The force that pulls you south in Patagonia took hold of us as we headed out of Bariloche, Argentina in our rented VW Gol (that's right, no "f"). We headed for El Bolson, a smaller town (23,000) situated in a spectacular mountain valley. This hip little town was South America's first municipality to become "non-nuclear" back in the early 1980's and while they were at it they declared the town an "ecological municipality." The highlight of visiting El Bolson, alongside the great diversity of people, is it's vibrant weekly artisan market around the town square. We enjoyed purusing the market for fresh organic produce and admired the quality and craftmanship in the many things for sale there. We listened to a soulful Argentine reggae band and a high energy Ska band. Of course we supported a few artisanas with our pesos and got some cool stuff, too. Staying in a cabana a few k's outside of town, and with our own wheels (!) we were able to enjoy some of the wonderful trekking around the valley, visiting the "refugios" where remote living refugio caretakers (think fire lookouts in the Cascades) create a warm, wood stove atmosphere and cook things like pizza and "wok" which they sell alongside hot chocolate and cervezas. We also got in a long awaited by Miles and Lily horseback riding venture which we all enjoyed where we rode the the confluence of two large rivers and had thrilling walks over the rickety suspension bridges. After a few days in El Bolson we just had to get a little further south so we continued on through wild mountain landscape as forest turned to arid steppe. We traveled through Esquel and on to Trevelin (not much beyond these small towns until Punta Arenas, still 1200 kilometers away) where our next home away from home for a few days was a cabana off the dirt road leading to Parque Nacional Los Alerces.
