The convoy stretched out both in front and behind of us, a long line of rental cars all crawling along the seemingly never ending straight road with Lanzarotes barren but yet beautiful landscape either side of us. Like a posse of explorers searching for gold, all heading for the promised land where they had heard of the treasures that the tourist guides had promised there. The pot at the end of this rainbow was the tourist orientated market (Mercadillo) held weekly in the town of Teguise in the north of the island. Billed as one of the biggest events on the island, the market held every Sunday morning attracted thousands of visitors and is a big part of the excursion trips running from the major coastal resorts.
As we approached the town itself, an array of locals were frantically waving, as if they were signalmen guiding a taxiing plane into its gate. Some were waving to the left, others to the right all offering you a precious parking space as the market took over their town. Our space meant we had quite a long uphill walk up towards the quaint streets and town square which housed the stalls, however it led us to find a surreal visual experience that I'm glad we didn't miss. As we trudged up the steep hill past one of the houses we had to double take at the sights in front of us, others stopping too with mouths dropping open at the extraordinary exhibits in the large garden area.
There was so much to take in, a total visionary overload that i dread to think what would happen to your mind if you had just taken drugs before coming across it. In the garden were an array of stone sculptures of various sizes, most showing body parts of the kind we normally cover up. It's fair to say these sculptures would not be in line to win any awards for their artistic content but they were intriguing none the less.
For me the strange and macabre element of the gardens occupants were the weather beaten cuddly toys together with broken mannequins and baby dolls strategically placed around the area. Some sitting at broken computer monitors, others riding rusting bikes and some chained to trees amongst other
things.
To add to the scenario the owner of the property was sat on his porch with a big grin on his face taking in all the commotion of the tourists at the edge of his garden perimeter clicking merrily away with their cameras. He undoubtedly sees this as a totally innocent fun visual experience put on for the Tegusie visitors, however there was something unnerving about the place for me. Probably the result of watching too many American horror movies where the fun loving car load of college students breakdown and the only property in the area would contain strange elements such as those on show here.
Despite my reservations it is definitely worth stopping off here for some great unusual photo opportunity's however perhaps its best on a bright sun drenched market day rather than a deserted moonlit night when I'm sure it could be a more disconcerting experience.
As for the market itself, it is certainly worth taking in a visit if you want to escape the beach for a day and is extremely popular as the large crowds roaming round the the stalls demonstrates. There are a massive number of vendors selling local handmade crafts,locally sourced produce such as wine and the obligatory stalls on tourist markets of this kind selling "designer" goods. Comically I saw one African stall holder selling items such as Chanel bags, Tag Heuer watches and Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses telling a potential customer with all sincerity "look sir, they are genuine copies".
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