Any and all major shopping is reserved for the last day.
And as luck would have it, one of the most famous artisan markets in the world is located a few hours outside Quito in the small town of Otavalo.
The Otavaloans are master weavers, specifically of Alpaca hair blankets, scarves, sweaters etc.
Congrats moms, you have some beautiful blankets on the way...
The rest of the market was your standard developing world market, mostly filled with trinkets and random crap (made in China).
Lots of "super foods" like quinoa, chia seeds, cinnamon...
Heather takes her mango negotiation very very seriously...
Serious banana envy...
Cool hat, but she wasn't sure she had the right shoes to make it work at home.
Lucha Libre ski mask? for the discerning cold weather Mexican wrestler?
One store, motorcycles, refrigerators and washing machines... "Excuse me senor, I need a new bike AND a front loading washing machine, oh and you wouldn't also happen to have a side by side fridge with bottom freezer?"
The local indigenous are very proud people... there was a small ceremony / parade paying homage to Ruminahui, the last Incan general to hold out against the Spanish conquistadors.
Happiness is an afternoon nap under the shade of a tree, whether you have 2 or 4 legs.
After an exhausting blitz of buying native goods, we sat down for a bite in the food market.
Ariel shot of Andy (our ole Aussie friend whom we caught up with at the market), yet another Aussie, and the front end of lunch...
Added to the market crew were Daren and Tim, our friends from the Tena rafting trip.
We actually spent the entire day with these guys, even staying at the same hostel.
Absolutely great guys, could not have asked for a better bunch to spend a fun filled shopping day with.
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