Not Hippy Enough El Bolson

According to the Bible, I mean Lonely Planet, El Bolson was supposed to be a relief from commercialised Bariloche, but hopefully not the chocolate. The description of a pretty town, with a hippy feel, good local made beer and great walks right from the centre convinced us to stop.

Unfortunately I wouldn't call El Bolson particularly pretty and the people have a whole lot more tree hugging to do before the vibe could really be described as hippy. I mean seriously, the only thing we were offered on the street was empanadas and I think they really meant empanadas and not hash.

But the “El Bolson” brand beer was decent and the “El Bolson” brand raspberry juice heavenly. After lunch we wandered up to Indian Head, which really does look like a toothless hippy.

The view from the escarpment down to the river and the surrounding mountains was lovely and we debated which property we would buy and ride horses on.

The clouds concealing the tops of the peaks were a little worrying but we decided to clamber through the forest instead of going back to town the same way. We wandered past a lovely property where little lambs were playing in the fields before finding a track to the waterfall we'd planned to go to the next day. The path led through shrubs covered in yellow and orange flowers which brightened the dull afternoon.

The next day, the grey skies opened up for the first time during our trip. We'd already checked out of our hostel and the manager didn't seem open to the idea of us hanging around until our bus in the evening, so we were homeless.

It's not often in normal life that you need to waste time, but that's exactly how we spent the wet, cold day in El Bolson. It's amazing how long it can take to eat one piece of cake when the only dry place to sit in town is at the bus stop.