Otavalo... ¡O, te vale!

Walking through Parque Metropolitano Guangüiltagua

The first quimester is over, as is the longest part of the school year. The first week of February was reserved for exams, and I was determined to accomplish a lot. After exam week, we had a one-week break and I was not going to do anything work-related. On my definite agenda for the break was a visit from my mom and her husband but several days remained unplanned.

Before this break, I still had never been to Otavalo. Not for any particular reason, it just never happened. Actually, the first time I planned to go was last summer, after my return to Quito from my trip to Bolivia. I felt like death with a terrible cold that left me bed and bathroom ridden, and my plans had to be cancelled. However, for this break, I was determined to make the most of my week of freedom... but I never imagined I would go to Otavalo twice.

A view of Pichincha from Parque Metropolitano Guangüiltagua

Otavalo was nothing like I expected it to be. My preconception was that it would be this small, quiet pueblo with a large market, and surrounded by verdant countryside. Pulling into Otavalo, my preconceived ideas were shot. It is more like this sprawling city that has assimilated the surrounding communities. Despite being developed, the Otavaleños have retained a stronger sense of tradition than most other places I have been around Ecuador. Visually, it's mostly women, unsurprisingly. Many women, head-to-toe, are dressed very indigenously. It's a pattern I've observed in Panama, Perú, Bolivia... the point of difference is that many men show evidence of tradition, too. While they aren't dressed traditionally, many still wear their hair long, in a pony tail, and sometimes braided.

The first visit to Otavalo was with Kara and Jaime, for a concert a short ride away in Peguche. This was during Carnaval week, so I got to see a little bit of what's left of the celebratory traditions. Apparently, Carnaval was crazy and unhinged. People would throw water balloons out their cars at pedestrians, make eggs rain from the sky, and flour people. But in recent years, the actions have tamed down. The only thing I have really seen is people spraying foam from a can on others. Don't get it twisted, it is still kind of outrageous with this one simple act. The main target of foam-bombs? The women dressed traditionally. I managed to avoid getting sprayed, but that's more likely due to being a super-gringo.

The concert was awesome. Tickets for general admission were $10, and we managed to get ours from a scalper for $5. After waiting in line for what seemed like forever, and it was by all means a line in Ecuadorian standards, we finally got into the "arena." It was separated into three sections: general, preferred, and VIP. As the first opening act played their first notes, someone(s) toward the front of the "general" crowd pushed down the barricade into the preferred section, and everyone bum-rushed toward the stage. Without delay, the same thing happened between the preferred and VIP sections, and we pushed forward again. We were now standing in the area that cost concert goers $40, for the meager price of $5. The concert organizer got on the microphone and began lecturing everyone to have respect and be tranquilo. But, c'mon, it was a reggae concert. How disorderly did they thing everyone would act? While the crowd waited quietly, politely, and patiently, the emcee continued to blow things out of proportion and tell us to be tranquilo and have respeto. He finally gave up on holding the concert hostage and allowed it to begin.

The line to get a bus to Otavalo on a Saturday

The headliner was "Alpha Blondy and the Solar System," and had three opening acts. The only of the three worth mentioning was a group from Otavalo, which I will update the name once I can find it. The members of the group walked out with traditional Andean instruments-- drums, gigantic pan flutes, string instruments. As they began their first song, it was very traditional indeed. Gradually, the music became more contemporary... and they blew everyone away. After playing a singular song, they walked off stage, while the crowd chanted "OTRA! OTRA!" The band played one encore, where the lead singer speed-rapped five minutes straight. Alpha Blondy was amazing as well, and kicked off the perfect week to recharge myself.

A lot of beautiful flowers were seen during the week.

In the meantime, before my mom came, I made sure to stay busy and stop living as a hermit. A couple of times, I went up into the park and slack lined for the fist time since at least June of last year. Oh, how I forgot how enjoyable it is and how sore I get from doing it! I also went to Termas Papallacta for the first time since December 2014, but this time I made sure to apply PLENTY of sunscreen. There was no way in hell I would allow myself to turn purple from a sunburn again.

Then my mom and Jim came to visit, arriving around midnight of Wednesday. I sent them a list of potential spots we could go for the brief, five day visit. I regularly think/say that Quito is a great city but it doesn't have a lot going on. The redeeming thing with that is Quito makes the perfect jumping spot to other places. Of the list, they ranked things they wanted to do-- the (1) Quito Bus Tour, (2) Nature, (3) Markets. So I set a conditional itinerary, which we more-or-less completed in full.

After sleeping for what seemed like a blink, we woke early on Thursday and ate some breakfast at Mr. Bagel, before going on the bus tour. Mind you, this was now my third time on it. While it is wearing tired on me, it is a great way to see the city I live in and love, and enjoy some of the most beautiful features of it.

La Basilica del Voto Nacional

Friday, we set off early for Terminal Terrestre Carcelen to go to Otavalo overnight. Leaving early on Friday had its advantages for sure. For one, after arriving, we were able to set off for request #2: Nature. We took a bus from Otavalo to Cotacachi. From there, we got off the bus and were immediately propositioned with a ride offer... in the back of a truck designed for medium-to-large sized livestock, with the destination of Laguna Quicocha. Fortunately, no animals went along with us for the ride. After hiking around a portion of it, we late lunched and shopped for leather in Cotacachi (it's known for its leather, and I happened to get some of my own. In the form of a fanny pack -aka- Canguro). And the following morning involved more shopping to meet request #3: Markets. Otavalo hosts the largest outdoor market in South America, and Saturdays happen to be when everything happens. Let the video speak for itself:

But the trip wasn't going to stop there. Oh no. After going through the market for about two hours, we  got on a bus to go to Quito... and then took a taxi between terminals... and hopped on another bus to Mindo. We spent a good four hours in various vehicles to get to another destination in total. While we could have found plenty to do in Otavalo, I really wanted to take advantage of the limited time they had. If I could've had my way, we'd have gone to the coast or rainforest but time was definitely not on our side. In Mindo's fashion, it rained shortly after arriving and continued through the night. We didn't do much except relax and take it easy, find some food, and chat before going to bed early.



In the morning, we ate breakfast at the ever-delicious El Quetzal and then purchased our bus tickets. For the final activity of the trip, we hiked to the Mariposario and spent almost two hours inside. Again, let's allow the video to speak for itself.

This trip was fun, exhausting, and surprising in ways. I was half expecting my mom to have extreme culture shock and stress me out, but she and Jim both were prepared for an adventure. Actually, they were more adventurous than I am, in some ways. Every time we walked past street food, they wanted to try it. They were taking hundreds of pictures, something I have not been doing nearly enough of this year. Thank you to both of them for coming to visit, and I hope you both take these memories with you forever.