Otavalo Market

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In Otavalo for three days. It's just north of Quito. We spent (literally spent $$) a full day at the famous Otavalo markets. There are 3 separate markets, one is for buying and selling animals (including giant amazon larvae), one for food & household goods, and the other is an artisan market. Mostly it all blurs together into what seems like miles of streets crammed with people buying and selling everything you can imagine. It was impossible to see the town until the next day when the streets cleared out.

We stayed at Posada del Quinde which is perfectly located so we could walk to everything. I thought we had missed the animal market because we were lazy getting out of bed in the morning but our hostess at the hotel encouraged us to go and I'm glad we did. The kids were a bit shocked at the treatment of the animals, not at all like pets! It was definately an eye opener.

There is way more to do in Otavalo area than we had time for but we definately wanted to enjoy the market. The kids absolutely loved the bartering and we made them do it themselves. They quickly figured out the spanish numbers and went on a shopping spree.

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Photos

in our hotel
the night we arrived there was a roaring fire, comfy couches and entertainment!

la posada del quinde
we loved it here.

awaiting breakfast
Already sunburnt & ears blistered. This is harsh sunlight at the equator.

omg the pies!
there is blackberry everything here

Comments

[Tracy]

Holy mother of god. I can't decide if I really want to go to Ecuador or if I CAN NEVER GO TO ECUADOR.