14th day

I just lost over four pages of single spaced writing by accidentally clicking “don’t save” on Word.  I just keep Word open so I haven’t saved or posted any of my writing in five days.  The auto-recovery feature doesn’t account for stupidity.  I’ll try to write a condensed version and post pictures instead.

On our way to Otavalo we stopped at La Mitad del Mundo, where the absolute center of the world supposedly is, but I've heard there's more than one.  We also stopped at a look-out point (another tourist trap), which was stunning.  I've never seen real mountains before Ecuador!

Purses, clothing, jewelry, trinkets, paintings, food, and more were at the market in Otavalo.  The people who live in Otavalo are skilled weavers, and are known for their fabrics, so that was the majority of what they were selling.  The most fun part was chatting with the vendors and bargaining.  I helped out a clueless tourist with Spanish, and I was complemented me on my Spanish.  A bit of small talk and numbers, I can do.  Before coming, I didn’t want to bargain because the prices were so cheap already, and the indigenous people use the market as their source of income.  However, a girl who has lived here for a semester said that if they bargain down 40%, they’re still making a profit.  (She got a painting for $6 that was $12 just by repeating seis over and over).  I wasn’t too aggressive because I know the vendors are much more sly than I am and really I can’t ask for better prices, but I walked away twice from a scarf, and eventually got it for a price I wanted.  It was exciting walking in the market alone—it was a treasure hunt for beautiful fabrics, smells, and colors.

We stayed at a B&B on top of a small mountain that night, which was spotless, beautiful and charming.  It cost $60 a night for a double (ridiculous, no?)  There were large common areas and we ate dinner and breakfast there.  The walls were painted in various bright colors and the bunch of us stayed up late talking in the dining area.  We hiked to a cascada (waterfall), which was beautiful and an easy hike, but there were a lot of tourists, which marred the beauty a bit.