{"id":484,"date":"2011-05-20T03:51:03","date_gmt":"2011-05-20T03:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rawtravelblog.com\/?p=484"},"modified":"2011-05-20T03:51:03","modified_gmt":"2011-05-20T03:51:03","slug":"munching-on-some-guinea-pig-in-otavalo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rawtravelblog.com\/munching-on-some-guinea-pig-in-otavalo\/","title":{"rendered":"Munching on Some Guinea Pig in Otavalo!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we took the 2 hour drive to the small artisan and indigenous village of Otavalo, a popular day trip from travelers from Quito. Karina, a local musician picked us up at the Folklore Hotel<\/a> in Quito. We stopped along the way to shoot some b-roll of the beautiful, mountainous surroundings.<\/p>\n

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Renzo, Karina and Myself on the way to Otavalo. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our first stop was the famous market, which is usually in full swing on Saturdays. Even though we were a day early, most of the vendors were out and selling stuff pretty aggressively and as usual, I bought things I really didn’t have room for in my bag. But this is THE spot to go to stock up on any gifts or souvenirs you care to buy when in Ecuador. If you wait until you get to the airport you will likely pay 4 or 5 times as much for the very same merchandise.<\/p>\n

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The Market in Otavalo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I purchased some typical Ecuadorian pants and a small painting and anything else that caught my fancy and I thought I could stuff into my backpack.<\/p>\n

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Local Otavalo Lady <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We then headed over to Nanda Manach<\/a>i where Jose Luis and his family, which comprise the Andean musical group Los Hermanos Pichamba performed a typical Andean song for us.<\/p>\n

Here is a little video preview of their performance for you to enjoy. Check out the cute little boy (we confirmed, he is indeed a little boy) singing his heart out!<\/p>\n