Despite its modest size, Otavalo is probably the best known city of Ecuador. It lies at 8300ft above sea level in a spring-like valley, situated between the Imbabura volcano and the Cotacachi volcano. The most famous indigenous market is held here. Although the market is bigger on Saturdays, you can visit it any day and find an impressive variety of all kinds of Ecuadorian handicrafts. At dawn, you may see indigenous people arriving at the marketplace from many mountain trails surrounding the city.
I my personal opinion in the way to Otavalo you are going to realize the "real Ecuador", why? Because everything is completely different from what you can find in a big city, the architecture of the houses, the lifestyle, the commercial activities and even the people are different, it is an area where most people are indigenous. The Otavaleños are indigenous people who are well known worldwide, because they preserve and are very proud of their traditions.
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