As we had two days to fill in, we had accepted the travel agent's suggestion to visit the market in Otavalo on Saturday and to go to Cotopaxi on Sunday. On Monday we would fly out on our way to Jamu Lodge in the Amazon. 

We were picked up early and started our drive north along the Panamerican Highway. We stopped along the way at a viewpoint where we used photo facades (for want of a better word) to become typical inhabitants of this part of Ecuador.
   

There were crafts available and a small exhibit of paintings. I took advantage to buy a small one, which was a nice souvenir and also allowed me to get change for a hundred dollar bill. This is not always that easy in Ecuador. In Otavalo itself there was a bank open although it was Saturday. However, you could not change a hundred dollar bill to smaller denominations, although you could deposit it if you had an account. There are some disadvantages to the fact that Ecuador uses US dollars as its currency. Getting change is one of them.

We also visited the San Pablo Lake and enjoyed the views. The Laguna de San Pablo or San Pablo Lake is incredibly beautiful and the surroundings areas are quite fertile and green. 

   

We enjoyed visiting the market. David bought some gifts to take back to Chile from the wide variety of articles available. The market is enormous and has some wonderful craft items. I bought new slippers, as mine had mysteriously disappeared from Rincon de George on Isabela. I cannot imagine anyone taking an old pair of slippers but they had to be replaced. I now had leather ones from Otavalo from a shop on a side street that we went down after a short visit to the local church.
 
We returned to Quito and as was enjoyed our traditional meal of sandwiches from Subway.