The 12 day Guatemala circuit (Day 3) - Chichicastenango and Quetzaltenango - The 27th of March 2008

Walking around the Chichicastenango multi-coloured market where vendors sell all sorts of handicraft, food, grindstones and virtually everything was an enormous pleasure and though my interest was on the textiles, particularly the women's blouses (huipils) I couldn't help looking in every direction, mesmerised by it all.

At one end of one of those roads lined up with stalls was the Church of Santo Tomas, a Roman Catholic church built around 1545 on a Pre- Colombian temple plattform, whose steps remain venerated, though in that particular day the selling that was going on on its 18 stairs leading to the main church door (said to stand each for one month of the Maya calendar) seemed far from any venerating gesture.

The church is still used by Maya priests for their rituals, which we were lucky enough to  "watch", as we walked in (through a door for foreign visitors). Amidst a powerful incense smell and an almost blinding curtain of smoke we saw local people knealing in the middle of the church "corridor" surrounded by petals and lit up candles and other offerings either crying out loud as if in direct discussion with the "gods" or listening to "advisors"  ...

We didn't stay long, for it was almost impossible to breath and even keep our eyes open (I believed I had gained enough experience during my years of boarding school and exposure to the smell of incense ... but that was just too much) ... it wasn't when we walked out that I realised that most of what was being sold on those stairs was "church-related".



We were shown "Chichi" colourful cemetry from a distance and told that the size of the different mausoleums and tombs  reflect the  social structure of the village. We would later have the chance of visiting one, according to our guide ..., but that was certainly something that caught my attention, because of being exquisitevely different from our cemetries.

Walking back towards the centre of the indigenous market and whilst looking slightly upwards we noticed a red-brick colour building identified as the Chichicastenango academy, with quite a few interesting "naive" paintings on its walls reflecting (I presume) the daily life of the community.

Just before heading to Quetzaltenango I still had the chance of buying a few amazingly beautiful embroidered mats from a local vendor, which I have never had the "courage" to use, though I have recently envisaged the possibility of hanging them on the walls, taking into account the quality of the designs.

The street vendor I bought the mats to (similar to the one she is holding)

Before having reached Quetzaltenango we stopped at a local community tank used for both washing out the clothes and bathing and although we hesitated prior to having taken some photos nobody seemed to bother. Being part of their daily routine, they even smiled back at us.

We got into Quetzaltenango by early evening which still allowed us to wander about the city centre, which was fairly close to the Hotel, though by the time we photographed the colonial facade of the old Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (built in 1582)  it was beginning to get dark.