2/23  The bus was a huge success. Slept like a baby. Our meal was pretty good, a schnitzel like piece of meat, mashed potatoe, salad and canned peaches for dessert.  The bus stopped twice to let people on and off. I never woke up. Breakfast was pretty small: a cup of tea and 2 sweet cakes. At first we got off at the wrong stop, not knowing there were 2 stops in el Bolson, but no problem, we just got right back on after the luggage guy explained (in spanish). I continue to be very surprised that all these people in the tourist industry do not speak ANY english. Just like Javier told us in the email, there was a taxi that took us right to the hostel.  Only $3 for all 4 of us.  On the way G and I kept looking at each other, because the little town was so cute and we thought that is where we were going to be. He just kept on driving and then turned down a dirt road.  BUT...what a great place. Very alpine like.  Pretty amazing at how different the landscape is here. This is a hippie place. We compost, the guys all have long hair, all homemade jams, bread, butter and beer and you can choose to eat with them.  They offer yoga in the backyard. We are so into this. Tonight it is argentinian stew made in plow blades some how. Will tell you more about this when I know what Maacel meant. After he told us all there is to do here, we decided to stay an extra night. It was too early to check in, so we left our stuff by the fireplace and chained them all together. We brought a bike lock with us just for such an occasion. Our choice was a taxi or bus back to town. Guess which one?  Yup, the local bus.  We had to walk about 300m to the bus stop (a little wooden hut). There was a guy there that could have been Chris Bierazynskis twin. Very refreshing, the cooler mountain air.
The #1 bus was a rickety, old thing that makes a loop between this little (somewhat poor) neighborhood and town. Many of the houses look to be one big room with smoke coming from the chimneys.  It is obviously a small town, because the bus driver stopped twice to pick someone up who was not at a bus stop. A guy got on the nus and when he walked by, whew, did he stink of alcohol. I was sitting in the aisle seat, so Terry grabbed the backpack, because he was giving us the creeps. Turned out not to be an isssue, but better safe than sorry.
We got off at the huge outdoor artesian market. Lots of very nice craft work done by the locals. Once again, good thing I am backpaking and don't have any room for stuff. Even though it is cheap, I could spend a lot of money. The things are beautiful. We did stop and T and I each got an empanada for 4 pesos each. That is about $.75. What a deal and they were delicious. One spinach and one mixed meat. We got our groceries. The fruit and vegtables at another fruit/vegtable store and the rest at a market. Should be enough for 3 lunches, snacks for hiking and one dinner.  Totaled $28. Not bad. Since the bus does not run during siesta time, we took a taxi back. The room was ready. We have a little suite. Really, really nice.  Made ourselves a cup of warm soup with a roll. Tasted really good since it is a little damp. The boys are napping and G and I are now going to sit in the comfy chairs and read. Resting up for tomorrow's big 7 hour hike up a mountain.