Every Sunday, Alausi's central plaza and surrounding streets fill with indigenous Kichwa vendors from the surrounding Chimborazo highlands. The market is primarily a local affair — produce, animals, textiles, household goods — rather than a tourist market, which gives it a different character from the craft markets found in larger Ecuadorian cities.
Women from the mountain communities arrive in their distinctive embroidered clothing and flat-topped felt hats. If you are passing through on a Sunday, timing your arrival around the market makes the town considerably more interesting to explore.