The markets and the equator

Yesterday was again a fun filled day, full of great experiences and great friends. Yesterday we began our day by leaving Quito at 9 am and we were off on our way to Otavalo. Otavalo is about 2 hours away from Quito and here there is a huge market. If you have been to Tijuana it would resemble that but much better quality. I had a few things in mind in which I needed to pick up, 1st a poncho, 2nd an authentic panama hat (funny story, the panama hat (similar to a fedora) was originally made in Ecuador), and a few presents for birthdays and mother's day.

The big item at this market was alpaca fur, so you could find everthing from Alpaca sweaters, Alpaca scarves, Alpaca blankets, Alpaca poncho and the list goes on. Alpaca fur is very soft and very nice. The market is a unique experience compare to Canada because you never accept the posted price. This is where your bartering skills come into play; a task much harder when you barely understand the language. Fortunately we have had some amazing drivers on our trip (Oswaldo and Lewis) and today it was Oswaldo who did a lot of our bartering for us. Believe me he is good. At the markets there is a Gringo rate which applies to the typical tourist who can barely speak Spanish and there is the local rate. Locals can barter the price down a lot further than you or I could.

After all of the wheeling and dealing was over we took our new possessions back to the van and we proceeded to travel to Cotacachi. Cotacachi is well known for it's leather market. Here every shop hands stitches items such as purses, jackets, shoes and I think you get the idea. There was a lot of nice jackets unfortunately size grande grande is hard to come by in Ecuador. I did manage to pick up a new wallet and a few gifts.

After the leather markets we stopped in a town that is known for their biscotes and cheese. Here we tried the original cheese string. Carlos who is a local to Quito has been helping our group by translating at the schools and showing us around Quito. We told him how we tried this fabulous cheese at the beginning of the trip, turns out the cheese we had was a plain cheese that was found anywhere and everywhere. He told us to stop at this place on the way to Otevalo and here we would taste good cheese. Boy was he correct.

We again board the van and are headed back to the hotel, but Oswaldo had a surprise in store for us. He makes a detour and stops the van and we all pile out. He takes us to a stature of the world and beside the world there is a line in brick. This was the actual equator. There is a equator museum just outside Quito but that is not the correct equator. Prior to technology advancements when they originally mapped out the equator it was about 20 km off of the actual equator. But with the creation of GPS they mapped out the actual Equator. For tourist reasons the museum stayed where it was the actually equator site is relatively untouched by tourists. There were some really cool activities the Oswaldo had us do on the line of the equator. The first was on the North side of the equator we held our hands out in front and tried to resist another person pushing our hands to the ground (the result was that the persons arms could be pushed down with ease). On the South side this was not the case (it was physically impossible to push the persons hands to the ground). This was due to the difference in gravity between the North and South side of the Equator. He then had us close our eyes and put our hands out to the sides to form a T shape. We then had to walk a straight line on the equator. This was again impossible due to gravity pulling on your arms at different measurements.

One last thing that I found very interesting in Quito is that right now they are going through a referendum. The difference between Canada and Ecuador is that voting is mandatory. After completing your vote you get a certificate or a card that says you voted in the election. This certificate is a vital piece of information because without it you can't do things like open a bank account, buy a car, buy a house, or even get a loan. This is an important weekend in which some businesses shut down and the country turns dry for the weekend. So zero alcohol sales starting Thursday and ending Sunday.

Happy Mother's Day mom

I will post some pictures soon