Day 8 - Markets and Volcanoes

After enjoying a night with warm showers and beds free from tarantulas, we rushed our breakfast to indulge in the bustling Otovalo markets. We haggled and bartered and ended up spending the majority of our money on blankets, jackets, magnets, paintings, jewellery and PONCHOS. The market sellers were surprisingly friendly and welcomed us to their culture and grateful of us supporting their economy.

Then we got on the coach and prepared for a bumpy journey to Quito which those of us with stronger stomachs enjoyed happily napping. On the way, we stopped off at a geographical miracle that is the collapsed volcano, Cuicocha. When the volcano erupted it collapsed into itself forming a gigantic crater, which when the glacier melted created a breathtaking lake. Although it is lacking a Loch Ness monster it made up for it with its soap opera-like legends of various volcanic affairs. However, the only tragedy we experienced was a few splashes while on the boat. We took a boat ride the middle of the lake to see the CO2 released from the depths. This took the form of quaint bubbles surrounding the lava made island.

After trekking to the cafe we took a few minutes to catch our breath from the change in altitude and enjoy the stunning view while also noting our lack of fitness. We had lunch and carried on our journey. The next stop was a leather town, where we met some interesting retired Americans. We spent half an hour walking the main road lined with shops selling leather goods. However most of us had got a tad carried away in the markets and had limited money to spend, so it was more of a window shopping experience. We then stopped off at the equator to take a photo for guiding magazine. It was front cover worthy as we looked great after our long travels.

We finally got to Quito, our life of luxury continued as our hostel was fabulous, worthy to be an IKEA showroom. We ventured out to see the city life of Quito by having dinner at the mall. We split into groups and got full Ecuadorian experience by going to McDonald's. Don't worry though because we later all filled up on churros, which was the best and worst decision as we later found out our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.

Amy and Marianne