Hospedaje Salvador Chichicastenango

There is probably no more famous market in Guatemala than the market in Chichicastenango. My guidebook warned of difficulty finding a place to park nearby because of the combination of the crowds of locals who come to this market from all over the western highlands as well as the tour buses that truck in hoards of tourists. It's a twice-weekly market, held on Sundays and Thursdays and I picked a Thursday hoping there would be a smaller crowd on a weekday.

Chichicastenango, Western Highlands, Guatemala graybeard

... of cheeses at the breakfast buffet. Had I known how the rest of the day would shape up, I would have had double.

I headed off to town. The morning had been a little cloudy but it seemed like the sun might break through so I opted for my swimsuit as undergarments. The town is teeeeensy. And most of the shops are closed for the season (aka 'personal rest'). So I quickly found myself on the beach, and much to my contentment the sun was shining. The water was cool but not ...

... had an American vegetarian in his Argentinian restaurant in Spain. I had some delicious vegetable soup and pasta. And after one glass of Rioja (typical Spanish wine) he suggested I instead drink the 'good stuff' some Syrah wine from Argentina. I am now on my 3rd glass of wine, my bag has been 'dropped' by my side for 2 hours and my friendly waiter, who also lived in Rhode Island for several years, snuck me the wifi passcode for the restaurant's office.

Life is good.

We had great intentions starting out the day. We planned to drive along the coastline to a town called Almeria. it's a 2+ hour drive. We thought spanish coastline, it's got to be pretty right? Not so much. It started out beautiful. Picturesque cliffs that roll into the crystal blue water of the mediterranean ocean. But once we passed the first few cities it became the plastic jungle. Every city after this, all the way to almeria, is a farming town. the hillsides are ...

Unfortunately, its was time to return to reality. Back on the road. Although, waking up and having a cooked breakfast and a packed lunch made for your journey is enough to raise anyones spirits.

After leaving we quickly came to our first obstacle. Once again we only had a motor way as an option. But whats this? a service road that runs along side of it. Wow our luck has completely changed. No, its just the same as it always was because after cycling 5 miles down this ...

... every time it went around these steep inclines. We were told that this was typical because the brakes of the bus were burning from the pressure of having to make the turns slowly.

When we finally arrived we were surrounded by a market that was larger than any of the New Jersey or New York malls we have ever been in. There were tons of people walking through a thin maze of stalls that went in all directions. The majority of the people were indigenous Kaqchiquel ...

... muy antigua y bonita, todos cosas en Chichi es bonito. Después, nosotros comer almuerzo a un carrito con sándwiches. Entonces fuimos a compre en el mercado. El mercado tuvo cosas con muchos colores, quiero comprar todos porque lo todos fue muy bonito. Cenar fue muy fantástico, comemos a Agua Flores, el restaurante tuvo muchas culturas en la comida. Finalmente fuimos a cama, después una día con muchos horas.

We reserved a tour the day before at Pana to go to the thursday market at Chichicastenango. We haven't buy that much things waiting for this market. Since it is one of the most famous, we're waiting to see what we can get.

We left from Pana at about 8am and arrived to chichi at around 10am. The road of course includes a lot of curves and ups and downs, but i'm getting used to, specially after so many trips ...

... a spectacular mountain range. After much deliberating I decided to say adios to my chauffeurs and walked back to this new junction and try my luck at hitching to Huehuetenango instead. I hadn´t been waiting long when Gilberto, a wealthy looking business man pulled over to offer me a ride and even dropped me off outside the Hotel of my choice in town. This new stretch of winding mountainous road is a breathtaking spectacle and I was ...

... de français et d'arabe. Tout le monde s'installe. On va faire les papiers pour la douane pour la voiture. Papa et moi avons laissé des papiers dans la voiture. Tant pis ! On va manger à la cafet et tout le monde mange pareil... « Monsieur M___ Jean-Baptiste est prié de se rendre au bureau d'information ». Il y va. Il faut les papiers et il les trouve pas ! On monte pour les trouver et un jeune qui a le même problème râle, ils refusent ...