The tour in Otavalo was well worth the money that we paid to have our guide and transportation. We went with Runa Tupari Native Travel ( www.runatupari.com ). We left early in the morning and visited indigenous families who lived along the outskirts of Otavalo and also visited some beautiful lakes and a waterfall. When I was in Otavalo I bought a DVD for a couple of dollars that was taken June 2005 during the towns sun festival. It is about 45 min. long and has excellent footage of the mountain people and the environment. We stayed at Hotel Indio (the same hotel I stayed at last year). Last year part of the hotel was under construction and this year I was able to see how nice everything turned out. I will put some pictures of the new addition in my photo album. If you ever go to Otavalo I highly recommend this hotel, the family is friendly, the rooms are comfortable, and they also have a resturant down-stairs. The world cup France vs Italy was on TV the day we were on our tour. While we up at Laguna Cuicocha (3064 m.) someone had a car radio on so we could listen. Soccer is deffinitely a big thing here. When we got back from the trip people were crowded on the streets watching from whatever TV they could find. Well gotta run, the SAE club is closing now. Kimmy