After visiting the Equator at the new Mitad del Mundo monument near Cayambe, I reached the indigenous town of Otavalo, roughly three hours from Quito and checked into La Posada del Quinde, a beautiful hotel at the edge of Otavalo. The map provided by the hotel described two places that sounded very interesting and I set about to check them out – El Lechero and Laguna San Pablo.
The legend of El Lechero
According to a local legend, El Lechero (a tree on top of a hill) and Lake San Pablo are the souls of two lovers from rival families (an excellent plot for Bollywood movies). Unable to get their families to reconcile, they decided to escape to be with each other. Unfortunately the lovers were caught in their attempt and cursed into a tree (Lechero) and a lake (San Pablo). According to another story, El Lechero is a magical tree with healing powers.
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| ↑ El Lechero, a single tree on top of a hill, a lover watching his love laguna San Pablo at the base of the hill. Click to make the pictures larger. | |
Regardless of which story you believe, the trek from Otavalo to El Lechero and onwards to the lake is very beautiful. I met extremely friendly villagers along the path that went over a number of hills and farm lands under the watchful eyes of volcano Imbabura. The route took me about three hours in total. Budget sufficient time for taking pictures at the top of the mountain and sitting on the edge of the lake throwing stones in it.
La Posada del Quinde, house of the hummingbird.
Few days before arriving in Otavalo, I contacted Maggie Reniers, the owner of La Posada del Quinde (previously called Ali Shungu) to arrange accommodation. I stayed here for two nights and absolutely enjoyed it.
Food and Accommodation:
My room was clean and cozy, and it faced a garden that had a large variety of flowers and atleast four species of hummingbirds. Having spent a full day travelling, I was exhausted and fell asleep rightaway, only to wake up to a pleasant sound of chirping birds in the morning.
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| ↑ Cosy room that opens to a beautiful view of the garden. | |
The hotel’s website talks about a “hearty” breakfast that is included with your accommodation. Having stayed at a number of places that oversell their breakfast menu, I am always skeptical when hotels use adjectives like that. I was in for a pleasant surprise; the Pachamama breakfast served at this place was elaborate, fresh and definitely did justice to the word “hearty.” Dinner, accompanied by a band of live Andean musicians, was a creative dish made from organically grown ingredients and was very delicious too. I liked this pleasant break from the relentless carnivore meals I was having for past few days.
↑ Green pepper stuffed with lentils and tomato-cheese dressing, beans, cabbage and potatoes. Tree tomato juice.
Services and Access:
The common area has soft couches, reading material and a fireplace; an ideal place to meet fellow travellers or just curl up with a book and a mug of tea. There is wireless internet everywhere and a computer in the public area. Ask the front desk for a map of Otavalo – it has lot of information about interesting sights in the region. You can also store your luggage for free, and refill your water bottles, little things that go a long way in making one’s trip enjoyable.
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| ↑ Common area | |
The hotel is located at the north-western edge of the town and very close to the Pan American highway. The weekly animal market is only a five minute walk away, and so is the crafts market.
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I’d certainly recommend staying here; the staff is friendly, the atmosphere is relaxed and the location is great. But if you are not staying, atleast stop by to savour some delicious food in cafe Pachamama.
Note: While my stay was provided by the hostel, I was completely free to write about my experiences (good or bad). I would never write about something that I didn’t believe in.
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Hi, I am going to lake of guinea pig near otavalo next week. do you know any accommodations there like in cotacachi?
Hi Andrew. Thanks for visiting my blog and the comment. I’ve emailed you about laguna Cuicocha. Unfortunately I don’t know a place to stay in Cotacachi but you can easily do this as a day-trip from Otavalo.
Hi Priyank, the area looks very gorgeous, thanks for the tour. Is ecuadorean music just like the peruvian music bands that have spread all over the world?
Thanks Celine! To the untrained ear, yes it does sound very remarkably similar. Andean flutes, influence of Spanish guitar and rhythm that is not unfamiliar in Peruvian music. But then, what do I know, I haven’t researched it much.
Hi Priyank, beautiful post and beautiful pictures. I really like the sketch, very unique idea. What have you written below? Is it in Indian? Picture of the food is making me hungry (except the tomato juice part)
Hi Fiona, I like sketching once in a while and this was a nice one to have. I drew it while waiting for a bus near the lake, and wrote the story later. It’s simply telling the tale in Marathi, my mother tongue (its and Indian language although there is no language called “Indian” per se.)
Actually that’s not tomato juice, its tree-tomato juice. A funky fruit that’s somewhere between a passion fruit and a tomato and it grows on trees. Check it out when you go to Ecuador, I fell in love with it!
Wow a sketch!? We would totally do this trek, relive the story. I went to Guatemala last year and they have a similar story of a magical tree – you are supposed to hug the tree and if your hands meet, you will have good luck.
The hotel looks very neat and I am very curious about the food – never hear that combination before. It’s nice tha tbusinesses are understanding the potential of blogging.
Hello C&R,
I had never imagined putting together lentils, peppers and cheese either, but it was so very tasty.
I didn’t hug the tree – it was covered in barbed wire to prevent hugging I guess. In any case, these tress don’t work for me, I am not a big guy
You are right about blogging going mainstream, it’s definitely changing the travel industry as more people are relying on first hand accounts rather than glossy magazines.
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