| May 18, 2006 - Saquisili, Ecuador
| (click to enlarge)
 |  | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Stall with Jade and Volcanic Lava goods
| | Another shot of the crafts
| | A part of the arts market
| | Another section of the same market
| (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | Fruits & Vegetables and other goods
| | Cotopaxi volcano from the market
| | Cotopaxi again, and the buses waiting to leave
| | Cotopaxi from the bus
| (click to enlarge)
 | | | | More Cotopaxi from the bus
|
|
|
|
| One of the main factors pushing me to get into Latacunga on Wednesday night straight from Cuenca was the ability to then visit the large local market at Saquisili on Thursday morning. The Lonely Planet describes:
"Saquisili's Thuersday-morning moarket is for the inhabitants of remote indigenous villages, most of whom are recognized by their felt porkpie hats and red ponchos. Ecuadorian economists consider this to be the most import indigenous village market in the country, and many travellers rate it as the most interestin in Ecuador"
Similar to the feelings I describe of doing most of my activities by the book and not improvisationally, as I looked back on my trip at this point I also began to feel like a lot of what I did was typical tourist things, or fun things that I could get back home like beaches and night life. So the venture to this market appealed to me for both factors. Besides that paragraph above, I had no imformation on it.
I caught athe 20-minute bus out there early in the morning, and began just walking around the market and seeing what was there. It was all fascinating to witness. The entire town with all its plazas and streets turns into one massive market with specific sections for crafts and arts, fruits and vegetables, live animals, random house crap, shoes, etc. It all has its own zone and there is so much of it. I kept hearing I should check out the animal market, but was having trouble finding it surprisingly. I asked around to many people, got 12 different answers of what direction I should go in, and never found it. But the rest was still very cool, and I bought some gifts to bring home at the craft market. After a few hours of this I had had my fill and returned to Latacunga. You can go back to the previous entry to read about the rest of the day. |
| |
| |
