I almost forgot it was Sunday. Sunday is the big market day in Chichicastenango ("Chichi"). One more reason to stay here in Panajachel for another day.
Chichi is in the Guatemalan highlands at about 6500 feet in elevation. It is 99% K'iche Mayan and most of the population speaks both K'iche and Spanish although you will hear mostly K'iche spoken as you make your way around. They will speak to a tourist in Spanish.
I raced over to check it out since it was on my "must see" list and I missed it last time.
I asked a guy about where to park and he ran in front of my bike through many blocks to bring me to some parking lot about five blocks from where the market began. Then the guy running the parking lot wanted 50 Quetzales ($6.50) to park for the day. I only needed a few hours and bargained him down to 35 Q. Gave the runner 10 Q for his service and conversation as we walked to where the market began.
I bought a few souvenirs including some very old Mayan coins and a very old (1850-1900) antique, handmade copper Guatemalan nesting weight. I had no idea what it was when I bought it but I haggled the guy down a bunch and picked it up for 210 quetzales - about $28 U.S. One Mayan coin is so old it's difficult to tell what's going on with it. The other Mayan coin is, by far, the strangest coin I have ever encountered. It illustrates on it the removing of a sacrificed heart from someone that looks very uncomfortable getting their heart removed.
Sat on the steps of the 400 year old Santo Tomas church with the vendors. This church is highly venerated by the K'iche Mayans and the 18 steps represent the 18 months of the Mayan calendar. The church is a mix of Catholicism and Mayan practices. I took pics of the church, the steps and the candles and insense burning inside.
The Mayan vendors here are pretty aggressive and if you are sitting down on church steps they will sit with you and try to sell you tapistries or whatever it is they have. Haggling is accepted and you never pay what they start with. You basically cut what they offer in half and then you both haggle up and down from there. With the nesting weights he started at 450 Quetzales and eventually before I was about to walk off I got him down to 210 Q. He said 200 for the nesting weights and 10 for his lunch. For the other small handmade trinkets i bought I told them I wanted a photo to go with the item. I talked to an older Mayan woman who spoke a little English and we exchanged emails. It was kind of odd considering this whole experience.