Soy Milanesa in Paradise

If the word "hippie" has you conjurring up images of dreadlocks, Woodstock, Janis Joplin, Jack Kerouac, or Jaime Vickers, here´s introducing one more to add to your pictorial reportriore: El Bolson, Argentina. Cozily nestled near the Chilean border between South Argentina´s Patagonia and Lake Districts, El Bolson makes up for in character what it lacks in gauchos. Liberal and artsy, one guide book keenly declared it "the Berkeley of Argentina." A cherished slice of hippie home-dom, El Bolson quickly sold us on it´s free-lovin´charm and earned itself the title of one of our favorite stops yet (me for its self-proclaimed designation as a "non-nuclear zone¨ and Jason for it´s acceptance of those who choose not to shower or change clothing for extended periods of time.)

Jason, ribbon twirling hippie.

While much of Argentina has caught us by surprise by evidentally increasing prices at least twofold since the 2008 publication of Lonely Planet, you´ll be glad to know that El Bolson is keepin´it real. A true slice of foodie heaven, the artinsal fair/ outdoor market held every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday holds treasures rare to the rest of the country as far as we´ve encountered. Held under the beautiful and diverse mixture of autumned-flavored trees in the town´s central park, the Feria Artesenal (conveniently located just a few blocks from our campsite) rapidly became our home-away-from-home. Featuring handicrafts galore with a fresh, friendly, lively atmosphere filled with smiling Argentinian faces and a splendid mix of conversation (most of which we could not understand), laughter, and live music from instruments we enjoyed tremendously and have never seen before, the fair and town look out onto the snow-capped landscape of the Andes. Gladly abandoning our cheese and tomato sandiwch diet that helped us subsist Patagonia kitchenless, we enjoyed the fair´s finer alternatives: quiches, empanadas, pizza, lemon pie, chocolate strawberry cake, pizza, several types of homemade chocolate, homemade trout and cheese ravioli, fresh berry jam, salad with fresh vegetables (I haven´t seen a head of lettuce less wrinkled than George Burns since I left California two months ago), arrollado de pollo (tender chicken wrapped and rolled and baked with eggs, spices, and veggies with a crisp, fried crust), french fries, fried mashed potatoes with a cheese middle, veggie pie, and (drum roll please!!!!!), 3 varieties of vegetarian milanesas: zucchini, eggplant, and soy! (More traditional versions of the thinly sliced beef or chicken fried, breaded patties, served on a sandwich with lettuce and tomato are found all over Argentina.) No money? No worries! This progressive town even had one vendor that offered a name- your- own -price system for a warm cup of soup. No one vendor costing much more than a one-way ride on San Francisco´s MUNI, this place is trully a frugal, humanitarian, vegetarian backpacker´s Utopia.

View of the park around Feria Artesenal.

We sampled many a beer from local vendors (El Bolson doubles as a star local beer producer in the country, thus earning Jason nickname for it, "El Beerlson.") Several of the varieties were good (although not outstanding...we are a tough crowd to please beer-wise), but I can definitely reccommend a cherry-flavored beer brewed at El Bolson Cervezeria for my brewmaster friends to try out. I expect to taste a good replica from Zach and Raman when I get back to the States.

Jason facing of with one of the angry toll bulls.

Besides eating to our hearts content, we strolled about town, enjoying the good vibes and beautiful scenery. Our hikes in the mountains led us to pass many a river, lake, local farms (our path across a bridge to a waterfall was blocked by three angry bulls), and an over-abundance of wild blackberries bushes (which was a dream-turned-nightmare when I looked down to discover dozens of maggots in a bowl we had been devouring). We met up again with our French friends for a night of BBQ in the firepit at the campground and $5 Hiram Walker vodka and whiskey to celebrate universal health care. (Nothing says HOORAY FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE! like a good hit to your (unemployed) liver.)

Look at this dime bag!

After a week of bliss (minus, perhaps, the Seattle-like cloudy, drizzling weather every other day), we sadly packed up. But memories of cheery cherry beer, soy milanesa goodness, and happy hippies will serve as a light through the meat-filled days ahead.

Meat meter: Not allowed in El Bolson. Had to leave it at the city border.