PowerCycle

12/13 NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No me gusta hippies!!!!

EL BOLSÓN 02944 / pop 22,000
Hippies rejoice – there’s a must-see destination for you in Argentina, and it’s called El Bolson. Within its liberal and artsy borders live alternate-lifestyle folks from all over the country who’ve made their town a ‘non-nuclear zone’ and ‘ecological municipality.’

I wasn’t even 30km from El Bolson when I spotted one walking beside the road. I’m just glad I made it past her without having to give up a sandwich (they never have food).

The ride in town was quick and I was thinking about camping at the fancy CG here but the hippie threat drove me indoors to a place called Posada de Hamelin. Camping would have been great but the risk was too high of waking up the next morning with dreadlocks, a pet dog and a flair for hand crafting my own jewelry.

After a quiet three day break in Bariloche it was back on the road. Tough climb out of the city thanks to some wickedly steep, but thankfully short, hills. I’m loving the scenery now. This is so much more what I expected Patagonia to look like. No signs of any ash anywhere south of the city and the skies have been cloud-free. No shortage of horse flies and those suckers are brutal. Killing them isn’t easy either. I was standing on a downed one for at least a couple minutes and when I lifted my foot up it was still moving.

The road pretty much sucks for riding on which is unfortunate. All kinds of traffic and no shoulder. I had a great idea for the Kinsey Institute yesterday. They should pay a visit to this region and look into why so many bus, semi and pickup truck drivers suffer from under-developed genetalia. It’s obviously quite a problem because so many of them try to compensate for it by passing within a couple feet of me at high speed just to prove to themselves that they are in fact, King of the Road.

Stayed at private CG in El Foyel for 30 pesos. There were signs for it almost every mile which led me to believe it was a fairly developed campground, It’s not. There are two spots with picnic tables in some shade (fortunately). There’s a hot shower and in the restaurant they have beer on tap. It was Berlina and it tasted like a drop of soap fell into it. Ended up with a liter of good old Quilmes Cristal.