To start off day three, we had a breakfast of eggs, rolls, strawberry juice, and coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker, but it was much needed after how little sleep I got. The hostel itself has beautiful architecture and greenery. The view from our windows includes the city and the gorgeous mountains behind it. There is also a terrace that is the perfect spot to see the city lights at night and hang out with friends. The first night I got some really cute photos sitting on the railing with the city lights behind me.
After breakfast we all hopped on the bus and drove down to the same restaurant we went to the night before. They were kind enough to let us use their space so we could have a sit-down talk with two Kichwa people about their culture and history. The thing that I learned that was most interesting to me was that both Kichwa men and women keep their hair as long as possible to be closer to nature.
Afterwards we made our way to the market which was just right outside the restaurant. There were so many handmade items like jewelry, trinkets, alpaca items, clothing, leather goods, bags, art, and just so much stuff. We walked around for a couple hours, and I ended up getting a few things for my family and friends. My favorite part was trying to bargain with people because since we weren’t locals a lot of people tried to up charge us. Luckily, I brought my Spanish skills and think I got everything for a fair price. A lot of the sellers were very pushy when trying to get you to buy things. Even if you said no and walked away some would follow you for a few seconds offering to lower the price, trying to get you to buy it. My favorite thing I bought was probably a silver ring with a pearl in the middle that I bargained from $38 to $20.
For lunch we went to Mi Otavalito where I got the llapingachos with pork. Which was basically mashed potatoes that were almost like patties or thick pancakes. It also came with fried eggs. Once we were done eating we had free time to walk around Otavalo. Nora, Leah and I walked around a couple blocks just to check things out but none of us ended up buying anything. We were really tired and needed caffeine so we found a coffee shop called Nukanchik Coffee and I got a matcha frappe, and honestly it was the best matcha I’ve ever had. The shop was so cute and offered lots of drink options, chocolate bars, coffee beans and many other things. The matcha wasn’t grassy tasting at all. It was almost nutty like pistachio, but it was delicious.
After that we headed back to the hostel and had a teensy bit of free time, and then we had the opening ceremony. There was a man playing traditional music with about four different instruments. I don’t know the actual names or a lot about musical instruments but one was similar to a ukelele and another was similar to maybe a recorder or flute. I think the other two were panpipes. While we were listening the hostel served us a drink called Colada Morada. It was thick, hot blackberry juice with pineapple chunks. It’s usually only served on holidays and special occasions so I felt very lucky to have tried it. It was very sweet and I really enjoyed it.
When we were done drinking we all got up and danced. A local tried teaching us how to dance, but unfortunately I don’t have much rhythm. When we were all tired we decided it was time to head to dinner. We went to a place called Flowers which was another rooftop restaurant. Since I had a bigger lunch I just got the pollo al grill which was just grilled chicken. I also tried soursop juice and it was good but I think it’s been my least favorite juice I’ve tried. It was definitely interesting.
Once dinner was over and we headed back to the hostel, most of us decided to hang out on the terrace and watch the city for a little bit before heading to bed.