Zinacantán is a small, really small, village that has a really beautiful church with a town sign in front of it. Apart from that, in Zinacantán you can see how these table mats or shawls are woven. I was mainly there for the latter.
I had noticed these shaals, or as I found out in a conversation at some point, actually table mats – I really had to laugh when I heard what they were meant for and what I thought they were 😀 -. You have to imagine they really hang over-everywhere! Really everywhere. On all kinds of markets in all kinds of colours and with all kinds of patterns. And I think the most important thing is that they were and are portable. That means I could actually buy something that wasn’t a bracelet, earring or ankle bracelet. I quickly fell in love with these things.
When I found out that they spend 15 to 16 hours on one of them until it’s finished (I seem to remember that), my jaw really dropped and I really wanted and needed to go to where they come from. In other words, where you can watch people weaving these shawls.

When I arrived in Zinacantán, I was taken by a local to a woman who was sitting on the floor of a hut and weaving. These shawls in all sorts of different colours were hanging all over the walls and it was one of the first times I felt bad that I couldn’t for the life of me find a shawl that I liked. And I couldn’t bring it with me at the time, so… Well. So I had a look around, was offered a mezcal in a mini cup and got to watch the woman do her job for a bit.
It was almost a bit meditative the way she worked so calmly and relaxed. I mean, I’m well aware that most of it was probably staged, but it was still an experience. I politely asked if I could take frontal photos of her at work – without her face on them, of course. I was actually allowed to, which surprised me a little. Of course, I was extra discreet and tried not to disturb her while she was working. Apart from that, she didn’t speak much Spanish. I strongly suspect that she simply spoke a dialect from Zinacantán and nothing else, or that she didn’t say anything for some other reason.

When I got back outside, I went to explore Zinacantán a little. I had to digest what I had just seen and also wanted to have a look around. I realised how poor most non-touristy places look to the naked eye and how little most tourists – including myself in some cases – probably ever get to see of the real Mexico outside of tourist villages and big cities. I also realised how incredibly small Zinacantán is and of course discovered the cathedral on my little tour. It towers beautifully and proudly in front of you with mountains in the background and a wonderful sign in the foreground.
Well, there’s not much else in Zinacantán. Oh and you can get back quite easily with a taxi colectivo. There are no buses there and back due to the low frequency of people. So I would answer whether you should go or not as follows: It’s worth a half or full day trip if you want to see how these shawls/table mats are woven. I wouldn’t go just for the cathedral because it’s just such a sweet ad-on for when you’re there anyway. The weaver and the whole experience itself is quite impressive, so at least for me it was, but at the same time very special in terms of what you’re interested in. So I would advise you to just go for it. But only if you still have time and curiosity 😊