Good morning once again. Well today were off to Otavalo to go to the market. With a short 1 hour ride we manage to get to our next hotel. A nice hotel 1 block from the city square one direction and 2 blocks from the market in the opposite direction. Of course my room had to be on the 4 floor and there are no elevators in the building. So I make every trip to my room count. The market at Otavalo is open every day and is much like a flea market as everyone sets up their little booth with knickknacks and junk for sale. During the week the market only takes up one block in the city. I am told that on Saturdays the market gets really big. So the group scatters and everyone goes their own direction to shop for junk. I on the other hand hide the wallet and grab the camera. I don't like shopping but I do enjoy taking photos of the markets. As I am looking around I see a shop in a building on the edge of the square. It's a shop that makes guitars as well as other stringed instruments. So I wander in to meet the owner. I have seen a number of chorango's being played by number of musicians and liked the sound of it. A chorango is basically a 2 foot long guitar with 10 strings. I had seen a number of them in the market for sale. Ranging in price from 75 to 100 dollars. But I decided to buy on from this shop. Some thing about meeting the man whom personally handcrafts your instrument makes it a little more special. Whether or not you can play the darn thing. It's just got a nifty factor. So after looking at the different Chorangos for sale I decided on one with in what I was willing to spend. Yes I bought the cheapest one he had. Only 55 dollars. I was impressed with the quality of his craftsmanship. His high end instruments were all carved from a single piece of wood and simply beautiful. My instrument may not be as nice and may not sound as good but I did not want to spend 280 dollars for his top end models. I am just as happy with mine and if I never learn to play it makes a nice decoration. Well I think everyone is shopped out and most have managed to make it back to the hotel. We had planned to meet up for dinner but only Sam, Ena, Mod, Tracy, Peit, Carlos and I showed. Every one whom wasn't feeling ill for one reason or an other ended going to a symphony concert here in town. The rest of us went to dinner. We decided on going to a restaurant Carlos had never been to before but had been mentioned to him by a friend. It was a nice place owned by a German couple. As we were waiting for our food I was asked why I wasn't drinking any alcohol. I simply replied, "I just didn't feel like drinking yet." Our dinner came and we were all pleased with our meals. The flavors were all really good from the vegetarian plates to the burritos everything tasted great. With belly full there it was the craving for a little tequila. Poor Tracy was not feeling so well and left to go back to the hotel. So I excused myself from the table and headed for the bar. Returning with two shots I had planned for myself ended being shared with Ena. Well, then it was on. It was our last night on the road together so let's have a party. I asked the owner to bring me a whole bottle of tequila. The price for a bottle of tequila in the restaurant was only 5 dollars more than what I pay at the grocery store at home. Rather quickly the 6 of us finished that bottle. With the bottle empty it was time to move on to a bar about 4 blocks from the hotel. While everyone was trying to figure out what to drink I just simply order another bottle. Well lets just say that bottle lasted less time than the previous bottle. Good ol' Sam steps up next with a nice bottle of rum and coke mixer. Now we have a little trouble headed our way. Peit is falling down on the dance floor and then we get Ena dancing on the stage with the lead singer of the band. No one is feeling much pain except Mod whom has now assumed the position of hugging the table so she doesn't fall over. Carlos, Sam and myself are doing just fine. Apparently I go to the bathroom for a quick pee and when I get back Ena has left her mark in the corner of the bar and they all decided the exit stage right. So back to the bathroom I go to get Peit whom at the time was praying to the porcelain gods. As we poured our selves out of the bar it was worse than an act of the three stooges. Sam carried Ena I carried Mod and Carlos carried Peit. Well, that lasted till the end of the block. I tried to get a taxi to take us but nobody was willing to stop. I can't possibly imagine why.... All I can say is the 4 block trip to over 30 minutes to complete and only involved 5 barfing sessions, Several falling overs and a whole bunch of crashing into walls. Thank goodness the buildings were there to hold Peit up one one side and Carlos on the other. The problem was Peit was connected to Carlos whom was connected to Mod whom was connected to me. And Peit made like a ping pong ball and I was at the opposite end of the paddle. I got the trees, curbs and street signs. I think we might have been a little quite getting back in the hotel. Carlos told us "Be cool" in a vain effort to keep us quiet. Well sorry Harv. We didn't mean to wake you and Carol as well as the rest of the hotel. Oooops...
