Otavalo, Ecuador

We started out late in the day on Friday, successfully found the bus terminal, paid for our tickets, paid the tax to enter the area where we could get on the bus, got prime choice of seats on the bus, then proceeded to watch BS anti-choice propaganda for the next 4 hours. ugh. A video persuading against abortion is not fun viewing material for a bus ride. Especially after the 60 mile journey took 4 + hours. We arrived in one piece thankfully and then had the weekend to enjoy. Otavalo is an indigenous mountain village home to an incredible market and beautiful sights. Friday night was spent chatting in the hammocks in the garden of our wonderful hostel. We awoke Saturday morning to the hustle and bustle of early breakfasts before a jam packed day of shopping. The market was tremendous, as were our purchases. After we were dizzy from staring at the brilliant colors surrouding us, we wound up with 1 sweater each (some of us won´t take it off, echem M), 1 purse each, some decorative rugs, an imitation Guayasamin paiting, a few smaller paintings, etc, as well as gifts for some of you. Guess we´ll have to ship out a package earlier than expected.
Later in the afternoon we visited a waterfall called Cascada de Peguche. The walk leading up the water was beautiful and entertaining thanks to the teenagers drinking beer and slyfully making out. We had dinner, drinks, and plenty of time for playing cards back at the hostel before we headed out to a peña until the wee hours of the morn. A peña is a bar filled with a ton of smoke and a ton of locals being entertained by live traditional Andean folk music. It was a blast, especially thanks to the techno music and strobe light during the band´s breaks. We slept off a hangover and headed to Lago de San Pablo, the largest lake in Ecuador. Little did we know, our bus dropped us about an hour´s walk from the lake. The walk was filled with cow traffic, sheep, indigenous shepards, polluting cars and buses, adorable kids, and tiny tiendas selling anything imagineable. Seriously, who doesnt want to buy a broom from a travelling broom salesman? Only $1! On the northeast side of the lake stands Volcan Imbabura which we took some great photos of. After a filling yet strange lunch with an incredible view of the volcano, we hopped on a bus that brought us right back to our hostel. How did we miss that on the way there? We packed up, got some blackberry pie to go, got on the return bus which was only a delightful 2 hours. The motion sickness meds made us pass out and the trip was over before we knew it. It´s back to studying spanish all day everyday, wait until you hear us!