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Published: June 27th 2009
24th June- From Quito we headed north to a town called Otavalo which is known for its craft market. We arrived late afternoon on Wednesday (never believe them when they say the bus will only take 2 hours!) and having found somewhere to stay, we headed straight out into the market. It is colder than we were expecting in Equador so Alpaca socks, hats, blankets etc were the order of the day! You can get pretty much any craft that you want in this market, and in about any colour so we found it a bit too easy to part with our cash and soon realised that we would be sending a parcel home full of the things we had bought. Amongst other things we bought beaded jewellery, blankets, hats, wooly socks and pan pipes (why did I do that?!). It was a lot of fun though and we actually enjoyed bartering with the traders to get a better price. In the evening we went and organised a homestay with an indigenous family for the next day.
25th June- after spending the morning in Otavalo we were picked up and delivered to our homestay in the back of a pick
up truck. On the way we had seen a gathering of people dressed up in their traditional clothing, playing music and dancing around in a small circle. We unknowingly had chosen the weekend of Inti Rumi, which is the festival of the Sun. Later we realised that this meant communities all over the region were celebrating with their unique style of music which came blaring from the loud speakers on the top of the church.
When we arrived at the homestay we were introduced to our hostess, Digna, and she took us for a walk around the immediate area, pointing out the natural springs and the bath that it flows into that the locals can use (we tested the water and decided we were definately not going to to that!). The area was absolutely stunning, very rural and the scenery was mainly houses and their patches of land. Most of them seemed to grow their own fruit and veg so were fairly self sufficient, and their cattle and sheep were tied up or roaming somewhere nearby. After our walk we went back to the house and were shown around the extensive vegetable garden. Among other things the family grew
beans, lemons, oranges, limes, cabbages, herbs and chillis. They also had Cuy (guinia pig) which they raised for meat (this is a delicacy in Equador and Peru), and chickens (for eggs and meat).
During the afternoon we watched our Digna embroidering and making traditional blouses. She let us have a go but we were less than skilled and she ended up laughing at us then undoing all of our hard work.
That night we helped make dinner which was vegetable soup and rice and vegetable all from the garden. After about 7 weeks of being in Central America where the main food available is rice, beans and fried chicken, this was very welcome and we went to bed full and very happy.
26th June- after waking up for a lovely breakfast of fresh orange juice (oranges from the garden), eggs and fresh bread we went for a walk to one of the neighbouring houses where they make the belts that women traditionally wear in Equador. While we were there our hostess bought a couple of new belts of herself while we watched the boys weaving new ones which they sell in the Saturday Market in Otavalo. The
machines and skills they used were incredible and the result was really intricately woven belts and hair braids in every possible colour.
When we got back to the house, Laura and I were put to work picking and shelling beans from the garden for our lunch which was another delicous veggie soup, rice and potato fritters (they love their carbs here). That afternoon we chatted to Digna, trying to teach her some English and learning some Spanish from her. In the evening we returned to Otavala for dinner.
27th June- Today we woke up and realising that it was Saturday, could not resist the lure of the market at its biggest and most impressive. Usually the market takes up the market square but on Saturdays it spills over about 2 streets further in every direction and comprises food and general household goods as well as the usual crafts.
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Alan
non-member comment
Headdress!!
Ok Laura, the headdress is definitely you, it's an absolute must for 'in pub wear' :-)