{"id":4197,"date":"2013-04-23T17:40:42","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T15:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/errante.com.br\/?p=4197"},"modified":"2018-02-19T22:34:12","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T20:34:12","slug":"chichi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/errante.com.br\/en\/lugares\/america\/chichicastenango-and-atitlan-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Chichicastenango and Atitlan Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"

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At the same time I thought Guatemala was very \u201cAmericanized\u201d, I give a good compliment to Guatemalans on the way they respect the indigenous culture and traditions. A great example of that is Chichicastenango town, or Chichi<\/i> as they say in Guatemala. So, I decided to go a tour to the market that takes place there every Thursday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

The market is very colorful, it reminded me Otavalo<\/a> (Ecuador<\/a>) ou Tarabuco<\/a> (Bolivia<\/a>). They sell almost everything but handcraft is their main business. It is a good place to buy travel gifts; their clothes and souvenirs are beautiful.\u00a0 The bargain is obligatory here, if you don\u2019t bargain, there is no fun. On the tour, I met Claudio, a Chilean mountaineer, who was my company to the bargain afternoon. We formed a \u201cteam\u201d do ask for better prices and late afternoon we were experts on that art.<\/p>\n

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Cl\u00e1udio com a bolsa que comprou para sua irm\u00e3, depois de uma tarde de pechincha…<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Another stop of the day was the Santo Tom\u00e1s church, a mix of a Catholic Church and Mayan temple. The religious syncretism is strong, like other place in Latin America (Cusco<\/a><\/strong>, Peru<\/a><\/strong>; Salvador, Brazil; Havana, Cuba) the mixture of two religions flow in a complex way on the eyes of a tourist.\u00a0 The church, constructed by the Spanish colonizers, is located where before it was a Maya altar. From the former altar there is only the stairs, with 18 steps (representing the 18 months on Mayan calendar). And on these stairs the Mayan leaders do their offerings, sell flowers, incense, candles\u2026 The place really is worth a visit, not only for the church construction, candles, prays or offerings but specially for its environment, by the feeling of Mayan culture. It is here where I could understand a bit about this culture, seeing the religious rituals and hearing the region\u2019s stories of struggles and power.<\/p>\n

Our last stop was Panajachel, a small town by the Atitlan Lake. Twelve small towns surround the lake and 3 large volcanoes mark the landscape. Unfortunately, the day was cloudy and we did not see the volcanoes. Only from far away, on the road, we could see the top of one of them coming out above the clouds.<\/p>\n

Even though I did not see the volcanoes around the lake, the place was beautiful. A strong wind, known as Xocomil, created waves on the water, and there is nothing like ending a day with a late lunch by the water appreciating the lake landscape and the sound of its waves.<\/p>\n\n

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Sponsored by:\"dainonni2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Check out other posts on Central America trip (April 2013):<\/p>\n