Blogs from Otavalo, North, Ecuador, South America - page 29

Advertisement

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo January 1st 2006

Having raced across Colombia in three days we just made it in time to Otavalo to see in the New Year. If you like crafty things you can buy them in numbers in Ecuador where there is a huge market in the Plaza de Ponchos (Square of Ponchos). But it is otherwise a lovely place. You an walk among the mountains and visit a waterfall in a eucalyptus grove. The lakes are among the most beautiful in South America, although our photos don´t really do the countryside justice. Silvie thinks our photos represent the beauty there quite well, and I´m being cynical or falsely modest. The Otavaleño culture is unique. They managed to maintain a distinct identity despite the Incas, and then teh Spanish. They also speak a more antique version of Quechua. They are also ... read more
Silvie and I celebrated

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo December 24th 2005

I left Quito on Thursday for Otavalo. It’s very nice here, I like it much more than Quito. Otavalo is a medium-sized town, but I am here primarily because today is market day! They say this is the largest indigenous market in South America. I can’t say whether or not that is true, but it is certainly big. There were many craft stalls open yesterday as well, so I actually did some shopping then, which turned out to be a smart decision, because the prices were much higher today. There is some haggling involved which was kind of hard for me. Just tell me what it’s worth and that’s what I’ll pay, but I guess it doesn’t work like that here (or honestly anywhere). Besides the craft market, which is primarily for tourists, there is a ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo December 16th 2005

Okay, I realize this isn't a Galápagos blog, but I promise it's coming! It's going to take me awhile to finish writing it (I don't want to leave anything out), and it may not even be posted until I get back to the States. But I had an incredible time and can't wait to share it with all of you. :) In other news . . . I returned to the mainland on Sunday, December 11. I had received word from Brenna and Ami that they were going to be in Baños that evening, so I decided to hop on a Baños-bound bus once I got to Guayaquil. Two of my fellow Cormorant passengers, Chris and Betsy, decided to join me. (They were planning on spending a night in Guayaquil and then heading to Baños the ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo November 26th 2005

After booking our trip to the Galapagos Islands (more on that in my next entry) we decided to spend some of the intervening days somewhere other than Quito. There's nothing wrong with Quito in my opinion, although the pollution, hustle and the potential for petty crime can wear you down after a while. We had after all been there for almost two weeks. With all of this in mind we decided to spend a few days in the market town of Otavalo, in the north of Ecuador. Most people go to Otavalo for the market. Emma and I went there to see what it was like, the market being a secondary attraction as neither of us are natural shoppers by any stretch of the imagination. The weekend market (said to be the biggest in South America) ... read more
More bananas than you could shake a stick at
These guys begged us to take their photo
A local Quechua Indian man

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo November 8th 2005

¡Hola! Everyone Hope everyone is still well. Hoping the party for the little man was good and that he got lots of new toys. HAPPY BDAY Ollie! Since my last update i´ve spent the majority of my time in Quito which sounds pretty dull. Though during this time I´ve left the crazy womans house and moved into gringolandia where all the money i´ve spent on spanish lessons hasnt gone to waste with the brits and auzzies in the hostal. Though with another swiss guy at the school, Miguel, we´ve been attempting to talk to the locals more. We get a few funny looks from the barmaids but ended up one night being dragged down to the locals club which opens after everything shuts. It was a bit weird and i think we´ll leave it at that. ... read more
Tue night
The Pigs
The Pigs

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo October 9th 2005

Sunday swung back and forth from slow and easy-going to hectic and hurried. We slept in, gathered our stuff together at a leisurely pace, and then Ami went downstairs to ask the hostal owner if it would be possible for us to leave our stuff at the hostal during the day. When he came back upstairs he informed us that not only could we not leave our stuff, the owner was going to close up and leave at 10 am. Well, that certainly lit a fire under our butts. We gathered up everything and hit the street in search of breakfast and somewhere we could leave our stuff. Breakfast consisted of munchies from a bakery, and we ended up leaving everything at a hostal kitty-corner to the hostal where we had spent the night. From there ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo October 8th 2005

The interior of the Quito bus terminal is dimly lit, with a high ceiling and dingy concrete floors. Venders line the middle of the terminal, perched on stools beside stands piled high with brightly packaged candy and soda. A single lightbulb hangs from the roof of each stand. Along the right wall are ticket windows for destinations throughout Ecuador (Cuenca, Guayaquil, Baños, etc.). The ticket sellers lean out their windows and holler their bus' destination as you pass by. Outside these windows are attendants who try to hustle would-be travelers. Twenty feet away from the Otavalo ticket counter a hustler spotted us approaching, and, shouting, "Otavalo, Otavalo, Otavalo!" he ushered Brenna, Ami and I over to the ticket window. Once our bus tickets were purchased we found ourselves outside and then hustled onto our bus. The ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo October 8th 2005

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig. Home again, home again, jiggety jig. After our fearless leader Brenna found us a hostal we set off to find lunch. We ended up at a place that served vegetarian-Andean food and had . . . wait for it . . . live music. Oh, yeah. It rocked. The restaurant had an outdoor patio, and standing out there were about five men playing flutes, drums and who knows what else. My music vocabulary is a bit lacking, so all I can say is that it was the best music I have heard since I arrived in Ecuador. After lunch it was time for the market. As we were walking along all I could think of was that market nursery rhyme, which was amusing since not only were ... read more
Otavalo Market
Otavalo Market
Antiwar Mural I

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo August 28th 2005

Dear all, During the last two weeks I have been doing a few (if little) hikes and walks in the Sierra around Otavalo. Waterfalls, mountains, lakes and healing trees - I can't begin to describe how beautiful it is around here. And what amazes me every time is how quiet those places are. One can hear the occasional pig gruntling or a bird singing, but apart from that there is just absolute silence. (Unless some annoying tourists have decided to take a taxi all the way) Despite having seen absolutely beautiful countryside, I am a little disappointed about the limited amount of native animals that I have come across. So far, the scores are: category "Exciting!" llamas: 4 (three white, one brown) eagles wild: 1 eagles in big bird rehabilitation centre up in the mountains: 10 ... read more
La Laguna Cuicocha
La Laguna Cuicocha
La Laguna Cuicocha

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo August 20th 2005

Having met a quite a few children now in school but also in the town centre of Otavalo, I realise more and more how differently children are growing up here. Strangely enough, despite the poverty, one hardly sees a child cry or moan. Children just seem to be there without anyone paying particular attention to them. The number of children running around in the streets of Otavalo is simply stunning, but neither the parents nor the children themselves seem to be worried. The children I have met in school live the life of absolute freedom. They don't have to tell anyone where or when they are going. I doubt that they have any toys but they keep themselved busy playing hide and seek or riding their horses. I asked some of them yesterday what they are ... read more
in class
in class
in class




Tot: 0.197s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 5; qc: 86; dbt: 0.1383s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb