The Market in Guamote

Thurday is market day in Guamote and it is the largest market in all of Ecuador. People come from all over the country to buy and sell anything and everything. Items on display included kitchen ware, fabrics, clothes, hats, tools, padlocks, cell phones, chickens, wheat, vegetables, rice, eggs, cows, pigs, sheep and of course many restaurants and food stands. Every street in Guamote was lined with vendors and buyers. The majority of the attendees were the Quechua, where farmers came to sell their goods to retailers, distributors, other farms and restauranteurs.

L and I found ourselves in a large dustbowl where people were selling their sheep and pigs. They were leashed up and you just walked among them and asked the person holding the rope how much the animal cost. Then if you agreed to pay say $25 for a small pig or $50 for a medium sheep, you handed over the cash and they handed you the leash. Sometimes the animals didn’t want to be separated from their family and would squeal as they were dragged away, their legs locked, and the buyer might have to hit their backside with a switch or actually lift up their butt and push them down the street in this way.