Author: Taylor
Location: Quito area
We began our first day at the relatively sane hour of 7:30, though for some of us it seemed almost impossible to appear 5 or 6 hours before the normal teenage waking hour of 12. Despite minor groaning, and thanks to the unfailingly positive attitudes of our funmakers Theo and Daniel, we managed to make it onto a tour bus with only a few forgotten items and make our way to Otavalo. This town, 2 1/2 hours away from Quito, is famous for its open air market, although none of us gringos had ever heard of it. We arrived to find ourselves in a bustling rural metropolis of shawl bedecked locals frying bananas, displaying big carcasses and shoving alpaca shawls into our unbelieving faces as soon as we stepped onto the sidewalk. Cries of "dos por cinco" and "los mejor precios aqui" fill the air. We wander through a maze of local handicraft stalls and fruit stands for two hours, somehow manage to find lunch, and successfully haggle some decent prices out of the eager vendors, all the while trying not to seem like the ignorant and vulnerable tourists that we very obviously are.
Once we returned to the bus, full of empanadas and carrying our news bracelets and scarves, we venture off to "Mitad del Mundo" - the Equator (or as Daniel likes to put it, the Eee-quator...wooow!). We considered going to the top of a monument where people used to think the Equator was, didn't, and continued on to the real Equator line. This museum is harder to find, and apparently it is not uncommon for tourists to go to the first monument and never realize that they had missed the Equator completely. Luckily for us, we had Trusty Theo and Daring Daniel to guide us. We learned about native tribal groups, Margaux balanced an egg on a nail with the help of lesser gravity, and then the group took our leave to return to Quito and a nice hot shower. It's been a fantastic day, and all of us are excited for the next 20 to come (pound it!).
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
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