The Otavalo Markets

If you have traveled in other countries of Latin America, you will have seen the Otavalo markets of Ecuador. It is the same kind of handicraft that is sold all over; paintings, wood carvings, beads, jewellery, knits, scarves, hats, leather goods... But the Otavalo markets is your one stop artisan shop. It consists of blocks and blocks of stalls, biggest on Saturdays, with foreign and local visitors haggling the day away.

I bought a small leather satchel to replace the sling bag I lost earlier in the morning and spent the rest of the day wandering and taking photos. Many of the local people there in the highlands still wore their traditional dress, colorful and similar to Andean folk from Peru and Bolivia. Slight differences include the fact that many of the men wear their hair in long ponytails under felt hats so that they remind me of native North American Indians.

There was an immense queue back to Quito and other places en route in the afternoon. The buses lined up, filled with passengers and left, but couldn't keep up with the increasing numbers of people ready to leave. By 7pm I was at the front of the queue, having moved about 100m in line, and finally got on a bus back to Quito.