If you think Tlaquepaque is difficult to pronounce (sort of: Tlaky-paky) I got carpal tunnel just trying to spell it.
The following morning, up bright and early again. (This was getting ridiculous). Having grabbed our very nice complimentary breakfast we set off for Tonalá where they have a huge market every Thursday. But as of 1st Dec they are there every day until Christmas.
They parked the bus on a side street and we went off to explore the market. We walked up and down rows and rows of stall selling all sorts of stuff, mostly TTC. (Tacky tourist crap). We vowed to stop buying the stuff but still ended up with a bag full.
Some of the things we bought were a few flash drives with music on them. Rosalie asked for romantic (of course) and I asked for party (of course). We threw in an oldies of the 80’s and 90’s. It was all Mexican so we had no idea what we had. They came on 16 GB flash drives and when I got home I found that we had 5,300 tunes as well as the three flash drives all for 360 pesos ($24.45). A good deal!
As we were waiting to return to the bus we stopped for a quick lunch at one of the stalls. While we waited, an older Mexican gentleman who spoke no English asked if he could sit with us. Of course we agreed. He sat down and I enjoyed the next 15 minutes listening to Rosalie and him have quite the conversation. I managed to pick up quite a bit of it but it made me realize just how far I have to go to catch her up. Rosalie, I’m proud of you.
When we went back to the bus we found it missing. It had had to move as there was some construction going on. It was only up the street so it wasn’t a problem.
Now, the reason we needed a big bus. It seems to be the tradition that when we Nordeños go on these trips we take advantage of the lower prices and buy everything in sight including furniture. The hold under the bus was crammed and we had to wait because one delivery to the bus was delayed because the driver went to the wrong place. Fortunately we don’t own a house down here or we would have been doing the very same thing.
Our next stop was Tlaquepaque another great shopping site. This wasn’t a market area but had some neat stores. We didn’t want to buy anything major, although I did check out a local guitar store, so we wandered and observed.
The main street is a pedestrian only area and there was a lot to see and hear.
Our trip back was uneventful and we arrived back in Melaque at about 10 pm.
This trip was bought to us by Dan Patman and his company ‘Flip Flop Nomad Tours’. Thanks Dan we recommend you to everyone.