Open Air Market in Mazatlan

I’m forever looking on the Internet to find information about things to do where ever we are in Mexico, lots of neat stuff about Mazatlan. One article I found said that every Sunday there is a very big open air market in the Juarez section of the city.

I convinced The Driver we should go there. “So where is it?” he asked.
“Umm the Juarez area. There is a great big statue of the head of Benito Juarez there,” was my reply.
“That’s not really a help,” he said as he fired up Streets and Trips.
“Well according to the article I read ‘You take one of the busses from downtown that says Juarez on it. Get off just past the big Sorianas then walk a couple blocks past the big building with the two story blue sign on it.’ And I don’t remember what else it said and I can’t find the article again.”
“Well we aren’t taking a bus. But I think I might know where it is,” he answered as he checked out the map. “I think it’s just off Insurgentes.”
So off we went. And wonder of wonders the GPS (last years Gertrude that I kept dropping on her head so she doesn’t work so well any more) decided to work and The Driver headed right towards Insurgentes. ”Oh yah,” I pointed out the window, “ there’s the Sorianas. But I don’t see the big blue sign.” Stopped and asked a nice lady for directions. “Ud. va hasta el tercer semaforos y despues a la derecha.” – WOW I understood that – go three signals then to the right.
“Ummm…weren’t we supposed to turn right at the third light?” A quick U-turn later we were headed in the right direction again.
Up ahead we could see traffic and people all over the place. We found it!

Finding parking was going to be a big problem. The streets were jammed and most were one way. As we circled the block (always have faith in The Driver) we spotted an empty space right on the main street. There were two orange traffic cones in it. It was guarded by a young man with a rag in his hand. We stopped. Bill rolled down the window and motioned towards the space. The guy moved the cones and in we pulled. Just that easy.
He negotiated a price for a car wash – the reason for the rag. We ended up not getting the car wash as the young man told us when we returned “No hay agua.” There wasn’t any water. Oh well.
So off we went. We did find the statue but I couldn’t get a picture of it – it was just too crowded around it.

These markets are really amazing – so much sensory overload. I’ve included a very short video that doesn’t capture everything going on. The traffic, the music, the trucks with speakers hawking products, the smells of raw fish, produce, cooking. Everything that is for sale……..
Careful where you walk - the ice is for the beer?

Lets see what is for sale here? Well there are vegetables, dresses and underware. I wish I'd taken a picture of the cardboard box full of red thongs - but I was past before it dawned on me what they were.

Next we pass cereal and some canned goods

Doing a good business

Eggs any one?

30 white eggs for under US$2.00

Raw chicken cut in pieces. This was sold at several stands.

And fish - several different kinds - large and small

Chunks of ice to keep it cold

And always the clams and shrimp etc.

And scales to weigh everything

He is carrying a full load of toilet paper to somewhere

Lots of toilet paper and shoppers

Lots of stands with fruits and vegetables. We ended up buying some cantaloupe out of the back of a pickup.

Good smells - fresh fruit and vegies

Then Bill bought some of this candy type stuff. It is a quince paste - he likes it sliced with cheese. Cannot tell you what it tastes like 'cause I won't taste it.  But he left the vendor the bees and wasps -

Look close for the wasps

On around the corner we came to the dog and cat chow - by the kilo - there is a hanging scale to weigh it. Also for sale detergent and

That is detergent in the bottles not soda pop

And after a hard morning of shopping nothing like a nice cream filled donut.

Or even lunch

Doing a good business

Lots and lots of clothes for sale - new and used

Some really cute stuff for all ages

Just some of the shoppers and crowds

A dapper older man

She is all dressed up with her hair done - wearing flip flops

They were looking for a parking place. We've seen as many as 17 people in the back of a pick up. Wouldn't the authorities in the U.S. go nuts.

The whole family including Mama

Just a short video of some of the sounds

I just about had a heart attack - while uploading this post my laptop screen suddenly went completely black!
When I calmed down I discovered it was unplugged and I'd been running on battery until it died. Phew!
Hope you enjoyed the open air market as much as we did.
And then that night we watched the sunset.

One of the big ships leaving port

The end of another day