indian woman tagged posts

Cuenca and surroundings

Cuenca is one of the biggest cities of the southern mountain range of the Ecuador. It has a Spanish architecture and tradition in open markets. On my first day in the city, early in the morning, I could see the commemorations of Pichincha battle day. It was a national holiday. One more time many people in uniform and armed in the central square. The ceremony did not last very long; it was about an hour, there was a band and politicians speech. It is incredible the amount of armed military one can see in Ecuador.

The city market is famous in the region, mainly on Thursdays. The colors of the clothing and from the fruits and vegetables make the place a great rainbow. I spend almost the whole day there, talking to the people and photographing.

I decided to visit Ingapirca, the only Inca ruin preserved in the Ecuador. This place was previously inhabited by Cañari indigenous, the Incas had conquered them and used the place as main point linking Cuzco to the north villages...

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Otavalo Market

About 95 km away from Quito, Otavalo is one of the main open markets in Ecuador. It has been there for hundreds of years, even before the Spanish arrived. It is from the pre-Colombian period, when the indigenous people from the coast came to exchange merchandises with the Andean people. The best day to visit the market is on Saturday, when the biggest merchandises exchange happens. The streets get crowded with people and tents.

Nowadays the market is very popular among the tourists. There is a area of handcraft envisioned towards them. It is really big, I had never seen anything like this. Blocks and blocks full of tents selling bags, sweaters, bracelets, objects in wood, carpets, hats and anything else you could imagine. Everything is very colored and really well done. I wish I could take everything, the problem would be to carry it in the backpack for the next 4 months…
Something that caught my attention in the market was the beauty of the Ecuadorian indigenous women...

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