Otavalo

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Well I have finally started my trip, and I must say the journey to get me to South America was certainly an adventure in itself. After 40 hours of travelling (with an unscheduled overnight stop in Guayaquil) I finally arrived in Quito and headed staright to Otavalo (another 2 1/2 hours traveling).
I finally arrived in Otavalo at about 7pm and once I checked into a my hostel (called the Rincon del Viajero) I promptly meet a lovely Dutch couple. We decided to do a hike the next day around Luguna de Cuicocha.
The Reserva Ecologica Cotacachi - Cayapas is a huge reserve the protects the western Andean habits that range from Volcan Cotachachi down to the north western coastal lowlands.
Laguana de Cuicocha is an absolutley stunning lagoon craddled in a collapsed volcanic srater. It is about 3km wide and around 200m deep. The really interesting thing about the lake is that there are these two cone shaped islands stuck in the middle.
The owner of the hostel dropped us off at the start of the hike and then it was up to us to make our way around to the pick up point. The scenery was absolutley stunning! The path took us along the edge of the crater rim. We managed to see heaps of birds and flowers. If you like Orchards then you would love this walk. All up tt took us about 4 hours to walk around the lake, with me taking quite a few breaks along the way. Altutide is not a nice thing, especially when trying to attempt to climb up hills on the first day!! Maybe I should listen to the guide book when it says you should take it easy for the first few days.
The next day we woke up early to check out the world famous Indigenous markets. First up we visited the Animal markets. The recon if your not vegetarian before you go to the animal markets, then you will be after you leave. Well it wasn´t that bad. Sure there were heaps of sceeeming pigs and mooing cows, but they were all being looked after very well by their owners. The funniest sight was a pig being dragged away by its new owner. It had dug in all four hoofs and was screeming at the top of its lungs. May be it knew what was coming....
After the animal market we headed back to the hostel for a big breakfast before we tackled the craft market.
Ah, the craft markets - a shopping paradise. Unfortunatley I came here at the beginning of the trip and not at the end. I could have bought the whole place out, but alas, there is only so much room in my pack.
Otavalo has been an Andean crossraods since pre-Inca times, when jungle traders would journey here on foot. Saturday is the principal market day, when roads are jammed with vendors and vistors from all over the area come to find a bargin. You can get pretty much what ever you wnat here, but wool is the staple good - tapestries, blankets, ponchos, sweaters, scarves and hats. Its great.
I managed to curb my spending and only came away with a beanie, sun hat and bag. Pretty good for me I think.
After stuffing it all in my pack, it was back off to Quito.

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Comments

[Abby]

orchids and Anna
hey posseum , miss you like crazy - simply not the same ... and so wish I was with you - this landscape looks like it could just eat you up its so lush . It truely looks like the experience of a lifetime , and what better time to do it than now. x Abby Patrice

[Dave Williams]

Cool pics
Hey Dude Nice pics. Great to see all is going well over there. Sydney is pretty warm at the moment as well. Everyone is on their way out at the moment though. Cheeseman is leaving for Canberra and ATSOC while McCoy is about to go to Toowoomba for Instructors Course. Go the thumbs up! Your blog needs more thumbs up photos. Take it easy Dave