Craft Market

Vendors hock an astounding array of wares at the crafts market on Plaza de Ponchos each and everyday, but Saturday is the principal market day, when the roads jam with visitors and the food market and household goods stalls overflow into adjacent streets.

Plaza de Ponchos is the nucleus of tourist activity, with its staple of woolen goods - such as tapestries, blankets, ponchos, thick hooded sweaters, scarves, gloves, hats and alpaca goods from other regions - in addition to embroidered blouses, hammocks, carvings, jewelry, original paintings and struggling Guayasamín imitations, knit finger puppets, clay pipes, fake shrunken heads, handbags and woven mats. The mostly female vendors will call you amigo or amiga and chide you, their friend, to buy their goods. In the first hours there's a slight pressure to be vendors' lucky first sale of the day. But the options can be dizzying - numerous yet similar at once. Take your time to browse the tables and check out pricing first. Bargaining is expected, especially with multiple purchases. Don't be shy about asking for a deal but don't be ruthless either. The action peters out midafternoon as groups of men gather in corners to drink and vendors lose interest and begin visiting one another while their toddlers nap under piles of sweaters. Food stalls set up at the northern end proffer vats of chicken or tripe soup roiling on portable stovetops, scraps of whole flop-eared suckling pigs served with mote (maize) kernels, and scoops of chicha (a fermented corn drink) from plastic buckets.