#235. 4/12/04 Otavalo

Jenn was sick yesterday with a bout of "tourista", so I bought her some rehydration salts and a large and completely useless green platano, which can't be eaten for 8 days. Apparently.

This week is Quito's independence celebration week, so there are mucho fiestas about. Last night I went to my one and only, and left laughibly early, completely letting the Irish stereotype down. I consumed much Mexican food and was in bed for 9. What can I say.

Today was an obligatory trip to Otavalo, dubbed "Latin America's most important indigenous craft market, and obligatory because I needed a new shirt. I can't vouch for its importance, but its size certainly impressed. It starts in "Poncho Plaza" and fingers out into the adjacent streets, taking up most of the town. We didn't buy much because we'd have to lug it around for the next 2 and a half months, but we did buy a crazy shirt for me and some gifts for our long suffering host family. The quality of the stuff here is really amazing and I'd love to actually live here to buy all my clothes and bedclothes and whatnot here.

After our market perusing, we took a trip to a nearby extinct volcano going by the name of "Cuicocha". Its crater is now a donut shaped lake with abundant birdlife and, on the island, herds of wild guinea pigs. We consumed fresh trout for tea and rode home in the back of an open air pick-up truck.