Day XI- January 12th, 2oo7
We loaded the bus nice and early and prepared ourselves for the two-hour ride to Otavala (a famous market). Our first pit stop was a look out point where you could see two volcanoes (Cotopaxi and another) We took some photos, stretched our legs and hopped back on the bus.

Self-Portraiture

I could lie and say this one is Cotopaxi, and I don't know if anyone would ever question it. I do know however, that it is in fact a volcano. And a cool one at that.

The second stop was another mirador which featured a lava lake which had been formed by the volcanoes, a store with little souvenirs and a little old lady dressed in native garb with two llamas. How great must that be to be a little old lady and one day wake up and say "I could be my own tourist attraction! I'm cute enough people will pay to take my picture!" The view was absolutely stunning.

She's a genius and she may never know it.

Scenic view of the lava lake and surrounding area



Matt and myself in front of the lava lake (don't mind my hair- it was a bit windy)

Back on the bus, we had less than an hour left to our destination. When we entered the town of Otavalo, it seemed like we entered a completely new world. There were children all around- we even stopped the bus because a baby started crawling in the middle of the street (how scary is that!?)
When we arrived at the market, we were given an hour to wander. Because my ATM card wasn't working, I was on a tight budget. I got a few souvenirs and some interesting handcrafts.
What we found out later, which I wish I had been aware of prior to our arrival at the market, was the fact that the entire market was composed of handcrafts and each family spent endless hours producing these goods to sell. This was their entire livlihood- to the extent that families would have more children to ensure more work hands- thus producing more goods. This also led to their poverty, conversly. They would have more mouths to feed than they could support and their children had little opportunity to break out of the cycle. If I had known we weren't just going on a shopping spree, I would have been more observant, maybe take the opportunity to talk to the locals, been a little less frugal.
After the hour was up, we met back at the bus and went to meet our lunch reservation. I was a little upset because we had drove for over two hours to shop at a market similar to the one right next to our hotel in Quito, for only an hour- not nearly enough time for the haggling necessary for these types of endeavours.
The place we went for lunch was an old estate where we were greeted by a band playing indigenous music and we were escorted inside. We were informed later that this place used to be a hacienda (Hacienda Pinsaqui) in colonial days when the lord (typically a European) owned his property as well as the rest of the town. Everything was decorated in a colonial fashion- there were horses and stables on the grounds, gardens and peacocks surrounding. Lunch was delicious, but relatively short before we hopped back on the bus to visit another town which was known for its leather works.

The entrance of the hacienda

Our welcoming squad



Ashley wasn't too sure about the food



They had beautiful flowers all over the grounds



So pretty



Peacocks perched in the courtyard



The view



We had some enjoyment with the horse after our lunch

We had about half an hour in the pueblo with the leather. I bought a beautiful leather bag for ridiculously cheap. Matt bought himself a new wallet. After our second speed-shop, we went back to Quito where we had a few hours before everything closed. The ride back took over two hours through the mountains. I fell asleep almost five minutes into the ride and I would wake up every now and then and think - WOW! this is AMAZING!- and then shortly after pass out again. When we got back to Quito, Darian, Matt and myself split up from Justin, Tiffany and Ashley as we had different things to accomplish on our last night in Quito.
We finished up our souvenir shopping and decided to go get the Canelazos we missed out on the night before. They were so much more than we had anticipated them to be! They were 2 x $1.80 either Mora (blackberry) or Naraja (orange) juice mixed with aguardiente (a very strong native liquor) and served warm. Quite possibly the best drink I have ever had. We got several rounds and decided to go for a light dinner.
Darian had been wanting to go to La Boca del Lobo since the first night we got to Quito- so we decided to end with a bang. It was supposedly a little pricey, but the place had great ambiance. We sat on funky couches and relaxed. The ceiling was painting as a sky with flying sheep chillin' in the clouds. The food was amazing and not nearly as expensive as we were expecting it to be. We said our goodbyes to Quito and returned to pack our back. The next morning, the bus was leaving early to Arashá- a resort in the Cloud Forest.

Darian was obviously excited

Matt and myself waiting for our dinner to arrive