El Bolson - Argentina

Next stop was the village of El Bolson, nestled at the bottom of mount Piltriquitrón and a producer of most of the countries hops! New-Mexico Clare recommended we stay at Augustins home on the banks of the Quemquemtreu River. Dotted with pink and blue lupins and sun-yellow flowers, it was a beautiful family place to be. Augustin delivered on his promotional promise of peace and freedom along with brekkie and laundry! The registration involved the low-down on our Chinese starsigns. Yes, El Bolson lived up to it's hippy hype. It was a fun place to hang out with interesting people, visit the ferria for local crafts and produce and of course, hike in the mountains.

Our planned two day mountain hike along the Rio Azul (the bluest glacial river) had to be aborted after a miserable three hour climb up through the forest in terrential rain. Soaked through to our underwear and eating soggie sarnies in gail force wind, we decided no mas and retreated down to Augustins and a cosy log fire.

Luckily the weather perked up for the rest of our stay - we took some time to relax in the sun, had an asado and learnt how to bake Chicago 'Jeff's apples' (equisite apple dumplings!). El Bolson was also in the midst of it's annual Tango Festival, so we walked to the square to listen to sultry Sunday evening Tango and watch the locals sexily Malongo away!

Then we were ready to hike again! We did a day long trek up Cerro Piltriquitrón (2260m), stopping to see sculptures by local artists in Bosque Tallado on our way. Reaching the summit of Piltriquitrón we were treated to breathtaking views of the entire El Bolson valley, the Andes all the way across to Chile, snow capped volcanoes and to Condors circling overhead. It's always worth the hike to feel like you are sat at the top of the world in the Andes!