The bus to Sangolqui takes 30mn and is packed full of Quito city folks going to the big indigenous Sunday market. It also is an opportunity for chatting with locals. Peta now finds herself able to have a conversation in Spanish with the farmer next to her. The woman sitting next to me stresses the importance of seeing the annual “fiesta de los torros”, the big happening in Sangolqui this week end.
The market is huge, crowded, all the streets leading to the covered market are chockfull of indigenous vendors selling, to name a few notables, wild blackberries, bread with fig jam inside, grains of all sorts, strawberries and huge fava beans.
We slowly make our way (it does take several stops for local snacks we can’t escape) to the indoor section of the market, because we know we’ll get a good almuerzo (lunch) there. Peta finds her favorite Ecuadorian treat – Mote, which is a combination of 3 types of corns and several beans, which the vendor gives her for free on a piece of paper. 
I have an altogether different destination. I don’t see it at first, but I smell it. I am heading for the pig section. We are talking whole roasted pigs, complete with pig heads etc. And as for all items that are displayed in “rows” of vendors, i.e. the fruit row, the bean row etc… I find the roasted pig row. Am salivating as I write this. We are talking vendor grabbing a handful of succulent meat and adding a crisp skin bit. I take a seat at the communal tables but first ask for “un poco mas cuero” ( a bit more “leather”, which means skin). Anthony Bourdain, eat your heart out – it doesn’t get more authentic and yummy than this.
Peta isn’t particularly keen to try pork in this graphic a format, but she does taste the mashed potato patties that are fried to a crisp, fat “latke”. This is an appetiser until we get to the fruit section, where we buy our now favorite ecuadoran granadilla. This fruit is packed with big edible juicy seeds and has a hard orange skin.
There is a beautiful church square with surprisingly ornate and well maintained architecture, all framed by the hills around. I am already asking “wonder how much apartments would cost here?…”Despite our blogging focus here in Ecuador, it’s not ALL about food, though obviously coming from gastronomically challenged Nicaragua, we are enjoying tremendously that facet of the trip. But now on to the “fiesta de los Torros”.
Imagine a 3 day temporary stadium, 3 stories high, put together by banding wooden poles with strips of fabric. 
It takes a bold woman to “climb” the makeshift ladders that take us to the first level of makeshift “bleachers”.
Inside, teams of “cowboys” compete to rope in their wild bulls and demonstrate their horsemanship and lasso skills. 
The crowd sits in small “boxes” except for those who want to brave the bulls and descend down in the arena. The horses are large and healthy.
The cowboys wear furry leggings to protect against bulls’ sharp horns.
We splurge and take a taxi back to Quito, making several stops – to a 200 year old hacienda and to a natural reserve deep inside the surrounding mountains for a short hike.
Yummy, yummy the roasted pig…Keep a piece con cuero for me !!!! Not fond of horses and cowboys but it sure is colorful. Great writing.
I’d rather devour a piglet head raw than scarf that Fried Beast. As for blackberries – yum yum! I’ve got poison oak all over my arms and legs from harvesting those tasty fruits. It’s a crime at $5 a box like they do in the supermarkets, really… You should see how abundant this stuff grows wild on the side of the roads in Oregon.
Thanks for the blogupdate Ben and Peter!