Otovalo Market

February 20-21, 2010

Ricardo invited me to his Birthday Party. His brother owns a popular discoteque in Quito, and that’s where the party was held. Oofa, it started at midnight!

Ricardo runs Escuela de Motos. the only motorcycle School in Quito. There was a nice mix of all his friends and yes lots of motorcyclists.

Unfortunately, I am a poor sleeper these days and eben though i went to bed at 5:00 am, I was up at 7:30 am. What’s a girl to do? Go for a ride.

I’d read about the Market in Otovalo on ADVrider, so I decided to go there are check it out. The moto-adventurer said you could find everything there, including shrunken heads. Great! This I gotta see…

So on the way I kept seeing all these signs for bizcocho…this usually signifies a regional specialty, and I stopped to check it out.

back North on the Panamericana.

I was walking down this aisle and I saw this pair of kids, could be travelers, a few times. At one point they stopped me and (oofa, I don’t remember what language!–Spanish or English–) told me that their camera batteries had died with the lens stuck open …

It didn’t ring right for me. Something was off.

I told them I didn’t use batteries, mine used a rechargeable battery and I could not help them, but hey, it was a market, and that they should be able to buy batteries anywhere.

I continued with my pattern of hiding my camera inside my coat as I walked around.

I wish I had noted when the fashion for carrying children had changed…but it has.

Hehe. You don’t see THAT in the States…

Beautiful street lights!

The indigenous ladies display their societal rank by the number of golden beads they wear around their necks. I guess you gotta be rich because when I inquired how much they were the lady told me FORTY DOLLARS! Too steep for my bidget…

This poor guy was tied to the streetlamp. A lover or a fighter? I am not sure.

Yes, a gaggle of gringos in Otovalo.

Note the gold beads…

I’ve decided the markets are the best place for a shy photographer like me to get shots of people. This way I can pretend to be taking pictures of fruit, etc. then quickly refocus on people.