A trip to Otavalo, Ecuador: the Market

Otavalo, Ecuador---Lama skins, silk purses, thread for knitting and crochet, leather goods, jewelry, and in between all this, women walking up and down the aisles, carrying buckets of questionable foods screaming out in a melancholy Spanish what it was and what it cost.

This is the market at Otavalo. Said to be the most visited market in Latin America.

I had talken a group taxi to get here and will get a bus back, a two hour trip through the Andes mountains. The market spread out before me.

They like to negociate the price and the prices are amazingly low. They follow you around until you engage in another booth's seller. Very tiny and very old women beggers weave in and out following you for a donation.

This is a taste of Ecuador. I am alone and have to be careful of my backpack. I've been warned in the ways of theifs here, more than any other country. But, what a great afternoon. A good chance to find unique gifts, see the mountainous countryside and people watch as well.