Just 20 minutes after leaving Quito and still within its suburbs, Frieda, our big yellow truck needed to have its brakes replaced. Great start to a 8000km truck trip! Successfully repaired quite quickly we were soon in Otavalo, a famous market town in Ecuador. A 6am start the next day meant we were at the animal market surrounded by mooing cows, squealing pigs, chickens held upside down and noisy locals bartering. Stalls selling hot coffee and freshly fried empanadas provided the perfect cheap breakfast whilst we watched which bits of an animal you should check before you buy it. Next it was onto the market itself. Hundreds of stalls jammed packed with brightly coloured goods to tempt you - bags, hats, paintings, beads, woven wall hangings, alpaca jumpers, alpaca socks, alpaca slippers etc. It is very
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