Today, I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Otavalo with a few friends. We just went for the day and took a bus early in the morning to make the most of our time. Above is a picture from "Kinti Wasi," which is a natural lookout point with a giant construction of a hummingbird that has an amazing view of the entire city.
It was nice to have our friend Alex, who is from Otavalo, with us there because he showed us around the city, got us the best food in town, and even helped me negotiate to get the best discounts for souvenirs for my family at the market. He helped me get my dad a really cool poncho down from $40 to $25! Here is a picture of me and Alex trying on some of the hand-sewn face masks. After shopping at the market and eating some lunch, Alex drove us to "La Cascada Peguche" (or Waterfall Peguche). It is a 50 ft waterfall that is considered an Indigenous Ceremonial Site, where the Inti Raymi celebration is held, also known as the Sun and Harvest celebration. Finally, we finished off the day by visiting Lago Cuicocha, which is a 2 mile wide crater lake located at the foot of the Cotacachi Volcano. It's name means "Lago del Cuy" or "Guinea Pig Lake". (Btw, cuy is a popular dish in Ecuador that most tourists try at least once!) This lake is absolutely gorgeous, and we got extremely lucky that we were even able to visit it, because we arrived after the doors to enter were already closed. Alex had to convince the security guard to let us in just real quick, telling him that we came all the way from the US and would not get a chance to return. It was super nice of the guard to still let us in, but we had to visit the lake quickly!
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Ashley KoboldMy amazing experience studying abroad in Ecuador. ¡Qué chévere! Archives
December 2019
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