Today was my day off and waking up to some sun light was a rare treat here in Otavalo. I had heard of a waterfall just outside of town called Peguche Cascadas. I read it was only an hour walk so after breakfast I packed a few things and set off for the waterfalls. On the way I stopped to watch a parade that was happening through the main streets - this week is festival week for Otavalo and there are all kinds of things happening around the city. Lots of people are dressed in traditional dress, playing traditional music and you guessed it doing traditional dance- the music specially is mesmerizing. On the way out of town I found a nice fruit and vegetable market that I wondered through for a while before heading out of the town. The walk was beautiful and as the sun was out was very energizing, I walked through small villages, up and around hills and finally to my destination Peguche. I asked an old lady if I was walking in the right direction for cascada and she nodded so I continued. The pathetic wound up the hill and into this very small village where celebrations were going on for the festival week- music, dance, fire crackers and roast guinea pig were all in plentiful supply. I continued on as I didn't feel overly welcome (quite different here in Ecuador compared to Colombia) and made my way to the start of the waterfalls. I signed the register book then headed up a very beautiful trail to the base of the waterfall - wow quite spectacular, I had heard it wasn't much but wow impressive, quite big and with water spraying 100 meters outwards. The cool thing was there were lots of trails to walk up and around the fall. I went up to a good advantage point where a group of students were - I asked one if she could take my photo but she thought I wanted photo with her, so I ended up with a photo with a completely random Ecuadorian. I decided to follow a different trail back down the valley and was glad I did, seeing caves and a small museum. After the massive walk I needed a massive feed so I had a big cook-up back at the hostel. In the afternoon I visited the handicraft markets in hope of finding a beanie but unfortunately no luck. The hostel is quite busy tonight because of the festival but mainly because of the huge Saturday morning market they have here every week. Another quiet night in preparation for the big street party tomorrow night.