Otavalo and Mitad Del Mundo

Today was an extremely relaxing day and a good way to wind down our trip before leaving for home tomorrow. This morning, we woke up in Otavalo bright and early after getting a much needed 8 hours of sleep. We got some breakfast and hit the world famous Otavalo Mercado. This market is centered in the main city plaza, but then spreads out onto the neighboring streets quite far away from the plaza. There are many merchants selling a variety of goods including arts and crafts, al paca clothing, tapestries, food, spices, etc.

We had a couple of hours to get the flavor of the place and do some shopping. Everything starts out at a set price, and you have to bargain your way into a decent deal for it. I bought a few items for my girlfriend, but none for myself, since I sort of hate shopping for myself. Nonetheless, it was quite fun and very interesting to see all the people running around making their livings.

The afternoon was spent in Mitad Del Mundo, which is nothing more than a small set of shops, restaurants, and a monument on the equator. It was nice to be there, but not much entertainment aside from watching the people try to hold up the world on top of the monument.

There was a planetarium there and we did see a show, completely in Spanish, about the universe and our solar system, but I promptly fell asleep for almost the whole 45 minutes of it. Also of interest was the equator insectatorium, because your equator is just not complete without one. They had a variety of huge bugs including the rhinocerous beatle which was more like a baby chihuahua than a bug. Some of the visitors opted to get photos with the bugs on their shirts. I just bailed.

Tonight, we are in Quito for one last evening in the best city in Ecuador before our flight leaves this place at 6 am tomorrow