Ecuador – Part 2 - Otovalo

Our home base in Quito was the Hotel de La Rabida, an old traditional house that was restored to a charming bed-and-breakfast hotel. The staff was great and we were able to store extra luggage there between the different sections of our trip.

They helped us arrange a taxi from Quito to Otovalo - $60 for the 4 of us. We stopped at the Midad del Mundo (Middle of the World) monument along the way. Our return trip by busy ($2 per person!) was much cheaper - but oh my gosh - scarier! The bus drivers do not, I REPEAT, do not slow down or pay attention to no-passing zones ... and the roads are curvy! We saw several buses and cars that had gone over the cliffs!

So why Otovalo? Located in the mountains about 2 hours north of Quito, it is famous for its textile industry and market. We shopped and shopped! There were so many things to choose from: wool woven sweaters, ponchos, Panama hats (an Ecuadorian creation, despite it's name), hammocks, woven tapestries that depict scenes from the Ecuadorian countryside, purses, jewelry, clothing, to name a few. Some of these are traditional crafts, but others have evolved to fit the wishes of the tourists. Because of its success and popularity, other artisans from around Ecuador come to Otovalo to sell their crafts. Poor Tobey became our llama, carrying all of our purchases of woven tapestries to ponchos!

We even ventured into the non-touristy part of the market which sold the fruits, vegetables, and meats. We came across what is supposed to be an Ecuadorian delicacy, cuy.

cuy means guinea pig
cuy = tourist delicacy
cuy = expensive!

Some Americans will believe anything! We didn’t buy any or have them in the restaurants!

We hiked all over the area – from Otovalo to the “Cascada de Peguche,” and took the bus back to Otovalo for 20 cents!

 
We stayed at the Hotel Ali Shungu – very pretty and the staff was friendly! After dinner they even had a folkloric show in the dining room.

 After 2 nights we headed back to Quito before we begin our Galapagos portion of the trip!