Chichicastenango is said to have the biggest market in the whole of Guatemala. Last Sunday we boarded a shuttle to check it out for ourselves.

Artisans from all over Guatemala come to Chichi to fleece their textiles and handicrafts. The market was indeed huge taking up most of the streets of the town. The quality of goods varied and it was not uncommon to see the same things over and over again - clearly every tourist needs a chicken shaped oven mit! However, the general buzz and colour of market day in Chichi made it well worth the visit.

We were particularly keen to visit Chichi as we had been told that it was home to an unusual animal market. We found two animal markets, both oddly located in building labelled as toilets. We were expecting monkeys, sloths and exotic birds and were a little disappointed to only find your run of the mill chickens, a couple of old turkeys and a few pot-bellied pigs who were probably going to end up as dinner...