Otavalo Cultural and Shopping

Quito to Otavalo is two hours by direct bus; our Otavalo market day trip from Quito turns a full day into six stops, because the point is not getting there, it is everything on the way.

You stand on the equator at the Quitsato solar clock, built to measure the solstices and the equinoxes and known as the other middle of the world, with the line crossing the summit of Cayambe. In Cayambe itself you watch bizcochos come out of the oven and eat them with Ecuadorian coffee or hot chocolate. Then a viewpoint over San Pablo Lake with Imbabura rising behind it.

The centerpiece is free time in the Plaza de los Ponchos, the largest and most important indigenous handicraft market in South America. We travel on the days of the biggest fair, when artisans from the whole region come down to trade.

The afternoon belongs to the Cuicocha Lagoon at 3,068 m, an active volcanic crater with domes rising out of the water, and 45 minutes in Cotacachi, a town that lives from leather. Easy level, with bilingual guide, lunch and permits included. The trip leaves Quito on Tuesdays and Saturdays, Otavalo’s big market days, at $56 per person. The full stop-by-stop plan is in our Otavalo in one day guide.