Otavalo is home to the largest artisanal craft market in South America. The Otavaleños (people from Otavalo), especially the indigenous Kichwa community, are known for their textile work and the market is made up of stall after stall of clothing, bags, blankets, hats, belts, jewelry, and artwork of all kinds. This central plaza is always packed with vendors, but on Saturdays the market spills over into the nearby streets taking up as much as a third of the town. The crafts mostly appeal to tourists while the nearby animal market caters to locals. When I visited, there were still plenty of tourists (such as myself) around taking photos of the…
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This Time Last Year…
2012 is coming to a close, so, unsurprisingly, everyone is reflecting on the past year, and hoping for good things in 2013. I can’t help but add my own musings on this last year, particularly with regard to where I’ve been. This is a travel blog after all. And I have to begin with where I spent New Year’s Eve last year–in Ecuador. On December 31st, 2011, I woke up at 5:00 am to hike Fuya Fuya, a mountain just outside of Cotacachi, Ecuador. Although the hike itself was only a few kilometers, at nearly 14,000 ft above sea level, every step was a challenge. I barely stayed up until…
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Adventures in Public Transit
I don’t like to ask for directions. Ever. And as a result, I try never to leave my house without a plan. Now, this does not mean I never wander or decide where to go serendipitously. I just plan to be serendipitous. In fact, one of my favorite things to do in a new city is meander down the streets, and look at architecture or find a secluded cafe, which I can pretend no tourist before me has ever encountered. I’m comfortable wandering down random side streets despite my discomfort with asking for help because I love maps and I fancy myself a person with a good sense of direction.…
