Ecuador Day 5 - From Otavalo to Versly Dinner

We wanted some time to explore Otavalo so had arranged for Freddy to pick us up mid day.  We are so glad we did.  After breakfast we headed out to the market.  The interlock paved streets and sidewalks of Otavalo were filled with locals... many of whom were in traditional clothing.  It seemed like the further you got from Quito, the shorter people got... many adults were less (and far less) than 5 feet tall.

The market was surprisingly great... filled with crafts, nice artwork and lots of fabrics and clothing.  We ran into a guy selling leather belts who was actually hilarious.  Beth saw a blue belt and he put it around her and before she could say "it's a little too....".... snip!  He had cut off six inches and was using his tools to reattach the buckle.   Talk about objection handling!  Ten minutes later, he shows up as a full on coca leaf product mobile retail store - lol - and I said "hey, what happened to my belt guy!" - he just laughed.

A whole new meaning for shorties...

You could tell 100% of the stuff at the market was locally made.  With nice stuff  mixed with "looks good now but not when you get home" and "kitsch", the whole set up was pretty great.  I remembered how disappointed I was in Cairo seeing rows of dilapidated, cheap looking knickknacks, all made in China.   I'm not a big buyer at these kinds of places, but I do like wandering around and observing how it may relate to the local economy.   Freddy had told us that he's very brand conscious (ie noticing what people are wearing) as foreign brands are super expensive here.  The government has high import taxes on, especially, clothing, to encourage domestic production and consumption.  It's a global economy, but I think having these policies in place are ultimately good.

There weren't a lot of tourists, though it was early.   The people who man the stalls here are super chill - yes, they try and sell you stuff, but if you say "no gracias" or wave them off they are pretty polite.

Leaving the market after a couple of hours, we strolled around, in the general direction of the central square (man!  I love these squares!!).  Talk about a mecca for people watching.  If I had more time here, I'd just sit in a cafe window and watch the (little) world go by!

The way back to Quito went pretty quickly, until we discovered (or... was it there all along Spaniards...lol) the Quito traffic.   Compressed in the valley, my GPS showed 12km, 55 minutes... d'oh!  Oh well, it was a good opportunity for more banter with Freddy (he's really quite funny) and some cool people watching.... there were people all over the roads, selling stuff up and down the aisles of pretty much parked cars.  I kept imaging some of them droning on "nasi goreng..... nasi goreng...." (a memory from a 1997 train ride from Yogyakarta with Beth).

We stopped near the hotel for Chinese, and I have to say, I was surprised not to see one Chinese staff member.  In almost every Chinese place I've been around the world, the sea of local people is generally broken by an Oasis of a Chinese entrepreneur immigrant (hello East Moon in Barbados, I'm looking at you) but not here.  Still... it was good.

Back the Ikala Hotel, we dropped a bunch of laundry off and waited to connect with the Versly who had been out exploring.  Reunited, we went out for Indian for dinner in Foch Square.  Cards were on order.... Guys 2, girls 1 - for the record.