El Bolsón

After 3 days of sick in bed in my favorite hostel La Bolsa in Bariloche, I arrived in El Bolsón. I heard that this was a hippie town, so I had to stop here for sure. And yes, it is. I would have fit here perfectly if I still had my asymmetric haircut. :)
I saw a demonstration against the pollution of Patagonia´s nature by internation companies, who mine minerals in this area.

I found a cosy hostel called La casa del arbol, very close to the center. People here are very friendly. I sleep in the closet of Narnia (movie), which is the room in a closet for beds without sheets - read economic.

On the first morning I left early to take the bus of 8:30 to go to Cajon del Azul, which is a ravine on the Rio Azul...and this river is really blue. The bus looked like an old yellow American school bus, so funny. The journey took 45 minutes of which most of the part was on paved road...wiggle wiggle...
The bus dropped me at Warton, a place in the middle of a forest.

I started a 3 hours hike, going up and down next to the Rio Azul. I had to cross wooden bridges, very mobile and with many broken planks...as in the Indiana Jones movie! At a certain point I had to climb a ladder at each sides of a big rock hanging over the river (Escaleras). The view during this hike was again amazing, between the grey summits, I could see some gletsjers. Cool.

At the Cajon del Azul, the smallest ravine I ever saw, I crossed again a tricky bridge. There is a refugio close to this place, so I went up to have a hot meal. The refugio was actually a farm with horses, sheep and their own kitchen garden. It was situated in a small vally between two high mountain chains...and this farm was the only trace of human intervention on this valley...BEAUTIFUL!

An old man opened the wooden door and asked me if I wanted the or mate: mate of course!
The refugio was a bit dark, but cosy with sheep on the trunks used as chairs. I ordered half a pizza and enjoyed the break with mate. The pizza was seasoned with herbs of their garden. After my meal I took the same path back. I regret I did not take more days for this area, because from this refugio hikes go futher into the mountains. There are enough refugios on the way to make it a three day trip.

Just before I went up the last uphill to the bus stop, I crossed the final wooden bridge and got surrounded by chickens and turkeys, one turkey was really big and came straight to me. It scared me, so I kind of run away from it. Stupid I know, but this animal was way to cheeky. The animals were from the small bar at the riverside. I stopped there to eat one of my sandwiches and the chickens almost ate out of my hand...here chickens, birds, dogs...they all want your food!

On the second day, I wanted to visit Lago Puelo, but it was raining too hard, so I stayed in town, went to the feria and read my book. The next day, I will be on my way to El Calafate.