Took the local bus to Otavalo - and became acquainted with our first "Terminal Terrestria" (Bus Station).
The bus ride was pleasant and interesting. It was quite slow because it stopped regularly. We also had our first experience with the "on board advertising", where a local stands up the front of the bus and gives a very long speech about something (in Spanish of course)and then walks through the bus handing out some sweet or other foodstuff that you are supposed to purchase.
In fact it was a day of quite a few "firsts" that became common place on the trip. The homeless man sleeping under the stairs, the smell of urine in doorways and gutters, the images of Che Guevara on busses and cars, the spruking for business by endlessly repeating the goods being sold "Cola's, Cola's" , "Pattatas, Pattatas" or the busses destination "Latacunga, Latacunga".
Later in Otavalo, it was also the first time we same the indigenous Quechens in their beautiful traditional dress.
The scenery on the trip was beautiful and it was an enjoyable ride. Bob Marley was wailing through the speakers. During the journey we crossed the equator where there is a museum etc. but the bus didn't stop and we noted that perhaps it would be worth a look on the way back. Time permitting. For the first few weeks it seemed that time was abundant and that the trip spanned out before us forever. No need to hurry we could stop at every site and explore every interesting village we came across.
We stayed at the "residencial el Rocio" which was nice enough.
After doing a few "jobs" around Otavalo that included finding a post office to send our postcards and putting in some washing we went to the marketplace and haggled a vendor down from US$13 for a T-Shirt to $8 - and feeling clever before seeing the same shirt in a nearby shop with a starting price of $7.
Otavalo is very clean and well equipped, but absolutely focussed on tourism and quite expensive (in an Ecuadorian context) therefore.
Many of the tourists were domestic - from Quito.
Eager to see more of the beautiful countryside and keen to do some walking we booked a day tour for Laguna Cuicocha for the next day.
