Ecuador, what can´t you do?

Faithful to my New Years resolution, welcome to my ever more frequent bogging update.

In the words of Sash, ECUADOR!  What a place, its rough and ready and brimming with fun places to go and some of the world`s friendliest people.

We arrived into Otavalo, Ecuador after a 36hour bus from Bogota. (There was a landslide, the bus got delayed).  We were definately dirty and tired and stiff, but Otavalo`s charm won us over pretty quickly. Otavalo is famous for its market which is supposedly the best in South America. I haven´t been to all the markets in South America yet, but so far, its definately beat any in Central America and was fantastic fun!

We had one full day of market training, where I had to learn how to bargin. Now, Ian is a pretty big barginer, there`s few who beat Ian to a good deal. So I had a very good teacher. That said, from hwat I can tell, the secret to bargining is to show no interest whatsoever in anything in the market. This is easier said than done, particularly for me! (I`ve been known to get overexcited in the past.)

The market has everything from Woolen jumpers, socks and hats, to Cushion covers and jewerly. The colours of the wall hangings and rugs nearly make your eyes water they´re so vivid. The choice of hats is mind boggling, from leather and cow hide cowboy, to hardened wool