Quito, Otavalo & Cuenca (E)

After arriving in Quito I took a taxi to the hotel where I was supposed to meet Cyrill (a friend from Basel) and his girlfriend Regula. Unfortunately Cyrill had missed his flight from the United States and would not arrive for another two days. Regula & I decided not to wait in Quito but to make good use of these two days and travel to Otavalo for the famous saturday market (one of the biggest markets in all of South America).

A short bus ride brought us to Otavalo where Regula had worked for the last four month as a volunteer. We met some of the other volunteers and had a look around town. On Saturday we set off to explore the huge market which occupies a fair bit of the town centre - vendors sell fruits, vegetables, tourist souvenirs, animals and much more. In the evening we took the bus back to Quito airport where we finally met Cyrill.



We spent the next few days together exploring Quito, cooking in the hostel and planning our next steps. I did not have an exact idea where to go in South America so I needed a while to read into this huge continent and to decide where to start. I finally booked a cheap short flight the Cuenca in the south of Ecuador and said good-bye to Cyrill & Regula who were leaving for the Galapagos Islands the same day.

I decided to start in southern Ecuador and make my way up through the country and into Colombia. Cuenca is Ecuador’s third-largest city and due to the large amount of old colonial buildings a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city and region is also famous for the production of the Panama hat, a traditional brimmed hat that has its origin here and doesn’t have much to do with Panama. I instantly liked the city with its relaxed atmosphere and chose it to be my “home” for the next ten days while I was taking Spanish lessons (four hours a day) to improve my quasi non-existent Spanish. I found an excellent cheap hostel with amazing food and enjoyed my free time at the city’s museums, markets & cafes.

Otavalo Market




Panama Hat Showroom