Blogs from Otavalo, North, Ecuador, South America - page 3

This is my second attempt at writing up my blog as I spent over an hour updating it last week and for some reason it didn't publish or save anything. The PC I'm using now is really slow so not sure how my patience will bear up! We arrived in Otavalo on April 25th and found a hostal with ease near the bus "terminal" called Hostal Mashys. Huge room, balcony with views of Cotopaxi volcano & private bathroom all for $US15 - bargain! The town is famous for it's market which I did manage to have a look around although David kept asking if I really needed things and when would I use them so I didn't buy a bag I had my eye on & now regert it. I plan to go shopping alone in ... read more

Our next destination was the highland town of Otavalo, 2550 meters above sea level, and two hours north of Quito. The town is known for it’s huge Saturday market (which we weren’t going to be there for) - a mainly tourist affair where traditionally dressed indigenous people sell their handicrafts. Otavalo is very prosperous as the indigenous population sell their woven products world wide. We caught a local bus from the northern bus station in Quito - nearly an hours taxi ride from our hotel there- Quito is a long city! Close to Quito we passed some deep canyons - no doubt formed during previous volcanic action - then acres of plastic covered greenhouses where all the gorgeous long stemmed roses on sale in the streets of Quito were grown. Soon we were in the vibrant ... read more

In Otavalo for three days. It's just north of Quito. We spent (literally spent $$) a full day at the famous Otavalo markets. There are 3 separate markets, one is for buying and selling animals (including giant amazon larvae), one for food & household goods, and the other is an artisan market. Mostly it all blurs together into what seems like miles of streets crammed with people buying and selling everything you can imagine. It was impossible to see the town until the next day when the streets cleared out. We stayed at Posada del Quinde which is perfectly located so we could walk to everything. I thought we had missed the animal market because we were lazy getting out of bed in the morning but our hostess at the hotel encouraged us to go and ... read more

Hola amigos ! Me voila a Otavalo, une sympathique petite commune au Nord de Quito. Je suis arrivé jeudi, histoire d etre relax et de quitter Quito au plus vite. J ai avec moi un guide Lonely Planet - "South America on a shoestring" que m a gentiment offert Pinelopi. Tres complet et bien detaillé en dépit des nombreuses zones couvertes. Seul bémol, il date de 2007. Et nous sommes bientot en 2011. Et alors me direz-vous ? Alors ca rend le voyage un peu plus excitant car pas mal d infos ne sont plus valables... Donc, grace a ma super carte de Quito, je decouvre que le terminal de bus indiqué dans le guide n existe plus et qu il me faut traverser la ville a l aide du Metrobus, puis rejoindre le terminal Nord ... read more

We decided yet again to take a tour to Otavalo, this time from the tour place located in the hostel. We boarded the cars with 15 other people and started the journey by heading to Cayambe. Here is yet another monument of the equator line. For the third time we took a picture straddling the equator! In Cayambe we also visited a shop where we tried local biscuits and cheese. After a couple more stops along the way we finally made it to Otavalo. We were told we had 1.5 hours to buy whatever we like. My main priority was to find a red and black poncho with a hood for Jordan. The markets were huge, so many stalls selling roughly the same things. Here I got to practice my Spanish bargaining skills. “Cuanto Cuesta, Es ... read more

Went to these 2 waterfalls. You hafta wade through the water to reach the second one. Josh and Mary went swimming there. Then more service and toured the translation department here in Otavalo.... read more

I rolled into town alone and a little flustered. My first town arrival without my beloved travel partner Anna and I was daunted. But after a frustrated yet determined hour I unloaded my dusty pack onto the squashy bed of a hostel of which I was the only occupant. After another hour of so wandering the few streets of the town I felt much better. A Thursday night; the town was void of tourists and got on its merry way without interupptions. A beautifully colourful craft market was winding up in the town centre square, people were cooking steaming piles of corn and miscellaneous meat on the side of the road, and a group of men were playing an animated game of what looked like four square, but with a little rubber ball, and standing about ... read more

Hola! Zo, dat was toch wel weer even spannend om alleen op pad te gaan en dat ondanks dat het niet de eerst keer is, dat ik alleen aan het rondreizen ben. Wel was het de eerste keer dat ik ook alleen vertrok en dat is toch wel weer even anders dan in een bus op LCKV naar Diever stappen met 42 deelnemers en 15 stafleden. Dingen als: oh jee, is het wel gezellig alleen, ga ik me niet eenzaam voelen en oh jee, wat als ik ziek wordt? Maar ja, dat schiet natuurlijk allemaal niet op om zo te denken, want het is ook onzin: er lopen hier duizenden anderen mensen rond, waarmee contact te leggen valt, eenzaam voelen is iets wat je in je hoofd creeert en dus ook net zo goed niet kan ... read more