Open Air Markets
The produce market and open air markets
is an integral part of Cuenca. While you might not find
much to buy at the market other than exotic-looking
vegetables, you'll be right in the center of a special
weekly social occasion that holds the community together
with a fiesta-like atmosphere of buying, selling, and
visiting.
Panama Hats
If you're seeking high-quality souvenirs, you'll want
to inspect the Panama hats, leather jackets,
embroideries, gold jewelry, and ceramics. In fact, you'll
find a hat factory and shops that sell
only Panama hats, which are not made in Panama at all.
These hats were first made in Ecuador by poverty-stricken
Cuenca residents of the 1830s, trying to make a living.
Get yourself a Panama hat and save a dying art!
Otavalo Market
Are local craft and product markets high on your travel
expectations? Otavalo, a small city and a bus ride of
just over two hours from Quito, is the place for you.
Otavalo is by far the most famous indigenous market in
Ecuador. Villagers from surrounding areas have been bringing
their wares down from the hills to the Otavalo
market for hundreds of years, spending a day filled
with bartering, exchanging, selling, and socializing.
Today, the market draws huge crowds of locals and visitors
every Saturday. Musical instruments, dolls, jewelry, produce,
crafts of all sorts -- you'll find it at the market.
Otavalo is especially known for weavings and the people
have been accomplished weavers for centuries. You'll discover
an array of tapestries and clothes at the market and an
almost unbelievable array of colors. A large portion of
the market is devoted to tourists, and people flood the
streets, making for a circus atmosphere. At a quieter
time, you can visit the workshops of the hard-working
weavers, working on backstrap and Spanish treadle looms,
along with other artisans at work making hats, weaving
straw mats, and knitting sweaters.
