Otavalo town is located 95 km north of Quito.  It is famous for its Saturday markets which predate the Incas.  Jungle people from the eastern lowlands came to the weekly market to trade their jungle products for highland goods. (Lonely Planet)
Unfortunately when I visited Otavalo in 2006, I was nearing the end of my South American trip and had little space left on my limited camera SD card.  The above postcard is the only photo I have of the Otavalo market.
The Otavalenos have a very distinctive traditional dress.  Look at the lady in the postcard.  She is wearing a Fachalina on her head.  She also wears an embroidered white blouse, long black wool skirt and black shawl, a woven belt and strands and strands of beads.  If we could see her feet, we would probably find canvas sandals.  
However western fashion is creeping into every corner of the globe.  Her little child has runners which were probably bought in the market as well.  I wonder will that child grow up to wear the traditional costume or the clothes worn by celebrities on TV?

While I don't have any photos from my day at the Otavalo market, I do have a beautiful souvenir:

This painting which is 80cm x 80cm caught my eye as I was walking through the market.  It is an acrylic painting and the artist was a high school art teacher.  Bargaining is obligatory in Otavalo so when he asked for $40 I had to bargain him down to $30!  It seemed like everyone in the market helped him to parcel up the painting as word spread that he had made a sale.  It is now hanging proudly in my sitting room.  Every time I look at it, I am reminded of Ecuador. 

The Museo Inti Nan claims to be on the exact equator line.  In the museum I tried cool experiments.  I watched leaves go clockwise down a plughole in the southern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere!
I was able to balance an egg on a nail and received the above certificate!

Along with ourselves and our luggage, he also had collected some supplies for the kitchen! The accommodation was authentic and very different to what I am used to!

Each night we were brought on a Night Walk.  We walked as quietly as we could through the jungle and of course no torches allowed!

Most of my pictures are from the morning walks and the daily boat trips. We spotted monkeys, Golden Pendulum birds, parrots, ants, monkey combs, lots of different plants, seeds, tracks (of animals), flowers, vines, piranha to name but a few.

Quito is Ecuador's capital city.  It has an Old Town and a New Town. The Old Town is a Unesco World Heritage Site. 
The city of Quito is a whopping 2850m above sea level. It is the highest capital city in the world. If you flew straight into Quito you might be in trouble! At that altitude it can be hard to breathe.  For me, I found breathing at high altitude like breathing after running a race.  Your breath is short and quick and it seems hard to fill your lungs.  Some people suffer from altitude sickness, they feel dizzy and sick.  There is medicine you can take and usually it eases.  I had traveled by bus from Chile, Bolivia and Peru so my body had been able to adjust as I traveled.  Luckily the altitude didn't make me sick at any time.  


Quito has a population of over 2.5million. The main religion in Ecuador is Catholic.  Look closely at the first picture and you will see evidence of this.

The Virgin of El Panecillo looks over the city.  El Panecillo is the name of the hill (Little Bread Loaf).  In A Spanish artist Agustín de la Herrán Matorras was commissioned by a religious order in 1976 to build a 45 metre tall monument.  It is made of 7000 pieces of aluminium.  The people of Quito believe their statue is unique as she is the only one in the world with wings of an angel.