Ecuador Trip - Day 4: Otavalo

On Saturday, we got up and went to Otavalo. This is a town a few hours north of Quito that has a weekly market on Saturdays. To get there, we went on our second public transportation adventure. We took the trolley to a large bus station. We weren't sure exactly how to find our bus, but before we even got into the station, we literally had multiple people pulling us towards various buses headed to Otavalo. We got on one, and it headed out pretty quickly.

The scenery out the window is beautiful - lots of mountains and rivers and green plants. And, if I got bored of the scenary, I could watch the movies playing on the screen in front - Road to El Dorado was playing when we got in. I was looking out the window most of the time, but I have to admit, on the way back I watched the entire movie "Next" (starring Nick Cage) in Spanish. Even though I don't speak Spanish, I think I got the gist.

The bus dropped us off on the main road outside Otavalo, and we walked into town. About 8 blocks in we found the main market - it covers a number of blocks and sells everything from shoes, clothes, electronics, and crafts. Jeff and I each bought a hand-made wool sweater. Mine was about $11 and his about $13. I got a few pairs of earrings, we bought some Christmas ornaments, and we bought a hand-painted wooded platter.

We had lunch (al muerzos) while we were there, and the place we ate at served so much food! We had a common snack - cooked corn kernels with salt. Then they brought a potato soup, then an empanada, then a main dish with rice, veggies, and chicken. Icecream for dessert. Of course, it was a little more expensive than ususal, too, about $4 a person.

The market started to close down around 3pm, so Jeff and I hiked back out to the main road and waited for a bus to Quito to drive by so we could flag it down and get on. It didn't take long, and soon we were on our way back.

Once we were in Quito, we decided to go to Cafe Mosaico. They say not to wander around the city after dark, so we took a cab from the bus station. Cafe Mosaico is up on a hill above our hostel, and has a balcony overlooking the city. (Another one of the many places in Quito offering beautiful views.) The restaurant is Mediterranean themed, so we got some tsatsiki and pita. We had also heard good things about the hot cocoa, and it since it was raining and a bit chilly, we thought it would be a good time to order that. The hot cocoa comes with cheese in it - little squares that kind of look like marshmellows, but are the kind of spongy cheese like you get in cheese curds. It was actually pretty good.

From there, we headed back to the hostel for another night of chatting and hanging out on the terrace. The owner, Tarquin, was in town from their home (and other Secret Garden Hostel) in Cotapaxi - the mountains. He was telling us about the hostel there - it's isolated in the mountains, and is supposed to be very beautiful and quiet. At 11pm, they played "Closing Time" over the speakers, and we headed to bed.