According to various sources Otavalo market is one of, if not the best market in all of South America. However, unfortunately it did not blow my mind, and I feel I have definitely been to better markets on this trip; and no, it's not just my cynical self - Jacky felt the same. In my opinion the best thing about Otavalo is not the market, but the cock-fighting. It was certainly my highlight anyway!

The market in Otavalo was full of stalls selling baby alpaca blankets, scarves and other assorted woven goods, as well as many expensive jewellery stalls and a really nice instrument stall with charangos for sale. We got chatting with the charango man (Hector) and found out that his band would be playing in a bar that evening, so we made plans to head out there once we had got our cock-fighting fix.

Cocks, cockerels, roosters; whatever you call them... I had never seen them fighting before, so I jumped at the chance to get in and see what all the fuss is about, especially as it was only $1 entrance. When we were in the Galapagos we learned that the reason that the male blue-footed boobies whistled during their mating call is to cool their internally mounted testicles to prime temperature with the air. Well, the exact same happens in cockerels when they "cock-a-doodle-doo", and this thought was at the forefront of my mind as the cockerels all around us in the cages were going crazy and making a right racket!

At first we were the only gringos, but then a few more showed up and left soon after they had taken a few photos. I don't know how long we were in there, but we saw a lot of fights and I was in no hurry to leave - it is really interesting to watch the crowd, the cockerel trainers and the birds themselves. The trainers are responsible for encouraging their birds and ensuring they are cleaned up when things get a little bloody. Some of them even lick the blood off the cockerels and spit it on the floor. One guy even sucked the head of his cockerel and did not spit it out - yuk!

Between a couple of the fights there was a small rest period, and I seized my opportunity to get in the cock ring itself for a photo. At the entrance to the ring this conversation commenced:

Me: Puedo pasar?
Ref: Siga, por favor.
Man in crowd: ¡Falta un gallo!
Me: Tiene razón, necessito un gallo. Quien tiene un gallo… alguien tiene un gallo?
Other man in crowd: Tengo un gallo… aquí tienes, ahora eres gallera!
Me: Chévere, soy gallera :D


Transaltion (note: feel free to replace the word "cockerel" with either "rooster" or "cock" depending on your preference):
Me: Can I come in?
Ref: Please, go ahead
Man in crowd: You're missing a cockerel!
Me: You’re right, I need a cockerel. Who has a cockerel… does anyone have a cockerel?
Other man in crowd: I have a cockerel… here you are, now you’re a cockerel figher!
Me: Cool, I’m a cockerel fighter :D





Shortly afterward Jacky was feeling a little left out, so we went over to one of the guys by the cages and asked:

Me: Disculpe Señor, puedo sacar un foto a mi amiga con su gallo por favor?
Man: Claro, lo saco.

Translation (again, use rooster or cock if you prefer):
Me: Excuse me Sir, please can I take a photo of my friend with your cockerel?
Man: Sure, I’ll get it out.


Once we were all cock-fought out we went for dinner and headed to the bar to watch Hector and his band. I love for panpipe music provided that it is not panpipe versions of non-panpipe songs, so I was quite excited about this. When we arrived he invited us to drink some guayusu with him. Guayusu is an alcoholic drink from Otavalo which is served hot and is sipped from shot glasses. It was rather strong and once it had cooled down a bit, the novelty factor disappeared and it did not taste half as good. The band however were very good and we had a great night despite being pestered a bit by some of the local people that would fit in pretty well in the League of Gentlemen, despite being Andean!

All in all our short sweet trip to Otavalo was an enjoyable one, although sad times came as we found time to watch England get knocked out of the World Cup before heading back to Quito for Jacky´s last couple of days in South America.