Hippies EVERYWHERE!
Trip Start
Apr 09, 2006
1
120
148
Trip End
Jun 09, 2007
El Bolsón,
Río Negro,
Argentina
Thursday, March 8, 2007
El Bolsón is only a short two hours from the much larger town of Bariloche, which is a hub of sorts for the Lakes Region of Argentina. I wanted to stop here before heading farther north to relax and recover from the last few days. El Bolsón has a reputation for being quite the hippie town and I thought I might enjoy a few days of acoustic guitar, frizzy hair, organic foods and home-made crafts. The town designated itself a "nuclear-free zone" and an "ecological municipality" in 1984. I guess that's just an advertisement that 420 is readily available.
Fortunately, the town didn't disappoint. As the bus drove closer to town the scenery quickly changed from the flat Patagonian pampas that I suffered through to wonderful, tree-covered mountains. I arrived and checked into a great hostel just outside of town that is very quiet and full of great people. There's always someone playing the guitar or the bamboo flute and I really fell into the relaxed vibe of the place. Admittedly, I could never stand it more than a few days, but it was great for the short time I was there.
The lay of the land reminds me a lot of the Sierra Nevada and I took advantage of a proper, warm, summer day for...you guessed it....some hiking way above the town.
I've put a lot of time in over the past week or so thinking about what my next steps will be. I guess all that time on the bus gave me time to stew about it. It's hard to believe that I've been on the road for eleven months. Sounds crazy even to me. I originally planned to be away for a year but quickly let that little "requirement" slip after my house sold. Still, South and Central America are so big that I can't see everything. I've decided to skip the East completely for now (including Iguazu, Uruguay and Brazil) and head through northern Argentina into Bolivia, Peru and onwards. I'm toying with staying in southern Peru for a few months and studying Spanish, but who knows at this point. I've been mentally preparing myself for a return sometime in the coming months, so don't be surprised when I show up on someone's doorstep as a homeless, unemployed vagabond begging for a couch to sleep on.
Comments
You're WHAT!!!!!
Ok, aparently, I wasn't adament enough. You've sold your house, you have no job, you're completely blowing off your one-year-limit, and you're STILL skiping the most fabulous, largest and hottest (boys, climate, and music all included in that adjective) country in South America. What the F*&K????!!!!!
I'm supposed to be living vicariously through you Rodney - you're not helping me out here. I mean, Argentina, Chile, the South Pole, Peru . . . great, fine, whatever. But Brasil Rodney, Brasil. Really!!! Get ahold of youself man!
beijous!
s
Ok...OKAY!
I admit that I'm not entirely certain what my future path will be....and to show that here's a quick summary of what I've been researching, despite this entry:
After Cuzco & the Inca stuff, I'm thinking of crossing the mountains into the Amazon basin to Pucallpa, the first navigable point of the Amazon. From there it would be approximately 3-4 weeks to travel the length of the Amazon to Belem, Brazil.....by boat.
I'm just throwing it around for now...gotta compare with the potential of Ecuador / Galapagos, etc.
Besides, Argentine men can be pretty hot, although admittedly not as hot as the ones I saw in Rio a few years ago. In any case, I still have Ruud´s ass to keep my thoughts busy.
APPROVED! . . . except . . . .
I highly approve of the 'sailing down the Amazon River' plan. I only sailed from Manaus to Santarem (with a bunch of amazing stops inbetween) and it was fantastic - pink river dolphins (aka encantes), piranahs (sp??), crocodiles and other scary things, beautiful birds, pexie boi (you'll have to ask), and sooooo much more.
I have to warn you though, the Brazilian boys of the north are not nearly as hot as the ones from the south. So, I wont mind if you keep thinking of my boyfriends ass . . . remember $500/thought? I think that's what we agreed on.
oh. p.s. what's with calling your sweater a 'jumper'? are you begging to be some euro-trash wannabe? ;-)
White Trash
Euro-trash wannabe? I'll have you know that Arkansas white trash supercedes and extends well beyond euro-trash in all categories.
How DARE you.