Browsing the Saturday artesania market in Otavalo

When you're in need of some serious retail therapy, the market town of Otavalo can deliver with flying colours.

Just two hours north of Quito, Otavalo is home to a lively Saturday handicrafts market, jam-packed with stalls attended by locals in traditional indigenous dress. Men wear their hair long and plaited, along with ponchos and calf-length pants. The women adorn themselves with beads, elaborate blouses and shawls. 

This is probably the best place in South America to stock up on presents and souvenirs: browse and bargain at stalls loaded with unique musical instruments, jewellery, tapestries, wood carvings and handmade clothing. 

The town is significantly quieter during the week, when a smaller and more relaxed version of the market is in swing. The lakes, mountains and artisan villages around Otavalo give visitors further reason to linger. 

Otavalo also hosts a number of colourful fiestas throughout the year, including the Los San Juanes indigenous celebrations around the time of the summer solstice (June 21), and the Fiesta del Yamor (held in the first two weeks of September) - a smorgasbord of food, music and bullfighting.