Otavalo
Travel Guide South America Ecuador Otavalo
Introduction
Otavalo is a highland village in Ecuador, famous for its textile market and the beautiful traditional clothing worn by local women. It is also home to one of the largest traditional crafts markets in the world every saturday.
Sights and Activities
The market, which operates to a limited extent all week, offering textile products mostly aimed at tourists, but really comes into its own on Saturdays. The Saturday market is actually 4 different markets that slowly melt together. The 4 markets are the crafts market, food market, consumer goods market and animal market. The crafts market is by far the most popular with tourists. You can barter for colourful textiles such as cushion covers, bags and weavings, and there are also all sorts of other souvenirs available, such as jewelry.
The animal market starts around 5:30am every Saturday morning and is a must see. This animal market feels like a step back in time with cows, pigs, goats and lamas everywhere! It is a photographers dream come true.
Events and Festivals
Eat
Drink
Sleep
Budget
| Property | Address | Type | Popularity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostal Chasqui | Piedrahita 141 | Guesthouse | 93 |
| Hostal Doña Esther | Juan Montalvo 444 y Bolivar | Hostel | 94 |
| Jatun Pacha Hostel | Av 31 de Octubre n.19, Panamericana | Hostel | 66 |
| Cabañas Rose Cottage | Mojandita | Hostel | 91 |
| Hostal La Luna | km 4 1/2 via Mojanda | Guesthouse | 97 |
| Chalet Sol - Otavalo | Cascada de Peguche Cantón | Guesthouse | 100 |
| Green House Araque Inn | Calle 24 de junio (comunidad Araque) San Pablo del Lago - Otavalo - Imbabura | Guesthouse | - |
Mid-Range
Upscale
Keep Connected
Internet
Phone
See also International Telephone Calls
The centre of most towns, cities and villages have telephone 'shops', advertised in the street as 'cabinas'. Go in, ask for a free phone booth and call. There is usually a digital display giving the cost (per second) of your call, whether local, national or international. Some mobile phone SIM cards of various networks have problems working in Ecuador - you can purchase a local network SIM (for an unlocked phone) for a few dollars in local mobile phone shops.
Post
Correos del Ecuador is the national postal service of Ecuador. It's fairly reliable to send postcards and letters to other countries, though count on at least 5 days up to weeks for it to arrive. In general, postal services to North America are much faster than to other western countries. Prices start at around $1 (up to 20 grams), but rise steeply after that. You can get stamps at post offices or small shops/kiosks. Post offices generally are open from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday and 8:00am to noon on Saturdays, although there are slight variations throughout the country. If you are going to send heavier post or post which has more value, it might be better to contact private courier companies like DHL, TNT, UPS or FedEx, which are generally about the same price and much faster!
On Travellerspoint
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This is version 14. Last edited at 0:40 on Jan 24, 12 by sleepBot (+2). 1 article links to this page.
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