Saturday is Market Day in Otavalo – there is a permanent craft market in the market place all week long, but on Saturdays most of the main streets are blocked off and the whole town center becomes a sprawling produce market.
We spent morning taking it all in – trying a few fruits and breads from the stalls. In the afternoon while waiting for our bus out of town we took a quick walk through the animal market (which I will describe in more detail at another time).
We left Otavalo mid afternoon on a “direct” bus to Latacunga which bypassed Quito. We had been advised to choose the right hand side of the bus because it passes the magnificent Volcano “Cotapaxi” which is the second highest in Ecuador. We had good intentions of returning to Cotapai from our base in Latacunga to walk at altitude around the "climbers refuge". It turned out to be a very expensive side trip that we decided against on price and time - a pity really but it was the first real compromise we had to make as the realisation dawned on us that there was far too much to see and do in the short time we had and we would have to make some difficult choices.
We stayed at the Hotel Cotapaxi in Latacunga. We had our dinner in the Rastafari cafe surrounded by Bob Marley posters. It was not particularly good for vegetarians, my plate of chips covered in cheese cost the same a plate of chips with a thin slice of steak.
The hotel was adjancent to lively central park so our room at the front of the hotel was quite noisy. Sometime in the middle of the night a group of drunken youths sitting outside our window entertained us (and made sure we didn't waste our time sleeping) with enthusiastic renditions of what must have been every song they new.
