La Paz (Pichilingue): Artisans of La Paz

October 6, 2009

From the tour brochure: “Visit the seaside town of La Paz and some of the cultural highlights it has to offer. Travel through the thriving downtown area with its boulevards, shops, restaurants and mile-long waterfront promenade. You'll visit a pottery factory, a weaver's display of local crafts and stop at the public market.”

We chose this tour since we knew we would be getting in late from the Copper Canyon train ride. We just didn’t know how late. This tour sounded pretty low-key, and it was, which was perfect after not getting a lot of sleep. We went to the weaver’s shop (Artesania Cuauhtemoc) first, and got to see a demonstration of both spinning the cotton into yarn and then weaving an area rug. After the demos, we had our chance to purchase some of the carpets and other items made in the shop. From here, we went to Ibarra’s Pottery where we heard about how the pottery business is a family affair with everyone doing their part in keeping the family in business. And, again, we had our chance to buy some of the great lead-free pottery items made at Ibarra’s Pottery.

Weaving a rug:

My only picture of Ibarra's Pottery -- they didn't allow pictures inside:

Check out the rest of my blogs about our cruise:

• Our Mexican Riviera cruise: Impressions of the ship
  
• Topolobampo: Copper Canyon by Train
  
• Mazatlan: Sierra Madre Country Tour
  
• Puerto Vallarta: Town, Country & Tequila
  
• Cabo San Lucas: On our own