Today I did a day tour to the market towns of Otavalo and Cuicocha. Along the way we crossed the Equator, and stopped to snap some pics. There is a much larger and more famous Equator monument called Mital del Mundo, but it turns out that it's not actually on the equator. They missed it by 200 meters. So this one's good enough for me.
I was so busy haggling and buying stuff in Otavalo, I hardly took any pictures. But here is an example of a colorful Otavalo market stall. We had 90 minutes in Otavalo, and I could have used 3 hours at least. This is the place to come to outfit your whole family for winter weather. Many beautiful sweaters, scarves, hats, mittens, jackets.
Next we stopped at the nice Peguche waterfall. Ecuador is really a beautiful country. In just a couple hours of driving, we passed giant snowcapped mountains, and deep, sharply dropping valleys. We saw farmers working the land all the way up to 14,000ft. Rivers rushing through the valley floors. Indigenous ladies in traditional dress carrying babies in a sling.
Her shirt says, "I am a beauuuuuuuuuuutiful child"
This plant produces a drug known as
Scopolamine. Scopolamine is a dangerous drug that turns humans into near zombies. Criminals blow the powder form of the drub into peoples faces and then can easily convince the person to give them their ATM pin, their car keys, or their apartment keys. According to Wikipedia,
"In recent years the criminal use of scopolamine has become epidemic in Colombia. Approximately one in five emergency room admissions for poisoning in Bogota have been attributed to scopolamine." If you want to be terrified before your next visit to Colombia, click on the link.
Today I did a day tour to the market towns of Otavalo and Cuicocha. Along the way we crossed the Equator, and stopped to snap some pics. There is a much larger and more famous Equator monument called Mital del Mundo, but it turns out that it's not actually on the equator. They missed it by 200 meters. So this one's good enough for me.
I was so busy haggling and buying stuff in Otavalo, I hardly took any pictures. But here is an example of a colorful Otavalo market stall. We had 90 minutes in Otavalo, and I could have used 3 hours at least. This is the place to come to outfit your whole family for winter weather. Many beautiful sweaters, scarves, hats, mittens, jackets.
Next we stopped at the nice Peguche waterfall. Ecuador is really a beautiful country. In just a couple hours of driving, we passed giant snowcapped mountains, and deep, sharply dropping valleys. We saw farmers working the land all the way up to 14,000ft. Rivers rushing through the valley floors. Indigenous ladies in traditional dress carrying babies in a sling.
Her shirt says, "I am a beauuuuuuuuuuutiful child"
This plant produces a drug known as Scopolamine. Scopolamine is a dangerous drug that turns humans into near zombies. Criminals blow the powder form of the drub into peoples faces and then can easily convince the person to give them their ATM pin, their car keys, or their apartment keys. According to Wikipedia, "In recent years the criminal use of scopolamine has become epidemic in Colombia. Approximately one in five emergency room admissions for poisoning in Bogota have been attributed to scopolamine." If you want to be terrified before your next visit to Colombia, click on the link.
