Otavalo

Otavalo is a really cool, small city in the Ecuadorian Andes. It's 2 hours north of Quito by bus, known for its market, which they say is the largest South America. It's full of colourful fabrics, blankets, sweaters, shirts, indigenous dress, jewelry, traditional musical instruments, art, and fruit, bread, typical food and so much more.

We had a pig roast for lunch with white corn, fried mashed potato balls they call tortillas, and salad for dirt cheap and did manage to find some cool hippie pants for a decent price.

We hiked to the Peguche waterfall, did the circuit of the Laguna de Cuicocha, so named for the central islands resemblance to a guinea pig. (Cuicocha is the Quechua word for guinea pig.)

We also hiked to what we thought was going to be a thousand year old, huge tree, and we were... surprised, let's say when we got to the top of that dusty, steep hill.

It's a really cool town with its own vibe nestled in a valley between massive volcanos, a welcome change from the bustling cities.

On our last night we went for dinner at local pub. We tried to find a traditional dish something like the pig roast we had had, but found nothing so we chose this place instead. It was DELICIOUS. We had cocktails, craft beer, and 2 huge plates. A churrasco, which is a piece of grilled beef with egg, rice, fries, and salad, and a parillada, a selection of grilled meats, south American style, with the same sides and delicious dipping sauces. Wonderful way to end our stay.

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