When you're in need of some serious retail therapy, the market town of Otavalo can deliver with flying colours.

Just two hours north of Quito, Otavalo is home to a lively Saturday handicrafts market, jam-packed with stalls attended by locals in traditional indigenous dress. Men wear their hair long and plaited, along with ponchos and calf-length pants. The women adorn themselves with beads, elaborate blouses and shawls.