Otavalo, Baños, Riobamba and Cuenca .. the Highlands from North to South
Back from the Galapagos and jumping from one bus to another, we have gone through the Highlands starting from Otavalo, some 100 km north of Quito, until Cuenca, before heading to the coast to rest for a few days and get things ready for Peru.
Otavalo is a relatively small town but very popular because it is where the biggest hand-crafts market in all South America takes place. People from the neighbouring villages make rugs, blankets and plenty of other stuff and every Saturday hurry to sell them at the market.
Also every Saturday there is an animal market: each one brings the pig, the cow, the goat, the hen or the alpaca he wishes to sell resulting into a big mess among which the potential buyers walk and bargain.
The town was one week ahead of the beginning of the yearly festivities of « Yamor » and the «fiesta» spirit could be felt in the air already. During our stay, we saw the presentation of the contestants to become the «Fiesta Queen»: the municipal orchestra walked opening the parade followed by each girl on the back of a pick-up truck escorted by a local police motorcycle, very cute in a party dress and by the arm of a police officer, himself dressed with his official white uniform.
I would have loved to stay for the « Fiesta » to see the bullfights (there is no arena built here, they just take out a cow into the streets and people go running in front of it) and also to have a chance to taste the « Chicha de Yamor », a drink that is only available during the Fiesta. But all this would have delayed us ten additional days, so after going to the market, getting our eyes full of images and resist the temptation of buying the nice things that are sold, we went back to the Southern Hemisphere, direction to Baños.
Bea
Otavalo is a relatively small town but very popular because it is where the biggest hand-crafts market in all South America takes place. People from the neighbouring villages make rugs, blankets and plenty of other stuff and every Saturday hurry to sell them at the market.
Also every Saturday there is an animal market: each one brings the pig, the cow, the goat, the hen or the alpaca he wishes to sell resulting into a big mess among which the potential buyers walk and bargain.
The town was one week ahead of the beginning of the yearly festivities of « Yamor » and the «fiesta» spirit could be felt in the air already. During our stay, we saw the presentation of the contestants to become the «Fiesta Queen»: the municipal orchestra walked opening the parade followed by each girl on the back of a pick-up truck escorted by a local police motorcycle, very cute in a party dress and by the arm of a police officer, himself dressed with his official white uniform.
I would have loved to stay for the « Fiesta » to see the bullfights (there is no arena built here, they just take out a cow into the streets and people go running in front of it) and also to have a chance to taste the « Chicha de Yamor », a drink that is only available during the Fiesta. But all this would have delayed us ten additional days, so after going to the market, getting our eyes full of images and resist the temptation of buying the nice things that are sold, we went back to the Southern Hemisphere, direction to Baños.
Bea
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