Otavalo Market

February 3, 2020 SouthAmerica

What we have always liked about South America, is the fact that wherever you go, you can find an old-style market. Even little towns have one, instead of say 7-11s stores, Wal-marts, or Chinese products shops that have invaded South America. Fortunately, we can still find the old style “mercados.”

These old mercados, is where people would gather to offer their goods. In the old days it was a big gathering mainly because there were no other options for buyers or sellers to get together. Although now we have fancy stores, store chains, supermarkets, small shops, etc. It is a particular experience to follow old traditions.

southamericatotheworld.com — Otavalo Market-Ecuador

Near Quito one can find the famous Otavalo Market that has become very popular among tourists and locals. We visited the market on a Saturday, and we were surprised by the size of it. It is a big market, and as we expected this is a place that offers a bit of everything.

We first focused our attention on the textiles, we heard about it being worldwide famous. What we encountered were machined-made products instead of hand-made products. This was a big disappointment.

While looking for hand-made crafts, we were told that some artisans still make some of their products by hand, but we wouldn’t find it here. The reason was the price. A good size handmade textile would be too expensive to sell at this market. They make some only to export to other countries. Seems to me this would have to be a custom-made pre-order textile, and that would depend on finding the right person or persons to do the job. Then figure out how to work out a good deal. This was too much to do on our first visit to the market.

If you have spent some time in Ecuador most likely you would have noticed the typical clothes that women wear. Here in the market they sell the blouses that most indigenous women would wear. But before they were hand embroidered. Again, everything is now machine made. Luckily, the designs on the blouses are still nice, colorful, and the blouses are mainly white color which shows the detailed job.

What I like best though is the necklace these women wear called “Washkas” in Kichwa. Every woman wears one. I was told that this washkas represent their social status. Formerly made of precious stones, silver and even red coral. Very different to what they wear today daily, they like to save their best for special occasions only. No blame in that. If it has value it is safer to keep it at home.

Women also wear what they call “Walcas” or gualcas. These necklaces are made of yellow beads. The necklaces were originally made of glass varnished in gold. Following old traditions, the women will pass this necklace from one generation to the next.

To my understanding there are many names for these necklaces. It all depends of the area in which they are made. I like the Walcas and bought one from this lovely lady wearing their typical clothes.

The designs on some products are still unique to Ecuador. Most of the products for sale as souvenirs have Ecuador written on them. But having visited many other markets in other South American countries, we were let down. Looks as if the only thing that changed was the name of the country. Growing up in Peru, and going to Huancayo’s Sunday fair or market I am used to see certain products with either Huancayo or Peru written on them. It was weird seen these same products with other names written on them.

After a long walk of back and forth many stands, one textile caught our attention, and it was one that had Blue-footed boobies on it. Now that is different and very Ecuadorian. The artisan’s name is Rafael Perugachi, and he told me how he is one of the very few who still makes every product by hand. He showed me a book with pictures of his work. He also mentioned how Don Francisco invited him to his TV show.

The market has a great variety of textiles, clothing pieces especially for women made of different fabrics. Here you can find T-shirt with Ecuador on it, and Galapagos printed on them. Sweaters, pull-overs, scarves, gloves, hats, etc. For the home they have tablecloths, ornaments, blankets, and kitchen stuff.

The market also offers a great variety of food, with many dishes to try for the adventurous kind. Most impressive are the colors of the many spices on display. There was a person burning incense and walking around the market with it, and that is very South American. It brought me back to my childhood.

The market is a nice place to visit. It is full of noise, and different aromas. Some people were in a rush, others seemed more relaxed. As a piece of advice, remember to always be careful going to public places like this market, pickpockets are very common. To avoid a scary situation, bring cash, bring nothing that can bring extra attention to yourself, and it is best to go with other people to monitor each other.

My favorite part of this Otavalo Market were the vendors. Most of them wearing their traditional clothes, and speaking Kichwa or Quechua. This is the first time that I have heard the most of this beautiful language spoken in one place. I only wished I could understand what they were saying. For example, I was observing this old lady only talking to the vendors trying to sell something. When I asked the vendor why the old lady wasn’t offering anything to us the customers. Her reply was because she only speaks kichwa. I didn’t expect that answer, but put us on perspective of how different the experience in this market is. This alone is a very good reason to visit the market.

The market is open every day of the week, but the best day to visit is on Saturdays. You will find more vendors on this day. They also know this famous market as Plaza de los Ponchos, or Mercado Centenario, in the heart of Otavalo city. From Quito it takes about 2 hours to get there. The vendors start setting their stands around 7:00 a.m. by 10:00 a.m. you can expect the market running well. And, by noon it gets crowded, and this is when people should be most careful.