This is Part 2 in our 3-part series from a day trip we took from Cuenca Ecuador we took with Flavio from Polylepis Tours to Biblián, Cañar and Ingapirca. This stop was at the Cañar Ecuador Indigenous Market. It was a Sunday so the market was full of indigenous people.

Other Videos on this Day Trip from Cuenca:

Part 1: La Virgen del Rocío | The Church Built Into a Mountain in Biblián Ecuador
Part 3: Ingapirca Inca Ruins Ecuador + La Cara del Inca

Cañar Ecuador Day Trip from Cuenca

After leaving Biblián Ecuador, our second stop was Cañar, Ecuador on our way to Ingapirca.

Drive from Biblián to Cañar

Cañar Ecuador Indigenous Market

Cañar is the ancestral home of the indigenous Cañari people who have lived in this region of Ecuador for nearly 1500 years. Every Sunday, people come from miles around to the indigenous market in the center of Cañar.

Mercado de Cañar

You can find all sorts of things at the Cañar Ecuador Indigenous Market, such as jewelry, rope, clothes, fresh fruits and veggies, beans, seeds, masks, toys, etc. The masks shown below and in the video were for the New Year’s Eve celebration. People wear these masks to act out a scene and then often burn the masks along with their monigotes.

Monigote Masks

You can learn more about this in our New Year videos: Preparing for New Years in Cuenca and New Year’s Eve Apocalypse in Cuenca Ecuador.

We thought the tire planters were really cool. They take old tires and turn them into planters or water bowls. They come in all different sizes, from small to very large. On our drive through the countryside from Ingapirca back to Cuenca we saw lots of these in people’s yards.

Our next stop is Ingapirca to visit the Cañari and Inca ruins. We’ll show you that interesting experience in our next video.

Hopefully you enjoyed our video, and if you did, please LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE it, and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. ¡Muchas Gracias!

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Video Transcript

>> JP: Hi veggie lovers. I’m JP with Amelia And JP
and this is Amelia.

And there was Daisy sneezing over there.
>> Amelia: Yes. [laughing]

>> JP: This is part two in our three-part series to
Biblián, Cañar and Ingapirca.

>> A: Correct.

>> JP: And in this video we will show you Cañar
and the indigenous marketplace there.

>> A: We will. It was quite a change,
like I said in our previous video,

to go from Biblián, which was pretty tranquilo
to the indigenous market which they hold every Sunday

and it was packed with people and
it was massive! It was..

>> JP: It was a lot of people.
>> A: The whole downtown area was filled with

everything you can imagine.
>> JP: Lots of indigenous people.

It was really neat to see their dress.
>> A: Yes. Yeah.

>> JP: So alright. So please remember to
subscribe to our YouTube channel.

We post videos every Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time

so if you subscribe and hit that little
notification bell down below

then you’ll get notified when we post our
videos and you can hang out with us

for an hour or so and ask any questions you
might have about either the video or

just life living in Ecuador or veganism
or anything you want.

>> A: Yes.
>> JP: Alright, so we’ll see you after this video is over.

>> A: See you soon.

[Upbeat Music]

>> A: We are in the city of Cañar.
We’re walking through the Sunday indigenous market.

So they have their mercado every day
like every other city

but on Sundays they come out in full force so you can
get everything from wholesale grains, beans..

We’ve got fruits and vegetables behind us.
Clothing. They’ve got the masks for

New Year’s Eve celebrations. Some toys,
jewelry, a little bit of everything.

We’ve also observed several vendors
selling what appears to be, I don’t know,

>> JP: Snake oil.
>> Amelia: Snake oil.

Some sort of concoction that’s supposed to
cure all your ailments

and they charge a pretty penny for it.
We did see some really cool reuse of tires.

So they’ve taken the tires and made them into
planters or baskets or whatever,

which I thought was quite fascinating
and a fantastic idea.

And apparently they’re very popular for
using in your outdoor gardens

and even use the large tires to plant trees.

We’re gonna continue to tour the markets
and this city of Cañar before we

head over to Ingapirca.

>> Flavio: But you can see that the womans,
for example, look at the womans..

The little bows.. on the hat..
this is a representation for example,

the womans have bows to back are married.
They put in front, are singles.

>> A: Ah. I didn’t know that.

>> F: You find in the market all kind
of different product.

You know “trueque”? Trueque is like interchange.
They change the products.

I have a sheep.. He change with you…
>> A: Oh. Like bartering.

>> F: We call it trueque in Spanish, trueque.

Wheat, barley, faba beans, different kinda beans.
Corns. Different kind of corns.

>> A: I see that.

[Speaking Spanish]

>> F: This will be you first celebration of
the New Year?

>> A: We were here last year, but
JP was sick so we missed it.

>> F: Ok.
>> A: So this year we’ll be heading out and

observe the burning of the monigotes (effigies), fireworks.
>> F: [Laughing]

>> F: The corruptions, bad people
representing this kind of mask a lot of people.

The mayor’s, presidents..
>> A: Evil clowns. [laughing]

>> F: Yeah. Clowns or sport people
and this is one of the most traditional

representation of the end of the year.

>> A: Oh. Okay. Wow that’s really cool.
Who knew it was a cousin to the potato.

It’s a very small pear from here, from Cañar.
A type of pear.

What is that reddish plant there?
>> F: The red one, the name is ataco.

Is a traditional plant. The local people use it
to make a traditional beverage

called horchata, for example, and we use it, ataco
and another kind of plants, flowers..

This is named Agua de Frescos.
>> A: Oh. I see.

>> F: [Inaudible] and all these kind of plants.
>> A: T hat’s really really pretty just on its own.

>> F: Yeah. It’s pretty and its really healthy.
>> A: I would have never guessed you made tea

out of all that. So how do you do that?
>> F: You need to boil it.

>> A: So.. do you just.. put the whole thing
in a giant pot?

>> F: Nah. It’s possible.. with a big family..
>> A: Yeah. Oh, I see. Okay.

>> F: But only for you, only piece of the plant.
Boil it and make a tea with sugar or without sugar.

You decide. It is so good.
>> A: Wow.

>> F: Agua de Frescos.
>> A: Agua de Frescos.
>> F: Or Horchata.

[Acoustic Guitar Music]

>> JP: Hopefully you enjoyed our trip to Cañar
and the indigenous marketplace

on our way to Ingapirca.
>> A: We enjoyed it.

It was a lot of interesting people watching.
A lot of interesting things to see

meaning there was a big variety.
I was surprised how many nylon ropes I saw.

>> JP: Yeah. There were a lot of ropes.
>> A: Lot of rope for sale in the indigenous market.

>> JP: And those rubber tire things were cool.
>> A: Yeah, those were cool.

It was also interesting, there was a couple
booths set up with people selling like

lotions and potions and potions.
>> JP: Magic potions.

>> A: Yes, as JP called them snake oil salesman and
Flavio was telling us that sometimes the

police will crack down on them because
they’re making these claims

of all these great health benefits and
blah blah blah and charging like 20 bucks for

a little bottle, which is really expensive,
and I guess sometimes people

will go and complain to the police and
then they chase em out.

>> JP: Yeah, they chase them out of there.
>> A: We didn’t see anything that exciting.

It was pretty.. yeah it was I guess what I
assumed to be a normal day,

normal Sunday at the market.
>> JP: It was really neat to see

all the indigenous people and their
and their indigenous wardrobes.

>> A: Yes. I feel very tall
when I’m around them.

>> JP: Yes. [Laughing] Some of those women
especially.. they can’t be more than 4 feet tall.

>> A: No.. they’re pretty small.
>> JP: Yeah, Amelia is a head taller.

That’s a lot. That says a lot.
>> A: I know. Crazy. [Laughing]

Alright, thanks for tuning in.
Hope you enjoyed it.

>> JP: And please remember to subscribe and
hit that notification bell.

>> A: Yes please do and we will
see you for part 3.

[Blooper Beep]

>> A: We’re in the zone. Let’s do it.
>> JP: We’re in the zone?

>> A: We’re in the zone!
>> JP: Ok.

Remember to look here.
[Laughter]