"Otavalo - get your souvenirs!" Otavalo by jujub

Otavalo was a great one-stop-shop for souvenirs and of course, gifts for yourself! This Saturday market sells almost everything that you could imagine, and the prices are very very good. You should bargain a bit, and if you buy in bulk, you'll have better chances of getting more discount. You should shop around, many of the vendors sell the same (or similar) goods -- don't be tempted to buy as soon as you spot a vendor!

Otavalo is a 2-hour bus ride from Quito -- ask at your hotel which bus terminal you should go to (if i remember correctly, it's the Terminal Terrestre), hop on a cab, and the driver will tell you which bus you should take (the cab will drop you off outside of the terminal, where you will hop on the bus from the sidewalk). Please do this only during the day time, at night, ask the driver to drop you off inside the Terminal.

I highly recommend buying sandals there -- i bought 2 pairs of these beautifully detailed, hand made sandals, which are extremely comfortable and very unique. They weren't as cheap as I expected, but extremely worth it; of course I now wish i had bought more of them. :)

You should definitely spend the whole day here (unless you're not the shopping type).

Enjoy the page!!

shaved ice

You can buy a delicious flavored shaved ice cone from this guy -- he shaves the ice manually, no electronic appliance!

local woman in traditional clothing

This is a local woman minding her business -- I really liked the way she looked...