El Bolsón - Where the grass is greener and the rivers are bluer

After just two hours drive through the fantastic lake landscape we reach the alternative town of El Bolsón. It has 25,000 inhabitants, but feels much smaller and very calm. On the way to our accommodation, we pass by the hippie market, where you can find everything from bracelets, natural cosmetics, carved flower pots to fresh juices or grass ;-) When checking in, we realize that we actually have a whole bungalow (at least that's what they call it here) for ourselves! That means we can cook without having to thoroughly clean everything we touch every time, it is enough to rinse it only the first time and then we know that it is clean and do not have to examine it again for leftovers from previous cooking companions :) During our first walk through the city, we immediately come across a small peaceful demonstration and are handed a leaflet. There are also posters everywhere of a certain Rafael Nahuel, who was murdered by the state exactly one year ago, but we don't quite understand the reasons. However, when we later do some research, the sad truth shocks us. During an eviction of an area near Bariloche where a group of Mapuche people (an indigenous people of South America) lived, the young Mapuche Rafael was shot and many other people were injured, insulted and displaced by the police special forces. The demonstration on the anniversary of the crime also took place in Bariloche and family members of Rafael were even arrested here! It is truly unbelievable that the oppression and eviction of the native people of this beautiful area still continues and so little is done about it, not even being informed about it. At least we have never heard about it in German news. And yet it is these people who inhabited the land for thousands of years before the Spaniards first set foot on the land in 1516 and wanted to seize everything.
If you would like to read more about the incident Rafael Nahuel, here is a link with German articles: https://www.npla.de/poonal/patagonien-kein-ende-der-repression-in-sicht-mapuche-gemeinschaft-am-mascardi-see-geraeumt/

Over the next 3 days, we will take hikes to various viewpoints above the Río Azul (=blue river, and it is really blue!), the Cabeza del Indio (a rock that looks like a head, formerly an important location of the Mapuche), a hidden waterfall (Cascada Escondida), and climb the (difficult to pronounce) mount Piltriquitron (ok, not to the summit but only to the refuge at 1,500m. But since we started at 300m, the missing 700m to the summit would have been very exhausting...), passing by wood carvings from all over South America. On the third day, we drive to the Lago Puelo National Park and enjoy a peaceful day by the lake with a beautiful viewpoint over the lake and valley. The landscape here is truly incredibly beautiful and there is a microclimate, so that the nature here is very different from that in Bariloche. It seems even greener, warmer, and here you can find the Valdivian rainforest, which is only found in Chile otherwise. We use the fourth day for 'doing nothing' (or rather writing, drawing, noting down expenses, shopping... so not really 'doing nothing') and on the following day, we continue our journey.

We say goodbye extensively to 'Wegwerf', our new favorite dog, who always rolls on his back as soon as we approach because he wants to be scratched on his belly, and we set off. We want to take the bus at 11:30 to El Maitén, but to be on the safe side, we already stand at the bus stop notified to us by the tourist information at 11:05 am. You never know. We ask every bus that passes by, but each one says it is not the right one and another one will come. Well, we wait. After all, a bus in South America can sometimes be late and the timetable (yes, there actually is one!) still shows 11:30 am. When we ask a bus driver again around 12 noon, he says that the timetables have been changed and our bus has been leaving at 11 am for a month already! We can't believe it and march to the tourist information to let off some frustration. They don't know anything about it and of course can't help us and only refer to the bus company. At least we convince them to call the company. But they only get the information that the bus left at 11:30 am at the designated stop according to the timetable. We feel a bit like being on a hidden camera show and walk annoyed to the office of the bus company. The competent young man now tells us that he has informed himself again because of the call from the tourist info and has found out that the timetable has indeed changed and the bus now leaves half an hour earlier! Great. If even an employee of a bus company that only serves about 3 destinations doesn't know that the times for one of these destinations have changed for a month, you have to wonder what his job description exactly looks like. But well, it doesn't help now either. It wouldn't be such a big deal if the next bus didn't leave 6 hours later! (However, also half an hour earlier than indicated in the timetable distributed everywhere). Well, we thank them for the competent advice, go eat pizza and ice cream, and actually arrive in El Maitén at 8 pm of the same day! Now we can relax and look forward to the train ride with the Patagonia Express the next day!