Well it's pouring down with rain outside and not much to do except stay indoors and try and keep dry and warm. It was a lovely day today, full of blue skies and sunshine. I had signed up for a tour which was going to take us to some different villages so we could see some of the different artisans at work. There were 4 of us and our guide who only spoke Spanish, but spoke slowly and clearly so we understood. 2 of the others also spoke spanish and the wife translated for the husband who didn't speak much.

The people we were going to see, don't sell their products at the markets. Apparently the taxes are quite high for a stall in Otavalo and most people selling the goods here are actually intermediaries, so the people making the goods don't get much money. We had the opportunity to buy from them directly.

Our first stop was to see basket weavers at work, however the brothers that do the work weren't there so we just saw a selection of the work and had an explanation about how it works. Two sisters were there, who don't speak or can't hear but have their own sign language going. It was fascinating watching them. Apparently it is because of a problem with incest in the smaller villages. Quite sad really but these ladies were forever smiling and their hands were going this way and that communicating with each other. I bought 2 tiny trinket baskets for $1 each. They had these cute little baskets that fit into each other, one a set of 6, the other a set of 12 - like those russian dolls you get where each one gets smaller and smaller.

From there it was to another village where knitting is done. This was amazing. To watch how fast they could knit. The whole family knits and they can make 1-2 jackets a day, depending on how many people are knitting. In the first house, the husband was knitting a hat and he knits 5 a day. I bought a scarf here for the grand sum of $3 in my favourite colour of blue. Another house across the road and we saw more knitting in action and they had a huge selection of knitted jackets and ponchos. If I didn't have 6 months to go I would have gone crazy. Tried on a couple of jackets and bought one for the amazing sum of $10. Unbelievable. We were told that the women trek up into the mountains and other villages with food like maize (corn) to trade for the wool. They dye it themselves naturally. Not much money is apparently exchanged for the goods.

Next village to see weaving in action. Mainly guys do this because it is hard work, back breaking I would say. They sit on the floor with a back brace from 6am - 9pm. We saw 2 different people in action and they were creating ponchos, the big traditional ones that pretty much cover you from head to toe and they are woven so tightly, they are watertight. One guy said it takes 15 days to make and they charge $80.We then saw the tapestries being made on a loom (I think that is correct). They know these patterns in their head and are not following them off paper or anything. One guy said he knows 30 different ones. Incredible.

Last stop was to see sombreros being made. They buy the material from Quito, already in the right size. They then put it in some mixture (to harden it) and then it gets steamed to make it pliable so they can put it around a model and make it into the shape they want. Really interesting watching it. There is so much hard work that goes into these goods and we pay a pittance for them, although the market price will be a little higher.

We returned to town and after some lunch I was going to walk to a waterfall out of town but the sky started to darken and I didn't want to risk being caught in the rain so wandered around town instead and braved the market. Was very quiet today, the big day is tomorrow when the streets are closed and even more stalls are put up. So much beautiful stuff. I bought a bag for $4.50 which has been hand woven but resisted buying any more. Will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.