Llamas and volcanoes

One evening in Baños while eating dinner in my hostel, Jose, a Quichua artist from Quilatoa, turned up with a collection of his paintings and carvings that he was trying to sell. I liked his work, but didn't want to add to my payload, so asked if we would be able to add to the artwork on the bike, and he agreed.

So I turned up the next morning at his home/workshop/studio and left the bike with him for the day, a little concerned about leaving it in the care of someone I hardly knew. My fears seemed justified when I went to collect it at the agreed time of 6pm and there was no sign of him. After waiting half an hour I went back to the hostel and found him waiting for me - he thought he'd surprise me by delivering it to me in person. I was very relived and also very happy with the work.

I wondered how he and his family survive - it takes him about a day to produce one piece of work, and then he spends the evenings visiting various hotels and hostels trying to sell them to local and foreign tourists. He wan't much of a salesman, just seemed to want his work to sell itself, and hadn't made a sale in over a week when I first met him. He said they were better off than when he'd worked as a farm labourer in his village, though he's concerned about President Correa's planned crackdown on ambulantes (street vendors).