Today was a long day. Think… a day full day of boats, buses, cars and shuttles. All this just to get to a market! Now the world knows my obsession with markets, they are literally my favourite thing.
We woke up early and headed to Chichi to attend the famous market. The boat and bus ride were ok. We arrived and we were overwhelmed. The market was absolutely huge. People were everywhere. At every glance were more people – sellers and buyers filled the streets. We walked around and had to loose our etiquette and push through the crowd to get anywhere. None of this being polite stuff – it was important to get out your muscles and fight to move locations.
The bartering began and I found so much enjoyment in this. The disadvantage of markets in Australia is that everything is a fixed price. Here everyone tries to rip you off and if you are a worthy barterer then you negotiate to get the price you want. This included lots of strategies – laughing at them, listing lower prices and walking away. If the seller likes the price they just chase you through the crowds until you give in and purchase the product. It was so much fun, but also exhausting! Keeping a straight face and not smiling is not a speciality of mine!
As we were leaving Sarah ended up with a seller stalking her and she followed us out of the market to our bus. Eventually Sarah caved and bought the product of her dreams. I personally was super rage at her and never would have bought the table runner… after all, it’s the principle of it!
The bus ride to Antigua was bumpy and crowded. But surprisingly shorter then we expected. We arrived at Maya Papaya and enjoyed our luxury living. Dinner was Greek… we made a bad choice… Guatemala is not the place for good Greek food.
Today was amazing – my only regret is not having space in my bag for all the adorable things I wanted.
Classic Monique Moments 