Advertisement
Published: December 26th 2007
Edit Blog Post
We were planning to go to Xela but the girls we had been hanging around with in San Juan were keen to see the Gumarcaj Maya ruin which lives beyond Chichicastenango (Chichi) so we went along. It was quite a mission. A boat to Panajachel, a bus to Solola, another bus to Los Encuentros and finally a bus to Chichi. Arriving late morning we left the girls with our packs while we looked for accommodation. We eventually found something suitable for just over US$10 a night, the Hotel Mashito. It was bright green, friendly but strangely they had 2 doves and a squirrel in quite small cages. We dumped our gear and found the next bus for Quiche. There were only minivans available and as we left an old man selling something on the street decided to pinch my (Rae) arm which was sticking out the window. It bloody hurt so I stuck my head out the window and swore at him. Arriving in Quiche we looked for a way to get to Gumarcaj which was only a few kilometers away. While chatting to a tuk-tuk guy a minivan appeared with the name of the site written on the van. It
was a different spelling but the same place. It was only a couple of Quetzals and they took us to the gate.
After visiting the small museum we headed to the site which was built on a plateau. The Spanish destroyed the city which was the capital of the region. Very little of the structures were exposed, most looked like perfect little green hills with a few stones poking through. But it still had charm and seemed popular with locals for picnics. We wandered a bit and climbed the ruins to get some great views of the site. We spent a bit of time looking for a tunnel where they hid the women and children when the Spanish invaded, but couldn't find it. Departing we found the road back to Quiche deserted. We could have walked but hung around a bit hoping for a minivan to come back past us. A ute left the site and turned our way. Our brave Jennifer walked up to them and asked for a lift. So we piled in the back. Not the first time for us. And of course, when Jennifer offered payment they refused.
Back in Chichi we said our
sad goodbyes to the girls who were returning to the lake. For dinner we found a restaurant above the municipal market. Not overpriced and we had a lovely spot on the balcony. It was Saturday night and a band played in a corner of square. We enjoyed the music and the spectacular fireworks they put on.
Next day was Sunday .. market day. We slept in a bit and emerged for breakfast. Yesterday we had seen additional stall frames being erected and this morning we found not only the central park covered in stalls (which is a permanent feature) but the stalls went down streets to the north and south and east of the centre. A lot of tourist stuff, some of it very nice and varied. Masks, embroidered bags and other stitch-work were popular here. Some of the market was aimed at locals and in and around the municipal market building was mostly fruit and veg. This market had apparently been going on for 2000 years and it was very indigenous with all the ladies in traditional dress.
After breakfast we enjoyed wandering around the market. People were calling us over to their stalls all the time,
shoving things in your face, and there were lots of tight spots where we had to squeeze through the crowd. Not so many tourist really. Just a few silly buggers with their huge cameras hanging out begging to be stolen. But the police had a presence here. We brought a few things but can't say too much here as some will make good presents 😊. It was necessary to bargain hard as people started at twice or four times the true value. Pieter did most of the hard work.
That night we ate again at the same place on the balcony. Again there was music .. but louder .. in the other corner of the square. And again we got a fireworks display. There are 2 beautiful white churches on the square facing each other and people were sitting on the steps of both churches enjoying the show.
We were quite happy to leave our hotel the next day as the shared bathroom smelled quite disgusting and there was suspected prostitute activity in the room next door.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 14; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0348s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb