Day 2 – Chocolate tours at yumbo in the Quito market square, tasted raw cacao beans with the flesh still on, tried many different flavors and bought 3 bars and a sample kit, another tour at bios later that night after being in the bus for 30 mins, presentation and chocolate tasting for quite a while, later went into their factory and toured it, got a strawberry cup and filled it with pistachio paste and a lot of milk chocolate from a chocolate sink. Bought 6 bars since it was incredibly cheap being at the factory.

Spent the last day in Quito doing the Yumbos chocolate tour, then had some free time to find lunch, went to a nice place with a small group from the main one, it was a nice little courtyard you had to walk through a couple of stores to get to, 3 stories with a restaurant on top. Got a picture with an Ecuadorian soldier outside the embassy too.

After lunch in Quito, we got on the bus, left the hotel, and headed for the Bios factory. After Bios, we started the 2-hour drive to Otovalo, which was quite a sickening ride towards the end.

Day 3 – We had breakfast at 8:30am, a lot nicer than 8 but still early, we started with a presentation from two Otovalo natives who gave us an insight into the lifestyles and also the economic market of this city. After we were let loose to explore the famous marketplace, which was a lot less busy than we thought it was going to be, but it was nice that way, since you could think more about the crazy Spanish bargaining we’ve been told so much about. I wouldn’t say I was great, but also not terrible at negotiating. My Spanish isn’t great, so I just kept saying low numbers that I thought would be reasonable. I managed to get a bracelet for my mom for 25 instead of 35, which I was quite happy with since he seemed quite stubborn.