Saturday night in Otavalo. Somewhat lively. Lots of bars and a few people out and about but the rain was probably keeping people in. We found a little restaurant that had a live Andean music group playing so we went in to have dinner there. The music was lively and great and went perfectly with our pizzas, beer and wine.
Sunday in Otavalo. Rainy Sunday in Otavalo. We had planned to hike up Fuya Fuya, a volcano by the Mojandes Lakes. We are staying at the Rincon del Viajera. Great hostel in the center of town but not too busy an area. All the rooms have hand painted murals on the wall and the common areas are full of beautiful Ecuadorean art and handicrafts. The owners are an American/Ecuadorean couple so it was a good opportunity to chat and find out more about the area. We talked to the owner of the hostal the night before and he recommended climbing Fuya Fuya highly. But odds were against us and we woke up to more rain. So we had a slow morning with a great breakfast of yoghurt and granola and good coffee. The weather seemed to pick up so we headed to nearby Peguche by bus to see the Cascadas de Peguche. Just standing at the bus stop was an experience as all the others waiting for the bus started chatting with us, asking us where we were from and so on. I think they were mostly interested in chatting up Sivanne but it was still fun to connect with them a bit. All of the people we have come across here are really nice and friendly.
We ended up in Peguche village and had to walk back about 1 km. on the road to get to the entrance to the falls. Somehow we missed the place to get off the bus. Then we took the wrong turn and walked about 25 minutes uphill until an old lady walking by told us to go in the other direction. We're really doing well here. Of course when we get to the location we see that it is a whole touristy little village with a market and restaurants and really how could we have missed it? Because it was Sunday it was full of families out for the day. The walk to the falls was beautiful, through a forest of fragrant eucalyptus trees. The falls and the park were beautiful. We crossed bridges, walked up to the top of the falls, walked all around the area and ended off at a small hut where there was an Incan display. We were told by the indigenous guide there that we could enter the pyramid and climb up through a cave so we went with the guide. He lit us all candles and led us through the tunnel, explaining along the way the different customs of the Incas - death, the sun, the surrounding volcanos, their connection to certain animals, etc. Once again Sivanne's grasp of Spanish really enhanced the experience as she was able to translate all that he was saying. At one point we sat in an alcove of the cave while he played music and chanted an Incan prayer. We climbed up and up through the tunnel ending with a chimney leading outside. With the help of ropes and ladders we exited out of the "pyramid". It was a very cool experience. Then it started to pour with rain again. We waited it out in his hut for a while then ventured out again. The rain stopped and we decided to grab a taxi to go to Cotacachi, a nearby village known for it's leather goods. We wandered about a bit but weren't too interested in the products. Back to Otavalo to rest a bit before dinner.
Ecuadorean Chinese food? That's what we had for dinner. Sunday night couldn't be more dead but we found this place - Chifa Otavalo, and enjoyed the Ecuadorean take on Chinese food. We had one dish with rice and chicken and vegetables and another with shrimps. Very cheap and tasty.