A travel vlog by Nate Buchanan documenting a day trip from Quito to the Otavalo (spelled Odavalo/Odavala in transcript) markets. The hosts arrive at an animal market where locals buy and sell livestock (cows, pigs, chickens, guinea pigs, bunnies, puppies, cats, lambs), watch negotiations, and react to cultural practices (e.g., eating guinea pigs). They then explore the artisan market, sample various street foods (fried plantains with cheese, grilled corn with butter and cheese, menu del dia, coconut, stuffed donuts), and return to Quito, reflecting that the experience was culturally educational and worth the trip.
Chapters
Sa.
Oh, nice. We're all together.
It is Saturday morning in Quito. We woke up bright and early this morning and took a taxi to the bus station and we just paid like $2 and 50 cents a person for a two hour bus ride to Odovala.
We are going to Odavala because it is the largest artisan and crafts market in South America.
There's also like animal market where people like bring their animals and sell them. If we make it there by 12, we should get to see that, which sounds really interesting. It is 8:30, so hopefully make it there by 12 because this bus ride is only supposed to take two hours.
This is.
It's 10:15.
We've made it to Odavalo.
Maybe about an hour and 45 minutes until the animal market closes. So we're gonna come and find a taxi and get see in there.
We just paid $1.50 for like a five minute taxi ride. I think we're at the animal market. I've seen a truck with cows in and a lady holding two chickens and huge pigs right there. Oh my God.
Oh my gosh.
Well, I found the cow section. There are cows tied up next to post and all the locals seem to be negotiating prices on the cows. I think we're getting here towards the end of the market because we've seen a lot of trucks heading out with lots of cows and other animals like pigs in a backup. Yeah.
Poor pig. What is that picture mad about?
I can tell you.
Whoa, look at all the chickens.
Are they alive?
Yeah, they sit there and they break their necks. When you.
Sit here long enough, you'll see them sling one around.
This guy's got a cat in the bag.
This is one of the craziest things I've ever seen. There are pigs, guinea pigs, bunnies, chick roosters, puppies, kitty cats.
There's two really cute puppies.
Did I miss anything? Is that a horse? It's just insane. Oh, there's also little baby lambs. I'm considering vegetarian. I'm really guilty of being small. This is just nuts. There's tons of people here. I don't think we're really their target market. So we're not really that worried about.
People bothering us.
So we saw these ladies walking around with wheelbarrows and these red spiky fruits. I'm pretty sure they're rambutans, like we tried in Asia. I tried to buy. I asked him how much before. He told me 25 cents. And then I gave him 20 cents and he gave me like 10 in this bag.
Big jelly.
So we spotted fried plantains stuffed with cheese, and they look delicious.
On the other hand, not quite as delicious. Quier dos, por favor.
Gracias.
Like fried plantains. Like cheese. Let's give it a shot.
Just doing, like, a small sampling of the whole market.
We're getting laughed at.
She likes it. Yeah.
What do you think?
Bien.
I feel like it's not fresh, if we're being honest. What?
Freaking.
It's not bad.
It's not fried now. Yeah, it's.
I like the sweetness and, like, the. It's like a strong cheese.
And we all love cheese.
So we're leaving the animal market. I'm super glad we came. I'd read on the Internet that it was, like, kind of touristy. Not at all. We literally saw, like, two other tourists here the entire time. We also saw dogs, bunnies, and guinea pigs. I'm pretty sure they don't eat dogs, and I'm pretty sure they don't eat bunnies. But we did lear our tour yesterday that they do eat guinea pigs. That was kind of crazy, seeing them, like, picking them up and holding them up, shaking them out to eat. And then it was just like every other person just was, like, carrying a chicken under their arm. It was a super cool experience. It does make you feel a little bad about eating meat, but at the same time, I think it's good to be educated about where you're from. And now we're going to check out the artisan market. That's, like, the big thing that everybody actually comes to see. Market as far as the eye can see. All right, let's go left.
Next on the snack menu, your coconut.
My first coconut.
Please.
A little bit, yeah.
So I got some potatoes, sausage from a street vendor. Looks fantastic. It's pretty good. It's got some sort of salsa on top. Look too good to pack.
Pass up. How much did you pay?
Well, I paid $1, but the local in front of me paid $0.50 for the same thing.
Jus tax.
Thank you.
So I think I just bought, like, the Ecuadorian version of a donut. It appears to be figs, I assume, that are, like, cooked in some kind of honey and a piece of cheese in between. Bre.
I'm calling a stuffed donut.
Comes in a bag.
He can tell us.
Yeah.
No clue what that is.
Appears to be some kind of cheese. I'm just gonna drench it in the hot sauce, which is. Gracias.
Gracias. So I know one thing that's in two things that's in this bag mote, which is like a big piece of corn, basically cheese. And then it looks like some beans and some other things. I don't know what they are. They drenched it in hot sauce. That looks delicious for 50 cent. Hot sauce is so good.
Great lunch.
Butter.
And then just roll it.
My kind of cor.
Nice.
Gracias. So Kara and I found these corn. I can't remember what it's called, but she just covered it in butter after they grilled it and then put it with cheese on top. So I'm gonna try it, and it looks delicious.
So yum. So since we haven't eaten enough today, we have stopped in a local restaurant and we're getting another menu del dia. Looks like fried chicken with rice salad. Potato beetro.
Looks good. And we have salsa.
That was my favorite lunch yet. And now we are heading back to the bus station. I think we've had our field market. We've covered a lot of ground. Pretty proud of us. Any final thoughts? Final thoughts on the market?
We are back on the bus. We are heading back to Quito. It's probably gonna take, like, three hours to get back to our apartment. And after that, we're just gonna hang out the rest of the night. So we're ending the vlog here. Good day.
A lot of fun.
Worth the trek out to Odovalo.
Definitely a good cultural experience as well. Gotta feel the local Ecuadorian culture.
I'm also not giving. Julian.
Yeah, I opened yours. You just push with your fingers.
All right.
It is a massive coconut. It's huge.
I didn't know there was this much.
This is gonna be so romantic. Both of you. Maybe it could be the COVID photo.
I'll drink his portion.
All right.
Just act like you're drinking. It'll be a fun.
Only 107 videos. They're trouncing y'.
All. So this is happening right now.
Oh, it's, like, bubbling off my face. My eyes are meant to be. Bubble time. Uh. Oh, my mouth is. I know. Mine is you. My mustache.
Next 20 minutes, I'm gonna look like queens.
Beautiful. It's bubbling off of you now. Can you feel it? Oh, no, yours. It's, like, coming off.
Yes.
It, like, makes the bubble bath. Well, I knew it was on my finger, but it is like.
