Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Take Two - Otavalo Revisited

Thanks to my job/internship I get to take free trips once in a while just so I can familiarize myself with some of the tours we offer at the agency and be able to give in depth information to some of our clients on what to expect when taking certain tours.

I got to visit Otavalo a second time but this time around I saw more than I did when I first passed through the city on my way from Colombia. The first time I was in Otavalo the weather was a bit cold and rainy so I didn't have that much enthusiasm to explore more than the traditional market that's pretty famous with tourists and draws large crowds of people especially on Saturdays. 

I was glad I made a second trip to Otavalo because I got to see the surrounding areas and appreciate some of the sites I never got to see the first time around. As with most of our tours, this tour started in the morning and our first stop was at a view point in Lago San Pablo to take pictures of the lake below us. We did not get too close to the lake unfortunately but we could see it from a distant.

Okay, so I accidentally deleted the picture of the lake and ended up with another view next to it. I can't say the view of the lake was something to write home about so no worries, you are not missing much..........actually you are not missing anything.


Traffic was pretty bad because of road construction but we finally made it to Otavalo. It felt surreal being in the town a second time under very different circumstances.




Since it was on a Saturday the market was packed with people as you can see from the picture below.


The bread you see below was being sold in many stands and they looked so cute that I bought one to taste...........yeah, looks can be deceiving!




After visiting the market and having lunch we headed out to Peguche falls which is sacred to the local indigenous population. Cleansing ceremonies are usually held at the falls and the guide was telling me that if you get very close to the falls you can feel some energy but it all depends on how attune to nature you are.

The walk to the falls was very serene and pretty.



Later on we headed to Cotacachi which is like the place to get leather products on the cheap. There were so many shops selling leather products in the small town, any leather enthusiast would go crazy much to PETA's chagrin.





That's it folks, after Cotacachi we headed back to Quito. It was a full day tour and I am glad I was able to take part in it because I got to see new places that I hadn't seen before. I am enjoying these perks that come with my job, I wonder where my next trip will take me.







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