el bolson y parque nacional los alerces

The 122km road from Colonia Suiza to El Bolson was just fantastic, I passed two beatiful lakes in the middle of the mountains before descending in the valleys where the paved Ruta 40 was passing by small villages, sided by rivers and forest.
It felt great to be able to see this kind of landscape as I rode about 80km on the first day and stopped at a camping on the roadside to rest, before continuing towards El Bolson the next day.

El Bolson is a small village which sits in a beatiful valley, surrounded by mountains and forests.

Here, in the 70s and 80s thousands of "hippies" from Argentina and the rest of the world came to settle and help creating a fast growing community in which sustainable living practices seem to be the way of life, many of them built their own houses using recycled materials and are growing their vegetables organically in their back gardens.

One of them found me as I was cycling through town and invited me to go and see his "hostel" ( www.lacasadelviajero.com.ar/ ), saying that he thought I was "the right type of person for his home".

Augustin lives in a nice house he and his wife built when they arrived in El Bolson in the beginning of the 80s, it is surrounded by a nice and large garden in which he built three smaller houses to host the "hostel" guests.

When I arrived I met some of the guys who were working there building one of the houses with recycled or natural materials (clay, sand, straw, glass and plastic bottles, pallets....) to pay for the stay and learn these useful skills while travelling around Argentina.

I soon got talking to Evelyne and David, a lovely couple from Canada and Drew, a backpacker from the States and we later enjoyed a nice barbecue together with Fabrice and Pedro, two travellers from France and Spain.

In the next few days, I relaxed and visited the town's artesans fair while staying in this beatiful and quiet place, meeting other guys who were travelling around South America.

With three of them: Steve, Ronan and Adam from Ireland I cycled to the Parque Nacional Lago Puelo, where we ate by the river before relaxing on the beach while admiring the beatiful sight of the lake surrounded by mountains.

We then visited the local microbrewery El Bolson, probably the most popular "Cerveza Artesanal" in Argentina before going back to the house and have a wet but successful barbecue.

GUYS, I REALLY ENJOYED MEETING YOU AND SHARING A FEW DINNERS AND THE CYCLE RIDE....WILL SEE YOU IN IRELAND ONE DAY !!!!

On my last day there we visited the nice waterfall and "Cabeza del'Indio" (a rock which has the shape of a face) and enjoyed the beatiful view from the mountain overlooking the valley where the Rio Azul dominates the landscape with its curvy path.

In the evening we all ate together and shared a few jokes and a chat, it was very nice to meet so many young travellers and from so many different countries (Argentina, France, Ireland, US, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Rescaldina, a town near mine just outside Milan).

The following morning I left to cycle towards my next destination, Parque Nacional Los Alerces, and met three cyclists from Mar del Plata who offered me a nice plate of spaghetti before joining me to ride through the countryside towards Cholila.

This small village just outside the National Park is where the famous "bandidos" Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lived in a ranch they bought to hide away and escape the law, before robbing one more bank and crossing over to Chile.

After a good night sleep in a cheap hotel I cycled to the south entering the Parque, where I camped for one night in a beatiful place on Lago Rivadavia.

The next day I continued on the unpaved road arriving at the free camping on the Rio Arrayanes, where I put up my tent in a spot overlooking the river's green waters, I then visited the Mirador del Lago Verde (Green Lake), a view point on a hill from which I could see the all valley and the beatiful lake.

In the morning I walked on the riverside to arrive at the Paserela, a bridge on the river connecting the main land with an island from which I took a boat to visit the Alerzal Milenario.

After about an hour and a half of navegation on the Lago Menendez, getting a close look to the Glaciar Torrecillas we arrived at the Alerzal, an thick forest in which these amazing trees can be seen.

Alerces are the second oldest species in the world and can live up to about 3000 years, growing only about a centimeter in diameter per year and developing a very characteristical bark.

At the end of the beatiful and well guided walk thorugh the forest, observing the different species of plants and trees and passing by another amazing lake we arrived at the Abuelo (grandfather), the 2600 years old tree which is the "star" of the all excursion (see photo in the italian post).

On the way back to the camping I met Robert, a cyclist from the States and Claudia, a backpacker from Mar del Plata who was travelling around her country for the first time after leaving in Barcelona for a few years.

We walked back together and after Rob left to go to his camping, Claudia and I got together to cook a nice dinner and have a good chat.

In the morning we met up with Rob and went for a hike in the mountains, arriving at the Laguna Escondida after a three hours walk, where we relaxed and had lunch together before Rob and I decided to have a quick dip in the cold water of the Laguna.

There we also met Paolo, a guy from Arezzo who was travelling around Argentina, we all relaxed on the beach as the sun was starting to get warmer and then walked back passing by a wonderful Mirador, from which you could see the glacier, the lakes and the rivers surrounded by the thick forest.

Robert, Claudia and I decided to move towards the south of the Park in the same evening, so that we could have camped and have dinner all together for what was going to be our last night in the amazing Parque Nacional Los Alerces. I cycled about 30km to the South side of Lago Futalaufquen, where I met up with the guys to gather some wood for the fire and set up our tents, before enjoying a lovely evening together as if we have been friends from a long time....this was my last night of camping in Argentina !!!!!