Otavalo market day tour
Day 269 – Quito, Ecuador
(I’m late in my writings, so I’ll be quick for the next days’ accounts.)
For this day tour, I had a meeting point a few minutes’ walk away from my hostel at the too-early hour of 7. Our guide, Patricio, talked about the country, the highway we were following -apparently the Pan-American Highway stretches from Alaska to the Southern tip of Argentina.
We stopped first at a home-made biscuit-making business.
The biscuits are baked in the oven behind the baker.
Then we went to straddle the line separating both hemisphere: the equator (see picture header). At this place, a round plaza with a central column actually make a giant sun dial. Lines drawn on white stones in the grey pavement show the cardinal points but also the position of the sun according to the time of year: above the Tropic of Capricorn or the Tropic of Cancer, for the equinoxes and solstices. And why maps of the world shouldn’t have the North at the top but on the left.
That’s me with a foot in each hemisphere. To be precise, left foot in the North, right foot in the South.
We arrived at Otovallo, where the central market is renowned, especially for its textiles. I was hoping for more native art and less tourist souvenirs, but it wasn’t to be. I found the same products I had seen in Quito, but on a grander scale. Oh well.
The next stop was on a crater lake, which was pretty.
And finally we went to another town for lunch. This town is reputed for its leather work, and indeed some shops had spectacular items… at very interesting prices. I regret that I hadn’t had a use nor space for some truly handsome handbags!
And then we made our long way back.
