Tonalá

I was surprised at how much cool and seeming authentic crafts there were in Tonalá. There were plenty of things that would appropriately be called "crafts". But there were many things that were the real deal, produced by real craftspeople. Some amazing metalwork in particular. Beautiful pottery. And cheap! Those wonderfully colorful ceramic bathroom sinks (I've always wondered where you can get them) were readily available and for a large one: $30! Thirty! From what I heard by almost everyone was that in Tlaquepaque, about 8 miles closer to Guadalajara, the same exact crafts sell for three times as much. Literally the same exact as they are all made in Tonalá no matter where they are sold. But for some reason, the tourists are all lead to Tlaquepaque and that is where they all Shop For Mexican Crafts. Actually, on Sundays, Tonalá gets pretty crazy with their own street crafts market, but thankfully I went on Saturday so I could talk with people a bit more and shoot some of the artisans in their fabricas while they worked. I love pulling out the "big" camera in places like this. People treat you with respect, damn it


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