Nearly every else who we had talked to in the Galapagos didn’t seem to think it would matter much who won. The general opinion is that each side was just as crooked as the other. Our guide spent a good part of the ride up to Otavalo telling us about the local political issues and she turned out to be quite an activist. I followed along politely for a while, but when she told us that Cuba’s health system was a model we should all follow, and that the US Army had secretly dumped nuclear waste in one of the rivers in Ecuador, she lost me.
Nonetheless, it was an interesting ride as we shared the mountain road with buses packed with people. The route we took up to Otavalo went through a town called Tabacundo, but when we came back, we took a different road, this time through Cayambe. When we got to Otavalo, we found out that there are actually 2 markets there. The food market is where farmers from all around the Imbabura province bring their crops to sell. There are all sorts of fruits, vegetables, and meats (well, dead animals anyway) for sale. Everything looked good, but unfortunately we didn’t eat anything here – our stomachs were getting back to normal.
The other market is the one that most people come to Otavalo to see. It’s the textiles market. We heard that because it was election day, it was very small, but it was still enough to satisfy our curiosity. The stalls here had sweaters, hats, scarves, and all sorts of things made from Alpaca wool, as well as embroidered blouses and tablecloths, jewelry, wood carvings, and other local crafts. I was very happy that we had gotten a guide. At each stand she would tell us whether the prices were reasonable or we should bargain more. After we had shopped enough, we headed to a Spa/Hotel call La Mirage for lunch.
La Mirage serves traditional styled meals, but they are done in gourmet style. Over our delicious lunch of corn on the cob, pork BBQ, avocados, and empanadas, we had time to think our morning in the market. Most of the locals are indigenous people who speak Kichwa (I’ve also seen this spelled Quechua). They wear traditional dress – white “Capri” pants for the men and long blue skirts with lacy tops for the women, and everyone wears espadrilles. It was very enchanting and exotic, and made me feel very far away from home.
I really did feel very foreign in the market. Before we went on this trip, a few of the travel guides that I read mentioned that you should not dress as “a conspicuous tourist.” Given that Eric and I were at least 6-12 inches taller than any one else in the entire town, and the only blondes, I don’t think what we were wearing could have made us stand out any more. However, the people in market stalls were pleasant, and seemed to find humor in trying to find a sweater big enough to fit me – whispering and laughing “muy grande!”
After lunch our drive took us to Cotacatchi National Park, which has a beautiful crater lake surrounded by volcanic mountains. The view was fantastic and you can look down into the valleys with all of the of the lush green farms in the countryside. We went for a short walk, but soon realized that the altitude (about 12K feet) was taking it’s toll, so we headed back to catch our breath and be on our way back to Quito.
On the way back we stopped on the equator for a quick photo op – I’m in the southern hemisphere and he’s in the northern.
We left the Hilton behind to try to get a better sense Ecuador. Instead we stayed in a small hotel called La Mansion del Angel, which had been a private house. It was decorated in a pretty and eclectic mix of Victorian and 1920’s antiques with Angels everywhere. We spent our last night relaxing at the hotel, re-packing all of our bags, and preparing to say good-bye to South America.
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