Otavalo Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

We set our alarm for 6am and dragged ourselves groggy-eyed to the local animal market, where we were engulfed by locals in their gorgeous traditional dress of vibrant coloured ponchos, pork-pie hats, lace-up sandals, and intricately embroided lace blouses (We took lots of sneaky photos!). We weaved through the crowd of people and animals who were (much to Arlene´s distress) awaiting their fate on the locals chopping boards. The market was completely alive and we really ...

Otavalo is a very pleasant market town just north of Quito. On Saturdays it hosts one of the largest artisan and food markets in South America with plenty of high quality examples of indigenous craftwork for sale. At least that"s what the guidebooks say. I didn"t care about the guidebooks though as, within 2 minutes of getting into town, I was sqealing like a pig in a sack as I realised my wallet was gone. I suppose I"ll never know if it was thieved or if I just lost it but,...

Sometimes they say that life is stranger than fiction. As I stood outside the bathroom next to the cock fighting pit looking at newspaper clippings and talking to a man about his friend in the photos, who of course is a world champion speed walker at multiple distances, and how they train in the high altitude mountains outside of Otavalo, I thought how true that is. But perhaps such is one´s quest to see a cock fight, especially the one in Otavalo. After confirming the location of the pit wi...

We´re at Casa Mojanda now and its absolutely beautiful. On the afternoon in which we arrived I immediately took the opportunity to do the 20 minute hike to this waterfall in the hills. I went with about 5 people and I was the first one ballsy enough to jump into the freezing cold water in my clothes. Ha. It was great and refreshing. Considering I had only taken one shower since my arrival in Ecuador. Yah, showers in the rainforest just aren´t that conventional.I´m back in Otavala today che...

I had high expectations of this trip but so far Ecuador is exceeding all expectations.  Everywhere you look, there is jaw dropping scenery.  Quito is surrounded by mountains, but the journey from Quito to Otavalo was even more impressive with mountains that you can´t see the top of due to them being above the clouds.  The locals are really friendly and although no-one knows any English, Dave and I are getting by ok. Otavalo is famous for its Saturday market to which we went t...

I have been to otavalo lots of times, because my dad has an office there, but this time I decided to take my camera with me. And I don't know, it seemed so amazing!!!... Everything!!!... It's like for the first time, I really saw Otavalo... So here are some pics... I'll write a little more tomorrow...   Enjoy!!!

I´m spending around 1 year in South America, I´ve had an amazing time. Enjoy my pictures.

We got up early in Pasto and got on a bus to Ipailes which is right at the border between Colombia and Ecuador. We had heard from past travellers that Ipailes was a very unattractive town, and this was backed up by our Footprints guidebook - however on getting there we both agreed that it was far better than Pasto and also wasn´t as polluted either! We passed some fantastic scenery on the way down through a deep gorge. The landscape was much like the Canterbury region back home with barren h...

Really an unexpected stop, but an enjoyable one. We found out about this jewel from one of our rides while we were on our way to Quito . . . so we thought. We figured, why not stop off here really quickly and check out the infamous "Mercado de los Ponchos" and meet the country's Indigenous population . . . Again, we had a nice time. At first, Arnaud had a hard time finding us a place to stay, but after a while he eventually came upon a very nice family who was willing to let us in...

My first travel to Ecuador. It was so amazing, that i decided to go back to learn spanish...(See Blog Ecuador 2007). I was travelling with a group of 16 swiss people...and i was definitely the youngest one...hahaha. it was a great time, but won't do it again in group!

Travel photos from Ecuador.

On Saturday we visited the famous market at Otovalo, where indigenous people from all around descend to sell their crafts to locals and tourists alike.  My spending was limited, even though it was my birthday, but some people came away with a whole wardrobe full of ponchos and other trinkets.  It only the market had been at the end of my journey rather than the beginning I think I would just have bought a second rucksack and filled it with stuff. The major feature of the market for...

I spent ten days on a boat in the Galapagos Islands, with a couple of days on either side in Quito, Ecuador, and surrounding area.

KERRY- Today we sampled the Ecuadorian buses as we headed off to the Market town of Otavalo. We caught  a taxi to th bus station - a very nice man called Mauro took us into town, after having an argument with the first taxi driver we bartered with, for overcharging us. He was our own personal tour guide for the ride, luckily Nicola was able to translatefor us!! The bus ride was pretty painless, althugh we realised that we were paying the gringo prices ...

A day like this could easily be one of the worst days ever, which speaks of how protected our lives have been and makes you feel slighly better about it, although it doesn't make it any less pleasant or takes the sting off it. Anyway, here it goes. We got to Quito and were very exhausted after a long bus ride. Ecuatorian buses are pretty bad in that they usually have a hole between the back and the butt when you recline them, making your butt hurt real bad as the blood cannot flow properly. ...