Weavings and Huipils, Mora, and More Chocolate

Day 13 – 15 October 2026 – Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

 

Puerto Quetzal is another industrial port filled with shipping containers and the cranes to load those containers onto the freighters lined up along the wharves.  Stacks of containers, beeping cranes and trolleys, just a hive of activity.

 

We cruise ship passengers walked across a moveable bridge to the shore, though it’s all buttressed with rocks and boulders, no beach on the inside of the harbor.  We had a quick walk up to another large thatched hut which housed various excursion desks, a small stage for a band, and, much to my delight, a wooden jaguar!

 

Beyond the welcome center hut I found winding paths full of multiple smaller buildings and kiosks overflowing with all the gorgeous textiles, decorative items, and jewelry made in Guatemala: weavings, embroideries, ceramics, silver and jade, intricate beaded figurines – on and on!  SO many beautiful items, and so many things I’d love to have.  But given our travelling lives, we really don’t need much of anything.

 

I did buy a few items.  I fell in love with a purse that is woven fabric in bright pinks and purples with touches of orange, yellow, green – it kind of looks like a sunset.  The front is the woven part, from a used huipil, the traditional blouse Guatemalan women wear.  The back and wrist strap are leather.

 

The vendor included a lovely ikat woven bag to hold the purse, rather than a paper bag.  (Ikat weaving is so confusing to me – the threads are dyed in patterns and then woven, and voila, there is the design.  I have NO idea how anyone can dye thread in patterns that weave up into anything recognizable!)

 

Onward with my walking, and chatting with people selling all these gorgeous things.  I did end up buying a tortilla warmer (which will work as a hot pad in any kitchen, given I’ve never warmed a tortilla in my life!) – I managed to cajole the woman, Maria-Rosario, to let me take her photo along with her colorful corner booth.  (She had her son take a photo of both of us on her phone – too funny!) 

 

I also asked the man who sold me a batch of beaded stars of David for Chanukah for his photo – not only does it help me remember the people I chatted with, it shows all the Guatemalan arts and crafts in the shops.  The beading is unique – tiny colorful beads for the body of the object, and somehow there are always dangling and hanging pieces that integrate into the whole piece.  My stars all look like comets or constellations, with short strings of beads ending in tiny beaded secondary stars!

 

I found a chocolate shop as well – I tried 70% cacao, 80%, and 95%.  Plus chocolate tea, a wonderful tea made from the dried skins of the cocoa beans.  SO delicious.  Of course, I ended up with two bags of chocolate tea, which I will enjoy all winter.

 

And then there was the retired dentist who now has a shop featuring textile items made by women across the country!  I’ve been looking for a collapsible fabric bowl or basket for travel, something easy to pack that will hold all those random things we need on a nightstand, or to hold art supplies for a project, or whatever art items I might need.  She had a lovely rainbow striped basket that can turn inside out for another look, or even enlarge!  My new travel basket!

 

It kind of went on like that – wander, shop, have conversations with vendors in Spanish or English, taste, buy or not buy but chat anyway. 

 

I also had a cold drink, mora juice.  Mora is a wonderful Central and South American berry, something between a raspberry and blackberry. 

 

Yes, I was sort of shopped out by that point.  I don’t usually go on a shopping spree, but Guatemala has such unique textiles, I do tend to go overboard.  But then again, I’m contributing to the local economy, right?  I asked one woman if she came to this place every day, and she said yes, she does.  I asked how far away does she live, she said it takes her two hours to get there.  And then another two hours to get home.  Every single day!  In light of that, my contribution to these artists and artisans seems minimal.  But it does give people money to support themselves and their families.  Human dignity, self-sufficiency, and all that.

 

We sat on our balcony for our sail-away, something Richard and I both enjoy.  We watched the tug and pilot boats accompanying us, and I always wonder how the local pilot disembarks from our ship and manages to hop into the pilot boat.  I haven’t seen an exterior ladder, and the Deck A exit we use seems a bit high for someone to jump from our moving ship into a moving pilot boat.  So many questions!

 

At dusk, the clouds cleared and we could see volcanoes in the distance!  At least, I think they were volcanoes – they had that Mount Fuji shape! 

 

And somehow, the whole port of loading machinery looked so much more interesting in the dark!

Marimba Bands and Chocolate

Day 12 – 14 October 2026 – Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

 

Puerto Chiapas seemed to be an industrial port – we saw row after row after row of huge shipping containers stacked several high, all labelled “Chiquita” – full of bananas, no doubt!  It isn’t a huge port, but it looked like bananas are definitely the biggest crop here!  But it is near some Mayan ruins, as well as several coffee plantations and other places that can be visited on excursions, so ships stop here on their way onward.

 

Once I disembarked, I could see there was a walkway through manicured lawns, but no beach, just huge rocks along the shore.  It was a short walk to a tourist center, a giant thatched building that was sort of combo tourist and shopping mall – there was a group dancing traditional dances, a marimba band (with a really great saxophonist!), and lots of shopping.  WAY too many gorgeous embroidered or woven textiles – so hard to not buy everything!  Of course, I watched the dancing for a while, and then when they took a break the musicians began and I watched them – the guy on the alto sax really was soooo good!

 

Then, well, shopping seemed like an appropriate activity.  I wandered around each and every shop, because who knows, I might miss some item that I can no longer live without.  (I did purchase a gorgeous cotton scarf that is so soft and silky – it’s jacquard woven, so the design is on both side, in black against rich jewel tones of ruby, sapphire, turquoise.)

 

And chocolate!  The chocolate was delicious, dark and rich, with just a touch of cinnamon added.  I’m not sure if the chocolate is meant to be mixed with hot water and milk to create hot chocolate, but I will admit to just cutting the round bars into pieces and nibbling a bit for my dessert.  Delicious!

 

There were tours available, but I was fine with just wandering around in this area for a while.  Sitting in a bus or van for several hours is just not appealing to me, and there never seems to be enough time to explore an archaeological site or wherever the tour might be.

 

The two entrances to this tourist center had those hanging cut paper decorations, and I found out this art is called “papel picado” – literally, pierced paper.  All the papel picado I’ve seen has been done on colorful tissue paper.  Of course, I wonder what happens to these decorations in heavy rains, but maybe this is considered an ephemeral art form, like sand art or something.

 

I found great views of our ship beyond the papel picado!!!

 

Once back on our ship, I realized we were docked in a huge harbor that had interconnected rivers or canals branching off in various directions.  There seemed to be a network of rivers and waterways – not quite the canals of Venice, but somewhat similar in a more natural sort of way.  And one canal or river seemed like the main street of a neighborhood!  Really, I could see buildings all along the banks, with small motorboats moored or docked right alongside the edge!  It turns out that the real name of the town is Puerto Madero or Puerto de San Benito, just to make things more confusing. 

 

Huatulco, Mexico!

Day 11 – 13 October 2026 – Huatulco, Mexico

 

This was our first non-touristy town in Mexico, and I was looking forward to a slow wander through town.  Richard and I had our usual slow morning, with breakfast room service in our room.  I’m slow in the morning, and this helps me get going and saves time.

 

This morning, there were several announcements that there would be a safety drill for the crew, since most of the guests were already in town to avoid the heat of the day.  Each announcement would begin with “this is just a drill, guests do not need to do anything.”  We continued with our breakfast, then shower, then dressing for a hot day ashore. 

 

However, my favorite was the announcement to passengers that this was a crew drill only, and to ignore any announcements. This was repeated twice.  And then after a pause, the same voice announced suddenly in a slightly hysterical voice “Abandon ship!!  Abandon ship!”  Just too funny!  That was when I took a photo of the “evacuated” sign on our cabin door.

 

Huatulco turned out to be a very pretty town, despite the fact that no one on the ship ever heard of the place!  We could see the lovely beach from our balcony, across clear aqua waters.  Definitely tropical!  Large fancy houses up on the hills, though we had no idea if these are for touristas to rent, or if there are wealthy Mexicans who own these mansions.  But definitely not the homes of we the working class types.

 

Once I wandered into town along the pier, I found all sorts of colorful market stalls with weavings, clothing, gorgeous ceramics, beautiful jewelry – all the usual items we find for sale in Mexico.  I noticed, though, that the embroidery and lace designs here were more geometric and less floral than most of the items we see sold as “Made in Mexico.”  I don’t know if this is a regional stylistic difference, or perhaps artists who have changed their personal style.  (I suspect it’s regional – we found regional differences in textiles in Guatemala, just a bit to the south, so it seemed these might be traditional styles that differ by area of the country.)

 

I loved all the colorful store displays: clothing and weavings fluttering in the breeze, or tables of ceramics, jewelry, leather items – on and on, beckoning tourists to come and browse.  Come and shop.  SO hard to not buy half the items available, because everything really was so enticing!

 

The town had a lot of murals.  I really liked the one about Huatulco being the heart of Mexico, the children with the plants and birds were just gorgeous.  However, the center was a way too realistic painting of a heart, as in biologically correct, looking like it had been surgically removed.  Yes, I avoided photos of it, that was just way too creepy for me.  Stuff of nightmares!

 

I wandered around one section of town – there were also quite a variety of marine animal-based murals, some with a large statue of a particular animal in its painted environment in the background like a giant diorama.  And the random sculpture of a marlin near the beach!

 

As always, I walked down the beach to dip my toes – very warm water!  There were lovely cafés and restaurants along the beach just opening at 11 AM, but it was too early for lunch for me. 

 

More wandering, and I got a bit turned around trying to find a postcard somewhere – but in my wandering I somehow found the larger tourist market all under one roof!  Also a very green and shady park in the center of town, with elaborate cast metal benches.  By this point, I was getting tired after a few hours of wandering; one can only browse through shops and souvenirs for a limited time before it just becomes overwhelming.

 

But I did find a man who was weaving in front of his shop.  He comes from a family of weavers that goes way back, and both the men and women weave.  We chatted a bit, and I looked around his shop.  Beautiful wall hangings, pillows, table runners, coasters – wonderful colors and interesting designs both modern and traditional.  I explained that we don’t have a permanent home, we travel – but that everything was just beautiful.  Sometimes not having our own permanent home is the only way I can convince myself NOT to buy all these gorgeous things!

 

And I finally found a postcard!