Lagunillas Tianguis (Market)

Lagunillas, the place of little lakes. A couple of weeks ago, the baker in town told us that she was originally from the town of Lagunillas that is located on the main road heading north. She also told us that there was a weekly market, a tianguis, with fruit and vegetable,s as well as odds and ends that people might need, i.e. shoe laces, tea towels, little toys, underwear. Kind of like a Mexican travelling $1 store.

So when our cleaning lady, Sara, came at 9 a.m., we drove to Lagunillas. The quickest way there, we were told, was to take an unpaved and windy backroad over the mountain. We knew that there was a large cave off of that road that used to be used by the indigenous people as a ceremonial site. People can visit it but it is recommended that you get a guide as there are no lights in the cave and it is quite large.

The road is in fairly good conditionalthough somewhat dusty, with potholes and big rocks on it.it was recommendedto drive slowly, which Chris did. After driving 6 km (1/2 hour), we got to the main road, took a left and went over the river into town.

It wasn’t a big market but they had all the fresh fruit and vegetables that Mexicans use on a daily basis, chiles, avocados, cilantro, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cantaloupes, watermelons, apples, pineapples, bananas, and so on.

There was a little stand where a lady was selling a pineapple drink called Tepache. It is an old indigenous, fermented beverage made from the peel and the rind of pineapples, and is sweetened either with brown sugar, seasoned with powdered cinnamon, and served cold.

Though tepache is fermented for several days, the drink does not contain a lot of alcohol. Some people add beer to this drink. The lady added chilli powder, pineapple bits, lime juice and orange slices to fancy it up for us. We have never had that drink before so we bought one to try it out. It was good. We just hope that the water and ice was purified and the fruit clean!

We had time to walk through the village. It was interesting to walk through this sleepy village.. We passed several cages of handsome roosters probably used for cock fights.

In general, we enjoyed being there and will probably go back to the market.

Our drive home on that road was just as interesting. All in all, it was a pleasant morning and we returned with fresh cilantro, apples, celery and two new tea towels.Read more