Markets and Waterfalls

Saturday. The day of the (arguably biggest and best) market in Ecuador in Otovalo. Otovalo is in the others highlands, a couple of hours ride from Quito. Instead of staying in some of the sleepy towns north, I decided to make my home base Quito until I head out to the Galapagos. I got up early and was out the door by by 6:30. It can be a hecti trip to getup to this little town. Arrived relatively in tact, much like with Colombia, any trip from Quito leaves you winding and wandering through the Andes! I was happy to be on the Panamericana, the major highway through central and south America! It seems I have spent tie on this road in so many countries, it is always seems to be under construction. The were widening the road and is left the buses driving right on the edge of the cliff. At least in Ecuador they have guardrails. The first stop for me was the animal market. This is a local market for theoeiple of the region. No touristy stuff here. But if you want a cow, or some piglets, or hens and roosters (or chicks), this is the place to go. I am not sure the PETA people ( or my sister and several friends) would be happy with how the animals were treated. These are definitely not pets! Weirdly, they were selling puppies too. I was hoping that these would be used for pets and not food, but they do eat guinea pigs in this country! The next market was the touristy market. Lots of beautiful stuff there on sale. Llama and alpaca wool, sweaters, blankets, scarves, etc. any thing you can make out of wool. I looked for quite a while, but sorry folks, wasn't going to be lugging extra blankets and sweaters for the next two weeks! I will take orders if you want... What was really amazing to me we're the prices. Very very inexpensive for what appears to be some high quality stuff. If only I needed more clothes, more blankets, or a scarf! I journeyed from there to another town famous for its leather production! Cotacachi. You drive into the town and you can smell the leather. I was really great. They leather was soft, supple even, and they made pretty much anything they could from it. The usual bags, wallets, and jackets, but also ponchos, shawls, scarves. So different than anything I had seen before! I finished the day with a wander to a nearby waterfall. It is always good to end a long day with the mist of a waterfall splashing you i your face. Tomorrow looks like it will be a lazy day around Quito. Looking forward to drinking some coffee and relaxing in the new town.