Otovalo, Ecuador –

We’ve all seen the image.

The roasted, whole pig.

In the center of the banquet table.

With the feast going on all around.

Well, here’s a slight twist on that scene.

There is the roasted, whole pig.

At least it started out whole.

It’s been carved on a bit.

And there’s a lot of activity going on around, just like in the feast scenes.

Only we’re not in a banquet hall.

And the activity going on isn’t a celebration of any sort.

Nope, it‘s the everyday activity of a bustling market place.

Lots of stalls, all around, where people are selling and buying.

And there, in the midst, is the food section.

Where you can buy all sorts of foodstuffs to take home and prepare your own meals.

But there are also a few stalls that are acting as open-air restaurants, where you can buy and eat a meal at the stall.

They’ve even got seating areas.

And what look like several satisfied diners still sitting after finishing their meals.

After all, these shoppers and sellers do have to eat.

Sometime.

We’re visiting the market in Otovalo, which is one of the largest open-air markets in Ecuador, if not the largest.

It seems that just about every person in the country that has anything to sell comes here on Saturdays.

And you can find just about any local craftwork that is available anywhere in the country here.

And by local craftwork, I mean mostly weavings.

See, this part of Ecuador is known for its weavings.

All made from homespun wool.

Well, often made from homespun wool.

But not necessarily from sheep’s wool.

It’s more likely that any wool you find here is alpaca instead.

After all, alpacas are everywhere.

It’s like they’re the sheep of the Andes.

(As well as the donkeys.)

And the wool is warmer and silkier than sheep’s wool, as well as being hypoallergenic.

Woo-hoo!

But back to the market.

So, there are a lot of weavings to be found.

In just about any form you might desire.

Big blankets, clothing, scarves, ponchos, you name it.

Well, it wouldn’t do any good to name it. Everything already has a name. So you’d be swimming upstream if you tried to give it a new one…

But the goods here are not limited to weavings.

It’s just that it seems almost every non-food stall has weavings among their offerings.

But you’ll also find other goods as well.

Being a collector of musical instruments from around the world, I went in search of Charangos.

And I found them.

The stall where I bought mine had several to choose from.

Several with the traditional armadillo shell back.

While it was tempting to get one of those, I chose one with a beautiful wood back instead.

And the woman who ran the stall insisted on selling me a soft case to carry it in, complete with a strap to put over my shoulder, keeping my hands free to carry other stuff.

And she also threw in a booklet (for free) of instructions on how to play it.

Of course, the booklet is all in Spanish…

And she also had other instruments to choose from.

There were several Sikus (Andean panflutes) and Quenas (Andean flutes) along with various drums.

Her stall was a fully-stocked Ecuadorian music store…

Ironically, it was just after this transaction that we ran into a one-man-band walking along the sidewalk at the edge of the market. He had his makeshift drums strapped to his body that he could strike as he walked, while playing a Siku.

There were also plenty of stalls with non-weaving artistry for sale.

Wood carvings, paintings, ceramics, pretty much all hand-made.

And then there was the food section.

This seemed to be a section of the market unto itself.

Of course, there were numerous stalls where you could buy the raw ingredients to do your own cooking.

After all, this is a market. What market worth it’s while wouldn’t have raw foodstuffs for sale.

And then there were the stalls that were more like open-air cafes.

These were where you could sit down to eat a meal from whatever they were cooking in the stall.

Of course, the pigs had been pre-roasted.

It’s not like they had the space to set up their own fire pit…

And judging from one pig, these places were doing a lot of business.

However, Dore and I decided that we wouldn’t be two of their customers.

While Dore might be willing to eat freshly cooked and butchered meat, she gets the willies at the thought of the animal staring back at her as she does it.

Even though it’s already dead.

Me? I’m usually able to ignore the cold, icy stare from those dead eyes…

But we chose to find an actual restaurant on the edge of the market square. One where we could sit inside while we ate.

And where our food wouldn’t stare back at us.

After refueling, we made our way back into the chaos of the market, traversing some of the interior aisles, crowded with shoppers.

It was one of those situations where I’m sure Dore had to focus on the goods for sale in order to ignore her claustrophobia.

And luckily, there were plenty of goods to focus on.

Bright, colorful goods.

Everywhere we looked.

Too bad neither of us likes to shop…

For more photos of the Otovalo market, click here.