Indigenous market in Otavalo

Yesterday, we traveled to Otavalo, a town to the north of Quito, to shop in the market. Fortunately, the line at the bus station was not nearly as long as it had been when we tried on Saturday. A bus from near the hostal, to another bus to get to the final bus...then 3 hours on that bus, and we were in Otavalo. We learned that the longer distance buses are not supposed to have people standing in the aisles... Our bus filled with seated passengers, with tickets purchased at the counter, in the terminal, but outsdie the terminal, the driver stopped and about 10 or 12 more people got on, paying in cash to the driver's helper. However, about half an hour into our bus ride, the bus was slowed by traffic, then stopped by the police who issued the driver a ticket. Everyone standing had to get off the bus. So... the driver took a chance and those people getting on outside the terminal took a chance. Yesterday, however, just wasn't their day.

In Otavalo, the market plaza was about 6 blocks from the bus terminal. It was a city block filled with vendor tents, offering handmade goods from the region: jewelry, leather goods, blankets, clothes, artwork, musical instruments, you name it...

The vendors were interested in having your business, but not irritating pushy for the most part. This young lady got some of our business:

When we asked about a larger size for an item, she said "un momento," and disappeared. She came back in less than a minute with her arms full. We asked for something else she didn't have, and she ran off again. This time, her big sister (who had the other booth where she was getting the stuff we were asking for) followed her back to see what was going on. It was clear to us from their interaction that little sister was happy to be making a good sale (that big sister hadn't made).

We spent a few hours in Otavalo, then back on the bus to Quito. Enroute, according to my guidebook, we passed Ecuador's largest lake. Not many lakes in Ecuador, as the water is mainly in rivers that flow year round.

Back in Quito, we walked around a little more, here's two night pictures:

Even after the walking, my back was still aching from the bus seats (lumbar support? nonexistent), so instead of posting last night, I took two ibuprofen and went to sleep. All is good this morning, and we are going to stay in Quito and see what we can get into here...