The craft centre of Ecuador - Otavalo
Get your haggling hat on!
One of the highlights of any Ecuador holiday is a trip to Otavalo. An important textile centre since pre-Inca times, today it is home to the largest and most spectacular indigenous market in the whole of South America.
Otavalo is in the heart of Ecuador's "Quichua Belt", where most people are of indigenous descent and the first language is often Quichua rather than Spanish. Quichua was the language spoken by the Incas and is a real reminder that you are seeing traditions which have remained unchanged for centuries.
Otavalo Market
The market itself is on three times a week, but Saturday is by far the best time to visit, as the handicraft market is on at the same time as the local livestock market so there is a real buzz about the place. Much of the business at the livestock market is over by the time transport arrives from Quito, so if you want to catch the hurly-burly of Andean sheep-dealing then you really need to stay over the night before.
The rest of the day is given over to the handicrafts (artesania in Spanish) market and is where you're likely to spend most of your time. Centred on the so-called "Poncho Square", thousands of traders offer a bewildering variety of goods from ponchos to panpipes - always shop around, always work out what you want before walking up to a stall and always, always haggle! It's great fun and haggling in Otavalo is nowhere near as aggressive as in many places around the world - maybe it's the party spirit but everyone seems to enjoy it!
Once you're done shopping, it might be time to head a little further away from Otavalo's main square to the food markets, where you can enjoy some of the best produce and cooking in Ecuador, from delicious fresh fruit from the rainforest and the banana plantations of the coast, to the delicious highland fried chicken, maize and soups. Proveche!
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