their services to tourists for a small fee.

Hiking up to get to the ceremonial site.

The ritual site for Mayans, combining Christian beliefs with indigenous ones.

Offering alcohol and other gifts.

Lots of handcarved masks.

The place can get very crowded, watch your pockets and wallet!

Offering beautiful materials.

More beautiful fabrics for scarfs, blankets, ponchos and more.

Rows and rows of vendors.

Hot sweet milk with rice for only 25 cents.

I also tried a local meal… fried chicken, fried papas, salad, tortillas, beans and a gaseous (soda pop). Not bad for about $3.

A shot from the street.

One more look at the colors of the fabrics before heading back on the bus and back to Xela.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 20th, 2006 at 1:21 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.