On the way, we stopped at a gas station/rest stop for bizcochos y queso, an Ecuadorian snack. Bizcochos are biscuit-like cookies that you eat with cheese that is like fresh string cheese.
Here's the guys making the bizcochos.
Following the rest stop and snack, we headed towards the Laguna de Cuicocha which is past Otavalo and through the town of Cotacachi. Laguna de Cuicocha is a volcanic lake. In year's past, we've gone and taken a boat ride to the center of the lake, where the boat stops and the guide points out the volcanic gases that bubble to the surface.
As we entered Cotacachi, we happened upon a group of men marching through the streets with distinctive hats, fur chaps, and whips. We tried to by-pass the group, but every street we turned down, there was another group. The streets are narrow and some were blocked off, so transversing this area in the large bus was challenging for Osvaldo. There was a large police presence. They were there to protect the celebrants and divert traffic as needed. We finally decided to skip the Laguna and go on to Otavalo.
Here is a description of the festival from Wikipedia:
“An annual fiesta of San Juan, San Pedro, y San Pablo (also known as Inti Raymi, or the "Sun Festival" in Kichwa) in late June is celebrated in the city, with many different ceremonies and the main event, known as "taking of the plaza", during which the groups of dancers from different communities circle the biggest town square, site of the Municipality and the town Cathedral, several times. Children, men and women have different days assigned to perform the dance. Men's day sometimes degenerates into altercations between various indigenous communities in the area, and is often seen as once a year opportunity for "settling scores", while women's occasional fights are playful and not intended to harm. The indigenous communities, mestizo majority population and the group of expats co-exist uneventfully throughout the rest of the year. The ritual is a temporary enactment of social upheaval via the symbolic storming of the city, remembering ancient rivalries - so ancient, that in fact nobody can tell how exactly did they start.
Distinctive black leather hats for the fiesta are worn by some male participants during the ceremonies and the parade. The San Juan hats have greatly exaggerated, stiff and circular flat brims that extend over the shoulders and crowns that are high, square, and pointed, bearing many types of symbols. Perhaps intentionally, the design also serves to protect wearers from the rocks. Sometimes intervention by police is required if the participants become too rowdy. In the last years the safety of the participants and onlookers greatly improved, due to the careful scheduling and monitoring of the arrival of dancers from different communities to town.”
At Otavalo, a lady Marlena who is a friend of the CMT met us at the bus. She and her family sell products at a discount to the groups from the CMT. We followed her to her area and made our purchases. She even offered to take all of our stuff back to the bus for us!
Here is Maria buying Tom's panama hat - a must each year. For reflection, we did "show and tell" where the kids showed us and each other all that they had bought and who they made the purchases for. It was fun!
On the bus during our return trip, Maria (below) and Marta (not pictured) caught a ride with us and did a brief presentation about their culture and dress. They are women from Otavalo and have a distinct style of dress which includes shoes with soles made of agave and tops made of cotton. They wear brown or dark blue shirts, belts and embroidered blouses. They also wear a rectangular piece of fabric over their shoulders (not pictured) - if they wear the fabric over both shoulders it means they are married, over one shoulder they are single. The fabric can also be folded into a hat and worn on top of their heads. Here she is singing in Kichwa.
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