Market Day in a Mountain Town

On Sundays, the remote mountain town of Cuetzalan turns into a marketplace swarming with Nahua and Totonac Indians doing their weekly shopping alongside visitors hunting for hand-woven garments, pottery, spices, coffee, chiles and good things to eat.

I had wanted to see this town since reading about it in a Mexican novel and acquiring a Cuetzalan shawl elsewhere in Mexico. The trip became possible last September when I spent a few days in Puebla, which is the nearest major city.

My plan was to arrive in Cuetzalan on Saturday so I could be at the market early Sunday. I set out from Puebla on an early bus. The ride took 3 1/2 hours, interrupted by a parade in the town of Oriental. Taxis, mule carts, tractors, boys on horseback, pretty girls and endless bands of schoolchildren marched proudly across the highway in honor of Mexican Independence Day that weekend.

Despite the holiday, I had no trouble getting a room in Cuetzalan. Young boys meet the buses to tout hotels and carry luggage the short distance to the center of town.

Hotel Posada Cuetzalan was my first choice, on the recommendation of friends, but I hadn’t made a reservation and it was full. I ended up in the Hotel Viky, with a spotless room and bath with plenty of hot water. The rooms surrounding mine were full of families on holiday. I could hear giggling children at play in the hallway.

Cuetzalan is tucked into a hillside in the northern mountains of the state of Puebla, on the side that sweeps down to the state of Veracruz and the Gulf of Mexico. Humid currents from the gulf produce the mists that often shroud the town’s old buildings and moisten the cobblestone streets so that you have to walk carefully. The name of the town comes from the quetzal, a flamboyant bird regarded as sacred in ancient Mexico.

The bus ride from Puebla runs through gradually rising foothills. At Zaragoza, the bus leaves the main highway and turns toward Cuetzalan-the end of the road at an altitude of almost 3,000 feet.

Flowers bloomed profusely in the increasingly lush landscape when I was there; I identified red salvia and pink, yellow and white datura, as well as dried corn plants tied up like ghostly scarecrows.

The Spaniards came to Cuetzalan in 1547, 28 years after Hernando Cortes landed at Veracruz and set off on the conquest of Mexico.

The town’s primary claim to the interest of outsiders is its proximity to Yohualichan, an archeological zone about five miles away. Yohualichan was a ceremonial center for the Totonac people between the years 200 and 650, and some of its excavated features are similar to the larger pyramids at El Tajin (see related story, L10).

Cuetzalan has about 45,000 inhabitants, 55% of them Indian, the rest mestizo. It is widely known for its weaving of huipils, the lacy white triangular garment that local Indian women wear over their blouses. It’s also the heart of a coffee-growing region. Each October, the town celebrates both in a Feria del Cafe y el Huipil, timed to coincide with the Oct. 4 feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the town’s patron saint. Last year’s fair started Sept. 30, two weeks after I arrived, and continued through Oct. 8.

The Saturday of my visit, the main entertainment in the evening was a competition in the plaza for feria queen. The teenage finalists paraded in short dresses, then in regional costumes, each reciting Cuetzalan’s history and attractions. Enthusiastic onlookers rooted for their favorites despite a downpour.

September is the rainy season, and rain fell throughout my weekend.

Thoroughly dampened, I went in search of a welcoming place for dinner and stumbled upon Restaurante Cuca. I watched Independence Day fireworks through the open windows as I ate nopales (cactus) salad and sincronizadas (ham and cheese quesadillas), washed down with agua de sandia, a fresh watermelon drink. A guitarist sang and bantered with other holiday visitors who filled the tables in the small room.

On Sunday, church bells rang early, but I awoke on my own, eager to get to the market. By 8 o’clock, the plaza was full of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, shoes and many other items, as well as the handmade garments that I had come for.

I noticed a crowd at a crude table covered with oilcloth and sacks of tortillas and sugar-sprinkled pan dulce (sweet bread). Behind the table, Maria Antonia, a tiny woman with gray braids streaming down her back, tended big pots of stew, coffee and a thick masa drink called champurrado. I joined the others ordering breakfast. Maria Antonia scooped out the rich, sweet coffee and strained it through a tiny sieve into a plastic-foam cup, which she handed to me.

I took my seat on a hard plank bench and helped myself to the feather-light sweet rolls.

The main dish was chilpozonte, meat in a red chile sauce that was liberally seasoned with fresh mint leaves. It was delicious, although the meat was chewy. This sturdy breakfast cost slightly more than a dollar and fortified me for hours of marketing.

Shawls, cotton print huipils and other woven goods hung like bright banners from stalls at the top of the steeply terraced plaza. Soon I had acquired a white huipil with purple and black flowers and a black one with flowers and stars in gaudy colors. Each cost less than $10. From weavers in the nearby town of Zacapoaxtla came a shawl distinctively striped in tan and cream.

Shopping around me were Indian girls in spotless white. Colorful embroidery trimmed the sleeves and necks of their blouses, over which hung dainty white huipils. Long woven red sashes wrapped their waists. Some were barefoot, and some cradled babies in shawls slung over their shoulders.

A frail, white-haired Nahua woman approached me with a plastic sack containing a few cotton shawls in an open pattern, like fine netting. Of course I couldn’t resist. Another offered tiny packets of cinnamon, which she said she had roasted and ground herself. Yet another had coffee from the town of San Miguel. And a man pulled out packets of peppercorns, another local crop. Soon my shopping bag was so stuffed that I had to return to the hotel to unload my purchases.

On the way back, I stopped at Restaurante El Encuentro for a restorative, a local herbal wine called yolixpan.

When I returned to the plaza a cheerful woman named Ambrosia was making garnachas, small tortillas topped with mashed potatoes, red chile sauce, chopped green onion and crumbled dried cheese-delicious, and only one peso each. Next to her stand, Blanca and her daughter Erica were selling homemade cakes. I bought a slice of sumptuous tres leches cake, striped with strawberry filling, covered with soft white frosting and decorated with strands of chocolate. From another stand I chose a borracho, a small piece of cake soaked in syrup flavored with local orange wine.

To work off these snacks, I roamed through the market, where I discovered unfamiliar greens such as tegelite, broad leaves that are added to beans; chocoyoles, long green sticks to peel and cook with beans; and quintoniles, with pointed green and purple leaves.

Beans, of course, are a major part of the local diet, and the market was loaded with them-large black ayocotes, pale buff bayos, small garbancillos, purplish flor de mayo beans, peruanos and more. One woman sold flor de frijol (bean flowers), green sprigs with dainty red flowers for use in cooking.

Late in the afternoon, I realized I had better stop if I wanted to get back to Puebla. But first I stopped at Cafe Selecto de Cuetzalan near the plaza for a cafe con leche and a sack of dark-roasted local coffee beans. Cafe Americano, plain black coffee, is made with a lighter roast, and I bought some of that too.

Because this was the end of the weekend, lots of people were lined up at the bus station. Turned away from one crowded bus, I was lucky to get a seat on the next. More passengers jammed in at stops along the way, filling the aisles.

An Indian so poor that his sandals hung by threads crossed himself every time we passed a church. Soon the bus was so packed that he could not raise his arm to continue these devotions. A young couple from Zacapoaxtla stood placidly beside me for three hours without complaint. Too late, I realized it would have been smarter to stay over and return to Puebla Monday morning, after the crowds were gone.

When I first looked into Cuetzalan, it seemed mysterious, isolated and hard to reach. A tour company in Puebla offered a one-night trip for $385, and I almost succumbed. Happily, I found the journey easy, accommodations plentiful and the town warm and welcoming. Talk about travel bargains-my all-inclusive, self-conducted tour cost only $46.

Working it out was fun, and being alone gave me freedom to wander at will. My only regret was that I didn’t stay another night. Even without its market, Cuetzalan would be an appealing place to spend a few days.

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Guidebook: Cuetzalan

* Getting there: Nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Mexico City are available on United, Aeromexico, Mexicana and LACSA airlines. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $286.

I went to Cuetzalan from Puebla, which is about 115 miles east of Mexico City. via Federal Highway 150D, a toll road. Autobuses del Oriente, or The bus lines ADO, (telephone 011-52-5-133-2444, ) and UNO, (tel. 011-52-5-522-1111,) bus lines run make the from Mexico City to Pueblatrip; fare is about $8. Thence to Puebla: TK

HOW TO TK

VIA line buses go frequently from Puebla to Tickets from Puebla to Cuetzalan; afare lso $$8. Departures are frequent, but go early on weekends because the buses fill rapidly.

To drive from Puebla, if driving, take Highway 129., turn just before Zaragoza, turn onto the road that leads to Zacapoaxtla, then continue half an hour or so to Cuetzalan. *

Where to stay:

Hotels in the center of town, close to the market, include:

Hotel Posada Cuetzalan, Zaragoza 12; tel. 011-52-(233-) 1-0295. Doubles, are about $36. This hotel is highly recommended; and, judging by its restaurant, must be quite charming. I would have stayed there,, but it was full.

Hotel Viky, Guadalupe Victoria 16; tel. 011-52-(233-) 1-02-72,. a double room is about $16. Simple and very clean;, the hotel has a pleasant rooftop garden..

Hotel El Encuentro, Hidalgo 34; tel. 011-52-(233-) 1-00-27. Double rooms are about $320 0 dduring the week and $30 on weekends. Rooms open off an attractive courtyard with a fountain. *

Where to eat:

Restaurante Cuca, Zaragoza 12, in . This restaurant is part of the Posada Cuetzalan.

La Bugambilia, Galeana 7; local tel. 1-03-77.

I had good mushroom quesadillas with fresh chile salsa here.

Los Jarritos, Plazuela A, Lopez Mateos No. 7. Tel. 011-52 (233) 1-05-08doesntwork. On weekends, this restaurant stages a floor show featuring regional dances.

Cafe Selecto de Cuetzalan, Hidalgo 2; local tel. 1-00-37. Go here for coffee drinks and to buy Cuetzalan coffee beans. *

For more information: Mexican Government Tourism Office, Mexican Consulate, 2401 W. 6th St., 5th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90057; tel. (213) 351-2069, fax (213) 351- 2074, https://www.visitmexico.com.