Two hours out of Quito, on a super drive through the volcanic corridor is a pre-Colombian market town -- Otovalu, which still occurs much as it did even before the Incas invaded from Peru.
Jungle products used to be brought up from the Amazon lowland to be traded for the highland goods.
The beautiful beauty of this market, aside from the many tourist wares, is the living culture where the women wear their traditional costumes (beautiful embroidered blouses, long blue skirts, shawls and folded headcloths), animals continue to be traded and fruits and vegetables persist in being the main goods for sale.
The fabulously named Plaza de Ponchos is the center of the crafts market, and the rest of the stalls radiate out across town from there, taking over all the main downtown streets. I love markets!
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