Otavalo, Ecuador
Friday, September 6, 2002
Toon, my Lima travel agent, asked me, "Why are you going to Ecuador, Doug, you are only staying 3 days?" I had to stop and think: I hadn't thought there was anything odd about my short trip.

My interest actually started when I found out about the large market in Otavalo - it's reputed to be the biggest craft market in South America. Actually, there are three separate markets: one for crafts, one selling animals and another offering food. This seemed too good to pass up. I love markets and the opportunity they provider for taking pictures of people.

Further, Ecuador was so close, and I figured it would be fun to see another country. Lastly - and I'm almost embarrassed to admit this - I wanted to stand on the Equator. It's a desire I have had for the last few years and the equator would be an easy trip from Quito - it's about 30 minutes north. Anyway, Ecuador was only a few hours away by air and the ticket didn't cost that much - only around $250 - so why not?

My plane was due to leave around 9:00 A.M. and Toon suggested - almost insisted - that I get there early, warning me that there were often delays at the Lima airport. In fact, when I arrived the check-in counter wasn't even open yet and I spent half an hour talking to two Belgian girls while waiting. When it did open I quickly got my boarding pass along with a bit of bad news: the flight would be late - four hours late. So you see Toon was right - but not about needing to be early. I was given various reasons for the delay but the bottom line was the plane hadn't arrived yet and we weren't leaving until it did.

So I walked around until I found an Internet café and sent some email. After an hour of that I wandered around a little more and ran into the Belgian girls who were sitting at a Dunkin' Donut shop. They were happily sampling all the sweets. For some reason I found this funny: I regard Dunkin' Donut's and the like as a kind of scourge, selling their empty calories - just another stupid American franchise trying to colonize the earth. The fact that these two girls were so happily filling their faces with sugar seemed funny to me.

We killed another hour talking about the volunteer work they had been doing in Peru. Then they headed off to find something to read and I went to peruse the duty-free shops. After that I ended up in the departure lounge talking to a girl who had spent the night in the airport waiting for this same flight. When I ask how she had managed to miss the previous day's flight she got so upset she just started ranting and I never did learn the reason. One thing I did learn was that for a few sols she got to sleep on a couch in one of the restaurants - I thought that resourceful of her. Anyway, she was obviously even more anxious to get going than I was.

Eventually the plane did arrive and we all boarded. Then it was off to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. I was planning to continue on to Otavalo, which is about two hours north. I had been thinking about taking a bus but, as it was getting late, I decided to take a taxi instead. I hate arriving in an unfamiliar city after dark.

Right outside customs there was a taxi stand where for $40 I hired a car to drive me to Otavalo. Perhaps it was a bit extravagant but it was also very convenient. Within five minutes of plunking down my money I was heading north in a brand-new yellow Peugeot. We quickly passed through the congested suburbs and onto a busy, windy road where we were either looking at the back of some bus or truck or racing to get around them. The driver, a portly man in his middle years, was cautious - he pulled back many times where I would have charged ahead.

In about an hour and a half we pulled into Otavalo. I checked in to my hotel, the Ali Shungu, and then went to have a look at the town before it got dark. I wanted to get a sense of the place for tomorrow's visit.

First, I walked over to the craft market and then up to the food market. Both were just closing and the vendors were packing up for the day. I walked around the small town a bit more and then headed back to the hotel where I had a delicious dinner. Afterward I went to bed - it had been a long day. Some how days that involve a lot of waiting seem to be more tiring that the ones where I'm always on the go.

Next morning I got up at first light, took a quick shower and headed over to the animal market. It was only about 15 minutes away, along the Pan-American Highway. As trucks and buses whizzed by, livestock was being led into a football-sized field. Cattle and pigs made up the bulk, but there were also a few sheep and horses.

People stood in separate area: one was for pigs, one for cattle and so forth. Each animal seemed to have someone, a man, woman, boy or girl, holding a rope tied around its neck. For the most post part the people were content to stand in one place and wait for a buyer, but the animals were constantly trying to move around: some trying to break free, other to fight with the animals next to them. This constant movement and the amount of animal waste on the ground made walking a bit hazardous.

It was a great place for taking picture: the sun was just coming up and the grounds were surrounded by mountains - plus many of the people were in colorful local costume. After about an hour I headed back to the hotel for breakfast.

With my stomach full, I walked up past the craft market to the main food market. This was a large roofless building lined with stalls. It was jam-packed with vendors selling every conceivable kind of vegetables: corn, tomatoes, squash and potatoes. Around the outside were other vendors selling various goods: sox, toys and music CDs. There was a constant shouting from the vendors and loud music came from the CD stands. It was a lively and enjoyable place to visit.

After exhausting my interest in the food market I moved down to the craft market. It turned out to be considerably less interesting from the photographic point of view, so I put my camera away and did a little shopping. Actually the market was so big I had a hard time focusing. There was a large square full of rugs, jewelry and knick-knacks. Also every side street seemed to have stands too. I was interested in picking up a small wall hanging so I started looking - there were plenty to choose from - but I had seen some exceptionally nice ones at the hotel, so I headed back to see if I could get one of them. It seemed quicker and easier.

Margaret, the hotel proprietress, had one of the maids bring down a huge pile of weavings. They were about 2' x 3', and some were quite nice, but the best ones, the ones I wanted, were hanging on the walls. When I expressed my interest in them Margaret blithely said, "Of course you want them because you can't have them. They are part of my collection and aren't for sale." I thought she was acting kind of snotty.

I started to ask why they had for sales signs if they weren't available but realized that her pronouncement wasn't negotiable. I was disappointed and I was angry: they were by far the loveliest wall hangings I had seen and I wasn't interested the pile in front of me which seemed to be second best. I was so annoyed I just got my bag, checked out and took the next bus back to Quito. I figured I would look there. Anyway, I had run out of energy and wasn't interested in shopping anymore.

It took about 2 hours to get back to Quito and I was dropped at a busy, dirty bus station on the southern end of the city - a place all the guidebooks say isn't safe. Right away I discovered I had misplaced the address of my hotel. I only had the name written down in my journal so with that in hand, I went looking for a taxi. I showed it to several drivers but I just drew blank stares - they didn’t know where the hotel was.

Luckily, I also had the phone number, so I walked back into the bus station, found a phone and tried to make a call. The problem was the young girl who ran the phone stand didn't understand what I wanted. She called to a nearby vendor who enlisted one of her customers to help me.

The next problem was I couldn’t understand the hotel clerk’s description of how to get to the hotel, so I had to call the previously helpful customer back to write down the directions. She looked a little putout this time - maybe I was asking too much. Anyway, I thanked her profusely and with the written directions was able to get a taxi to my hotel, the La Cartuja.

After checking in I asked about getting some laundry done. I had learned my lesson and asked if there was somewhere I could get it done and returned the same afternoon. The clerk got out a map and circled a nearby street where she said there were several laundries. I packed up all my dirty clothes and headed off to find it.

Without planning to I had located myself next to the tourist area where there were plenty of souvenir shops, restaurants, travel agents and cheap accommodations. Also, when I arrived at the spot marked on the map I found there was a choice of laundries. I picked one at random and turned in my clothes. I was then told to come back in 4 hours. As I had seen dryers, as well as washing machines, I felt reasonably sure I would in fact get my clothes back - dry - today.

Next, I found an Italian restaurant and stopped for a late lunch/early dinner. It was after 3:00 and I hadn't eaten since breakfast. I sat for awhile and worked on my journal and then went shopping for a wall hanging. I found a couple I was interested in and specifically asked if the stores would be open tomorrow - Sunday - remembering my experience of everything being closed in Cuzco. In every case I was told yes they would be open.

I stopped back at the hotel to put my feet up for awhile and then at 7:00 walked back and picked up a package of clean, dry clothing. I was delighted. On the way back to the hotel I bought a couple of beers which I drank in my room while watching a little TV.

The next morning after breakfast I headed off to stand on the equator. I had been told there was a bus to Mitad del Mundo (middle of the earth) which ran along a nearby street, Avenue America. I walked over in the nearly empty Sunday morning streets and stood waiting for about 10 minutes. The bus was pretty easy to spot - it was pink and white. We rode north on a wide multilane highway lined with closed businesses. It was actually the same highway I had come in on from Otavalo.

After about 30 minutes we reached Mitad del Mundo. It was a large, open space - a cross between a theme park and an exposition ground. As it was still early no one was collecting admission, so I just walked in. The entrance was lined with busts of the men who had originally plotted the location of the equator. At the exact spot there was a large monument pointing the four cardinal points and a yellow line painted on the ground marking the equator.

This was where I had come to take my picture. I can't explain why I wanted to do this, but it did. Anyway, I set up my camera, activated the self-timer and took a few pictures. After that I stood around taking pictures of other people. They all posed differently: some stood quite soberly while others huddled in tight little family groups and still others held their arms out stretched with their legs straddling the yellow line. In addition to the equator there were some museums and expositions building and loads of souvenir shops to visit.

Next, I bought some postcards with the hope of sending them from the equator. None of the vendors had stamps and, of course, this was Sunday, so the on-site post office was closed. Disappointed I had to settle for a rubber stamp one of the store clerks used to mark each card - it stated that they had come from the equator. I then carried the cards back to the hotel where the desk clerk offered to stamp and mail them for me. For what it's worth it took over three weeks for any of my cards to arrive back in the US.

Anyway, after walking around a little more I took a bus back to Quito. As in Cuzco, this being Sunday, most of the shops were closed - even the ones that said they would be open. I did find a small craft fair in the park near my hotel and I ambled over for a look but didn't see anything I wanted to buy.

Later I took a bus south into the older, colonial part of the city. The narrow streets were packed with people. By chance - I was just wandering around without looking at my map - I happened onto the main square. It had a large fountain in the center and lovely old colonial building around the outside.

It was also packed with police. I have seldom seen so many cops in one place and many were walking around with large, guard dogs. The police were also carrying automatic rifles and wearing bulletproof vests. They looked like they were expecting serious trouble.

On the subject of security, almost all the building in both Peru and Ecuador had barred windows, high spiked-topped fences and "buzz-in" gates. This amount of security started me wonder about my safety. When I asked if it was ok to be out at night I was told, "Of course." And in fact there were always other people out walking after dark and I did feel safe - whatever that means. I guess it means I never felt threatened and wasn't harassed - but I'm not sure that tells you anything about how safe these places were. Anyway, there seemed to be a serious disconnection between all the security I saw and what people had to say.

After the main square I found a large market - I was just walking along with the crowd. There were lots of stands in the narrow streets selling everything from vegetables to sox, from plastic pans to jackets. The streets were packed with shoppers - actually it was a little too crowded for my comfort. I had been warned about pickpockets in the old city. Both streets that are empty and those that are crowded make me a little wary. After awhile I took a bus back to my hotel. On the way I stopped at one of the few open craft shops and bought a lovely wall hanging. Well, at least that was done.

Next morning I woke with a strong desire to go home. I think the cold rooms and the constantly being on the move was starting to get to me. After a good breakfast and once outside in the sun the feeling disappeared but I did take it as a sign I should slow down a bit.

I headed back to the old city where the market was just getting going again. This time I walked father south into an older and less populated part of the city. The sun was shinning brightly, the air was refreshingly cool and there were mountains in every direction. It's hard to think of a lovelier location for a city.

There is a hill at the end of the old city. At the top is a large statue of the Virgin of Quito. The spot was said to offer a great view of the city, so I found a taxi and, after much arguing, got the driver to take me up there for $8. The road wound around the back of the hill up through poor neighborhoods (you are advised not to walk up.)

At the top there was a large car park, many souvenir stands and the statue. The view was wonderful and I took quite a few photos. Then I headed back to the hotel.

Once there I packed up, checked out and took another taxi to the airport. I had expected to be able to exchange a traveler’s check at the airport - I was running low on cash - but I was surprised to find there were no banks. Further, when I went to pay the $25 airport tax they refused my travel check, demanding cash instead.

After a short wait we flew out of Quito and a few hours later landed in Lima. I was again met by the driver from the Mami Panchita hotel. Having someone meet me each time I arrived wasn't necessary except, perhaps, for the first night when it made getting to the hotel much easier. After that I knew how to get around but I had asked for transportation when I made my reservation so I was stuck with it. That said, it was nice to having someone meet me and it wasn't that much more expensive that a taxi.

It was still early and I wanted to take a walk and see a little of the neighborhood around the hotel - up to now it had been in late and out early. One of the staff gave me directions to a small commercial district nearby.

On the way I walked through an area of mostly one and two-story cement residences, all with tall fences and locked gates. There was a small, open park in the center of the commercial area. Around the outside were the usual chicken restaurants, food stores and even a church and a school. Further north I found department stores, beauty parlors and fruit stands. It was like a small village and it felt as far away from the tourist part of Peru as Puerto Maldonado had. I amused myself by looking in all the stores. Finally, I picked one of the chicken restaurants and stopped for dinner.

Back at the hotel I drank a beer and visited with a few of the newly arrived guest s - the Mami Panchita is a busy hotel - and offered them some of my hard earned Peru travel wisdom. Then I went to bed - tomorrow I was heading south to visit Nazca.

Ann Arbor, Michigan
November 2002

Part One: Cuzco & Machu Picchu
Part Two: Puerto Maldonado
Part Four: Nazca
Part Five: Travel details

Read more of my travelogues

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