From Ipiales, Colombia, we took a local bus
that dropped us off on the side of a road...
We then walked for a bit and reached the
border town of Tulcan. The migration formalities
were quite easy to complete and we were quickly
on our way to Otavalo! The road through the Cordillera de los Andes
was simply splendid and we spent the afternoon
exploring this little traditional town surrounded
by mountains...
The main attraction in Otavalo is its Sunday
market and we had planned everything not
to miss it! We were not disappointed... The
main plaza was invaded from the early hours
of the day by merchants wearing traditional
clothes and selling all sorts of things!
Ponchos, blankets and Panama hats (wrongly
called Panama hats as they are actually made
in Ecuador) for the tourists but also local
fresh vegetables and fruit as well as dishes!
Whole roasted pigs were on display as well
as a delicious dish of blood sausage and
potatoes which we happily sampled! We bought ourselves a poncho each and spent
the morning walking through the market, before
heading to our nest destination, Quito, the
capital city, which would be a big contrast... 07/02/2009
Oh I nearly forgot! On our first night in
Otavalo we also sampled a bit of the local
music with a live band playing happy tunes
while we were having dinner in a little restaurant...
We sat there for hours, loving it... with
a smile on our face the whole time...
