North we roam

After spending a few days in Otavalo, Ecuador, we´ve come to the north and are starting our adventures Colombian style. Otavalo was one of the nicest places in Ecuador I´ve seen so far. It´s clear that there´s a lot of money in Otavalo because of the huge market that plays itself out each weekend. We decided to peruse the market on a Friday before it was insanely overwhelming on Saturday...it had amazing, quality stuff! Still in Otavalo on Saturday, however, it was incredible to see how much it grew. Literally the entire town turned into a market with vendors down almost every street stretching from the city´s center to across the Panamerican highway where the animal market buzzed. You could buy anything from oranges to toothpaste to woven rugs to a pig or chicken to take home...

One of the most fascinating parts of Otavalo for me was the strong indigenous presence. Ecuador has a large indigenous population in general, but you often find these Quechwa (also Quichua or Kichwa) in more isolated areas of the country and infrequently in cities. Otavalo is certainly the exception where even the mayor is indigenous. The beautiful artisan work has certainly brought attention and money to Otavalo, and has paid off. The streets are beautifully tiled, hot water is plentiful in even cheap hostels, hollister and abercerombie dominate the clothes stores, and a hybrid car we saw didn´t at all look out of place. There are even timed crosswalks with little green animated men telling you when to cross and how long you have. The fact that these ¨luxuries¨ seemed out of character in an indigenous town shows how at the fringe other indigenous people are in Ecuador.

Oh, and I can´t leave the topic of Otavalo without mentioning our daring culinary experience. Cuy (guinea pig..yes, the pet) is a speciality in Ecuador. Erin and I were determined to try some before heading to Colombia. After asking around, we discovered that we were only kilometers from a small town that claims the name for the world capitol of Cuy. Chalturas is a small town full of cuy restaurants (even the president comes here to eat it!) and even boasts a picture of a deep fried cuy on it´s city´s sign. I´ve quickly discovered while in South America that my American nature comes out when asked to eat meat off of a bone. I just don´t like it. I also prefer not to see the head or paws of whatever I´m going to eat... Cuy, however, is not at all American. It comes completely intact with each part of the body on YOUR plate: head, ears, eyes, mouth, feet, little claws... When able to ignore those things staring me in the face, the meat was okay...mediocre at best. And then you realize that there´s still that head sitting there. Our new friend, Lorena (Ecuadorian), joined us and I saw how an Ecuadorian would really eat cuy...each and every piece. I, however, deep deep down, am American. I just couldn´t do it. I left a probably embarrassing amount of meat on those bones.

After a 25ish hour journey north, we are now in Bogotá to begin our Colombian leg of the journey.

Hasta luego!