North of Quito, Ecuador is the renowned indigenous market of Otavalo, a place full of traditions and handicrafts. We took a day trip to this beautiful pueblo about 60 miles north of Quito. We hopped on a tour bus that passed through several small towns before arriving at the famous artisan market.

Cayambe: The Home of Bizcochos

North of Quito, we stopped in the small town of Cayambe where we watched how bizcochos are made. People in many Latin American countries eat bizcochos which can take the form of pastries, cakes, biscuits or cookies depending on the country or region. In Colombia bizcocho is a sweet cake, in Uruguay it’s similar to a croissant and in Mexico, it’s a traditional holiday cookie.

In Ecuador and in Cayambe, bizcocho is a very popular buttery biscuit, typically served with the Andean specialty queso de hoja (string cheese) or dulce de leche (sweeten condensed milk). Every restaurant and café in this town serves bizcochos.

The bizcocho ingredients are wheat flour, yeast, sugar, margarine, and salt. That’s it. The dough is kneaded, left to rise for about an hour, and then rolled, formed and cut before baking. The bizcocho is twice baked to make them golden brown and flaky. Two or three are a perfect snack with queso de hoja, dulce de leche and a nice cup of Ecuadorian coffee or café latte.

La Mitad Del Mundo

After our breakfast snack, we headed to the center of the world; the equator and the Quitsato Sundial. What’s a trip to Ecuador without a visit to the equator; (Ecuador translates to “Equator” in English).

At the center of the huge sundial, there is a 30-foot-high cylinder, which acts as a sundial gnomon, (the part of the sundial which casts a shadow). The gnomon casts its shadow on a 150-foot diameter platform serving as a clock.

The platform is a large stone mosaic that indicates the different lines of the solstice and equinox, as well as the hours of the day, which are marked by the projection of the shadow of the gnomon. The Inca people knew about the equator and solstices and planted their crops using this knowledge.

Of course, we had to verify that we were indeed on the equator.

Mount Ciucocha

Continuing our travels northward, we stopped at the town of Cotacachi to explore one of many volcanic craters. The western half of Ecuador is located on the “Ring of Fire.” Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands (which are part of Ecuador) have up to 27 potentially active volcanoes and there are many others which are inactive.

We hiked to the top of Mount Ciucocha to look down on Lake Ciucocha which occupies most of the crater.

Otavalo Market

The town of Otavalo sits at the foot of the Imbabura volcano. The market is in the Plaza de Ponchos Square in the center of town. This market, which makes the town famous, is one of the most important and spectacular markets in all of Latin America. Visitors are attracted to the market to shop and for the cultural significance to the indigenous people. Local people buy and sell many of the same goods (textiles, animals, and food) that their ancestors did during Ecuador’s pre-Colombian history

The market is full of brightly colored, woven crafts and textiles, and the indigenous people of Otavalo wear their traditional clothes on a daily basis. We also saw other crafts such as musical instruments, woodcarvings, and jewelry. In the early mornings, livestock and animals are also traded and sold at the market. Of course, there are plenty of food stalls located throughout the market for the locals, workers, and shoppers.

We were surprised at the size of this market with booths packed into the square and more booths lining the adjoining streets. Even local stores were on the streets peddling their wares. We weaved our way around and between booths for two hours. We enjoyed haggling with the vendors to obtain the best price and we bought some nice jewelry and hand-made wool slippers.

For a special treat, an indigenous woman from Otavalo came onto our tour bus to explain her traditional dress, sell beautiful scarves, and sing songs in her native language of Quichua. We learned that she wears alpaca shoes and that you can tell her marital status by looking at her shawl, or fachalina. A knot tied on the shoulder means she is single, and a knot tied on the heart means she is married. Additionally, her jewelry is always yellow to represent the sun and corn, and her bracelets are always red to ward off bad energy.

We enjoyed our day outside of the modern city of Quito experiencing these small towns in rural Ecuador. We also appreciated the vast mountains and beautiful landscape that surround Quito and the neighboring towns. In Ecuador, we see large numbers of Quichua people who live in the high Andes and who make up the largest indigenous group in the country wearing traditional outfits as they go about their day. We were treated to a day with new tastes and new sights.