Blogs from Otavalo, North, Ecuador, South America - page 5

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South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo July 15th 2012

The Aya Huma Hostel at Peguche, was a series of white washed buildings perched beside a small stream and wooded ravine. Originally the hostel had been a railway station and apart from the design of the main building, the rail lines ran right through the middle. Farmland surrounds it. We checked into our hostel style rooms, and were immediately invited by the host- a dutch woman- to join her family and some guests for a traditional indigenous lunch. Though I have forgotten the word, this was basically a “hangi” based on hot rocks, bamboo leaves, canvas covering and soil. They cooked potatoes, plantains, pork and cassava root. Part of the attraction of this hostel is the linkage to indigenous culture, so our hosts told stories about the pre-columbian people in this region, their beliefs about the ... read more
View outside Aya Huma
Bill contemplates Pacha Manka
Local dress

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo June 21st 2012

Entering Ecuador was a breeze, passing through customs without even a bag check. Strange, agents were not checking anybody's bags or possessions. Ecuadorian customs seemed either extremely negligent or trusting, especially considering we were leaving cocaine Colombia. I made a mental note that if desperate times arrive, smuggling could be an option. Opps! I'll take that thought back. About five minutes away from the bus stations, drug agents were checking bags thoroughly. Any rate, we were happily off to our next destination in the northern highlands of Ecuador. The bus ride from the border to Octavalo is around volcanos, down canyons, up hills, and through mountains. Simply spectacular. In between we rode through towns with entire black populations, hillsides completely tamed by farming and milk cows crowding the roadway. A really active countryside that seemed well ... read more
Chicken Feet Soup
Delicious Roasted Pork
Otavalo Animal Market

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo May 22nd 2012

A lazy rest day in San Agustín after our epic ride into the Páramo and we're ready to say goodbye to Colombia after seven absolutely wonderful weeks - it's Ecuador's turn now. Despite our as-the-crow-flies proximity to the Ecuadorian border the broken geography of this part of the world means no fewer than five separate buses and two days to get to the border. A short pickup ride takes us to the large town of Pitalito, where we climb into the very overloaded back of another pickup - complete with crazy crowing roosters in a special carrying case (see previous entry) - which takes us, at insane speed, to the small town of Mocoa. The road twists and turns for three hours and leaves us both a not so fetching shade of green. No bolsas were ... read more
Making helado de paila in Ibarra
Making helado de paila in Ibarra
Making helado de paila in Ibarra

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo May 21st 2012

Day 219 Thursday 17th May Awoken at 1.30am by a car pulling into the carpark below, they were continually opening and slamming closed the doors and beeped the doors opened and closed for about 5 minutes then it went quiet. A few minutes later they were in the hallway outside our door having a conversation, the problem is there are open slat vents above the doors so the sound proofing is non-existent. I know over the years there has been criticism of the Sydney Opera House, we have the answer for the sound engineers come to the Hotel Metropol they have the perfect acoustics you can hear every sound from every room just like it is inches from you. This leads me to the next events, we had not realised that we got a ... read more
Colombian/Ecuador
Otavalo
Otavalo

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo May 6th 2012

Had fun at the Otavalo market today, got some nice stuff, including some jewlery and a warm alpaca sweater! Huuge artisan market, great selection and prices ( though of course you have to bargain!) Took long than expected to get there, and the market closed early as it was raining ( didn't get many pictures, either) but still loads of fun shopping. Going to Galapagos tomorrow, crazy excited! No internet, so next update won't be until the 13 or 14. Off to go stare at boobies (blue footed ones, of course!) and other interesting animals. Can't wait!... read more

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo March 24th 2012

Geo: 0.233333, -78.2667For a few hours early Saturday mornings you can catch the cacophony of the animal market, but come before breakfast because it's all over by 9. Indigenous living in nearby pueblos bring for barter their goats, chicks, hens, piglets, lambs, llamas--you name it. It's a squashed together melee. I elbowed my way in by following on the heels of a bag of guinea pigs. At first it's just noise and motion, but as I stood there surrounded, a sort of organization started to emerge. I just had to be careful not to get my feet tangled in the rope of a 700 pound pig determined to go any direction except the way he was being pulled. These folks are having a blast. There are no hawkers, nobody's yelling for attention--- except for the bleats ... read more
Lady selling baby chicks
Pretty enough to pet
Happy customer

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo March 17th 2012

Thursday 8th March - Otavalo A good nights sleep and we were ready for our 1st inclusive breakfast for a while which even included table service. 3 blocks from our hostal and we were at the central market which the town is famous for and regarded as being the largest of its kind in South America when it's at full strength each saturday. For the rest of the week it's a scaled down version which is probably better for buyers as it's much quieter and therefore the sellers are a little more negotiable. It wasn't long before Stacie had made her 1st purchase, a lovely pair of alpaca ponchos for the bargain basement price of 8 dollars each after some hard negotiating. Similar ones in the UK would fetch at least 100 pounds each. The cash ... read more
Otavalo Parade
Otavalo Market

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo January 22nd 2012

We should have finished this blog already while we were still on the road but better late then never. So here we go: As we mentioned before, after we returned from our amazing jungle trip, we stayed a couple more days in Quito before we headed further north towards Colombia. Our last stop in Ecuador was Otavalo, a small town famous for its market and bird rescue park. The market was HUGE, we have seen plenty of markets during our trip but this one was exceptional. The stalls spread all over the main square and into the adjacent streets and the street vendors offered all kinds of goods: crafts, jewelery, clothes, fabrics, wooden instruments, food, souvenirs. Everything. We did spend some money on souvenirs there but my heart still aches that I couldn't buy a hand-woven, ... read more
Baked goods
So many scarves
Maracuja-Meringue-Pie from heaven

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo October 22nd 2011

I enjoyed my day tour of Otavalo. It was scheduled through Simon Bolivar school in Quito. The tour started off with a sampling of local fruit called Chirimoya in Guayllabama. The fruit was green on the outside (looked kind of like a artichoke) and white on the inside. It was sweet and yummy. Apparently at larger amounts its a great cure for constipation :) Then we had a delicious desayuno in Cayambe. Cayambe is famous for its bizcochos and lactose (milk and cheese). The bizcochos were a bit dry for my taste...but not bad with coffee. After breakfast, we had a quick tour around San Pablo del Lago. The next part of the tour included first a visit to Mercado de Animales and then Mercado de Artesanias. The Mercado de Animales included the sale of every ... read more
Making bizcochos...part one
and part two
009

South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo June 8th 2011

Woke up, got dressed, had breakfast (salted boiled egg, freshly squeezed orange juice, and instant coffee), and was at Mariana’s at 8:30 sharp, like she told me. Yea right. Today marked the trip to Otavalo. I waited for Mariana until 9 at the earliest with Sandra, another volunteer from Houston. Another thing Royal told me when I first arrived in Quito, ¨no one is one time here.¨ We left with Miguel and Lucho, our driver, and picked up Amanda and Stephen, other volunteers, and Stephen´s father, John. As we began our trip, dozing on and off, low clouds covered the tops of mountains, suspended above the city. We wound and snaked our way along the mountains listening to festive meringue and other tourist-y Latino pop music. Our first stop was at a rest area overlooking el ... read more
Lago de San Pablo 2
Cataratas de Peguche
Amanda, Me, Sandra, and Stephen Trecking Through the Falls




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