Otavalo

I'm still a little sore as we leave Quito but I am glad to be out of the city. We are headed North towards Otavalo but stop for a while at the Mitad del Mundo and get to hear about the peculiarities associated with being on the equator, we also have a go at balancing an egg on a nail.

I feel that is the real start to our trip, nine of us will be travelling together for three weeks until we get to Lima, Peru. We have two nights at the small Hostal Rincon Del Viajero in Otavalo which is a couple of hours drive North of Quito. This is our first view of the scenery in Ecuador and the drive up takes us through some great sights. Otavalo's claim to fame appears to be it's market, especially for the textiles.

We have one full day in Otavalo and during the first night it rains heavily though this doesn't directly affect us. Immediately after breakfast we get picked up and taken to see some of the local sights. We start off with a waterfall which benefitted from the overnight rain and we climb to the top for a good view of Cascadas de Peguche.

Our next stop is to visit a music maker, a lady who makes and plays various traditional instruments. She shows us how to make some pan pipes and plays several of the instruments she has. From here we move on to look at a magic tree before visiting the nearby Parque Condor that looks after injured birds and those that were once pets.

We get back to Otavalo around midday but rain interrupts our exploration of the market and prompts an early and extended lunch. The market is good but we are only just starting our trip and no one feels inclined to buy much.

From Otavalo we head towards the Amazon rainforest.