by Allan Taylor

Created on: February 15, 2010

Ecuador is a great country for the tourist to explore.  Being on the equator its climate is variable vertically rather than seasonal.  You can happily visit Ecuador any time of the year choosing between the hot humid tropics of the Pacific sea coast or the comfortable temperate clime of the high Andean plateau.

Quito, the high altitude capital of Ecuador, has much to offer the tourist with its contrast between the historic old town and the new, and its threatening active volcano close by. Quito deserves an article all to it self so I shall not elaborate here. Let’s start with my observations up north in the Indian town of

Otavalo as noted in my diary ......

A tiny Indian woman shuffled at a snail’s pace along the pavement to the next door with a big milk can on her bent back. The householder offered a kitchen saucepan to receive the day’s milk supply. A few coins change hands.

I watched from across the cobblestone street while having breakfast at a restaurant in downtown Otavalo. Here old people work to survive. Women are beasts of burden, often carrying heavy loads on their backs or balanced on their heads. The division of labor among the Indian community puzzled me.

The women are artistic and creative. They spin and weave at home during the week, look after the children and may run a market stall at weekends. The man’s role is not immediately obvious, but it seems he tills the land, harvests the crops and takes them to market, and does laboring jobs and house construction.

Otavalo is an Indian town of 25,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Andean altiplano at 2800 meters altitude and 95 kms north of the capital, Quito. Its Poncho Plaza is said to be the largest and best handicraft market in South America. It has been a trading post for centuries and now they export handicrafts to North America and Europe. Activity is a blend of cottage industry and small textile factories that produce goods for the market stalls and larger shops.

On Saturdays Otavalo comes alive. Stalls cover the main plaza and all streets leading off it. Tourist buses come from Quito and discharge hordes of tall Europeans to mingle with the friendly, black-haired Indians, who are so small they look like little dolls.

The women wear their hair in long plaits, and dress in black skirts, beautifully embroidered blouses and colored shawls set off by lots of imitation gold jewellery. The men are more Westernised, but many wear their hair in long pony tails and wrap

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