Otavalo

Saturday 26th February 2011

Anyone for skiing?

We decided to take a 1 night trip out of Quito north 80km to the town of Otavalo. This place is famous for a Saturday market rated as second to none. The trip took 2.5hrs and was a real highlight. The scenery travelling through the Andes was pretty breathtaking. It seemed strange to be hot looking at the snow capped peaks of the local volcanoes.

This is breakfast!

The market was pretty impressive, covering all kinds of textiles and crafts. If we didn't have several weeks to go and already full bags, we certainly would have purchased a few things. James did manage to barter his way to a hat, while Emma splashed out on some hairbands.

Indiana Jones?

There is also the usual produce market and yet again we enjoyed some freshly-made milkshakes (blackberry for Emma, guayabana for James). These have been a particularly enjoyable feature of our trip so far. We may invest in a blender on our return.

The weaving señor.

After lunch we decided to get away from the humdrum of the market and visited the 'Museo de Tejidos El Obraje'. This little museum, run solely by señor Luis A Maldonado at his home, shows the traditional way cloth was weaved by the indigenous people of Otavalo. The Señor gives demonstrations as well as teaching you about some of the history. He also briefly talked about crops and the importance of the grain quinoa, yraditionally only grown only in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Fountain or bath?

One lovely feature of the town was seeing many kids running around enjoying the parks and open spaces. Not sure where the parents were though... Sitting in the park, you get the amazing backdrop of the three volcanoes surrounding the town.

We stayed the night in Otavalo, spending $10 on a very comfortable room. Not sure we'll beat that on price.

Voluntary litter pickers post market.

Sunday 27th February 2011
Midmorning we headed back to our hostel in Quito. With the Galapagos trip looming, we spent some time roughly planning the remainder of our time in Ecuador.

Needing a couple of bits for the trip, we headed to 'Quicentro', a swish shopping mall in the north of the city. We eventually got what we wanted (a book and insect repellent) but also managed to pick up some snorkelling gear for our trip. One item purchased was a hat for Emma. The previous favourite was a casualty on the bus to Medellin and we only hope it's being well worn somewhere.

Tomorrow we head of to the Islands for 8 days. We suspect there won't be Internet access so the next update should be in a week or so.