Pictures from markets in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico (pronounced "wa-ha-ca"). The small towns around Oaxaca city have market days once a week where locals set up tables or spread out tarps and fill them with wares for sale. Most of the items are for locals and include food, clothing, and other necessities. Vendors with handicrafts for tourists are often located near the local church. Each town has a set market day and it's been the same day for many years. Every day of the week, there's at least one town within an hour of Oaxaca city with a market. But it's more than just a day of shopping. These market days are a chance for the indigenous population to come down from the hills and socialize. Bring your haggling skills and enjoy a day eating and hanging out with the locals.

There are also towns like Arrazola where the town focuses on 1 craft and you can visit any day of the week. In this case, the speciality are alebrijes - hand carved and hand painted, colorful wooden animals. Here you can buy directly from the artists. In my opinion, the best alebrije artist in Arrazola is Oscar Carrillo. It's only Oscar and his wife that make the alebrijes and they sell them from their home.

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