The Northern Highlands - Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - page 120

The bus terminal in Otavalo is at Atahualpa and Ordonez, on the
northeastern edge of town. Bus companies fromQuito that go directly
here, rather than dropping you off on the Pan-AmericanHighway, in-
clude Trans Los Lagos, Trans Otavalo and Flota Imbabura. Taxis
and camionetas are available at Parque Central (Moreno and Sucre)
and the Plaza Copacabana (Atahualpa and Montalvo).

A good amount of Otavalo information can be
found at www.otavalo.com and at www.
otavalo-web.com.

WWW

Festivals
If you happen to be around during the first week of Septem-
ber, Otavalo celebrates the harvest, or Yamor Festival ,
with a wonderful array of parades, music and general rev-
elry. All Soul's Day (November 2) is another interesting
time to visit many of the highland villages. On this day, lo-
cals make a pilgrimage to the cemeteries, to visit and honor
deceased relatives and friends. They bring offerings of food
and flowers, and families later gather at home for a tradi-
tional meal that includes guaguas de pan. These bread
dough figurines (think Gingerbread Man) are in the shape
of children ( guagua is the Quichua word for child). They are
washed down with colada morada , a delicious, thick blend
of maize, cloves, orange, blackberries and other ingredi-
ents, served warm. Try it if you have the chance; its deli-
cious! In the town of Calderón, just northeast of Quito, it is
actually traditional to have this family meal among other
festivities at the cemetery.

Ibarra
In Ibarra, the post office is on Salinas betweenMoncayo and Oviedo
and the Andinatel telephone office is near Parque Moncayo at
Sucre 4-56. For banks , try Banco del Pacífico, at Moncayo and
Olmedo, Filanbanco, at Olmedo 11-49, or Banco Continental ,at
Olmedo 11-67. There are one or two others in the downtown area as
well. The Ministry of Tourism office provides useful travel informa-
tion, located upstairs at Olmedo 965 and Moncayo (open Mon-Fri,
closed for lunch). The local hospital at Oviedo 8-24 is always open.
Buses are spread out in Ibarra, as there is no central terminal. They