Esquel and Trevelin, Chubut - Part 1
4-8 October 2006
(Trevelin Photos)

Many of the Argentinean provinces are named after rivers. The Rio Chubut flows from the Andes, across the relatively unpopulated province to the Atlantic. But, there is something I like about the name Chubut. Just saying it is oddly satisfying. It is pronounced something like “chew-boot”. The word derives from the Tehuelche (the indigenous tribes of Patagonia) “chupat”, meaning transparent. Apparently, chupat was deemed to close to the Spanish verb “chupar” which in Spanish American slang means to booze and so the name was changed to Chubut on the grounds of decency.

Esquel (NB. a “u” following a “q” is not pronounced as it is in English - Esquel is pronounced like “eskel”) is the principal town of western Chubut and sits in the dusty and dry Andean foothills. It is about 150km south of El Bolsón, about a 2 1/2hr bus ride. However, Esquel was not to be my final stop on this leg, the small town of Trevelin, 22km southwest, was. To be honest, I did not find Esquel all that attractive. But, for me, it did have one significant draw, one which brings people from all over the world – “La Trochita”, or more commonly known as “The Old Patagonian Express” thanks to Paul Theroux. So, before continuing on to Trevelin, I walked the two blocks from the modern bus terminal to the primitive and abandoned looking train station. Though, this is exactly how I imagined it to look like after recently reading about Paul Theroux’s great train odyssey. To my surprise the ticket office was open and I made a reservation for Saturday afternoon’s excursion. I will write more about La Trochita later.

I had read about a very nice sounding HI hostel and Trevelin and so it seemed like a good place to base myself for a few days. Despite being only 22km, the bus ride takes at least 40 minutes. Taking this bus at 6pm on a weekday with a large backpack is not ideal, but it can be done (to the slight annoyance to your fellow passengers). I did not have map of Trevelin and therefore I had no idea where to get off. Not long after entering the town we passed a small square where I caught a glimpse of what I thought was the tourist information office. I scrambled off of the bus with my packs before it went on too far to who knew where.

Trevelin is actually a Welsh word meaning town (tre) with a mill (velin). Eh? Welsh? In this most remote part of the world? This story of the Welsh in Patagonia is very interesting, and I will recount some of it a little later on. I thought that I would not find a more relaxed place than El Bolsón. Well, I found one – Trevelin! With only 9,500 inhabitants, this is not a surprise. The focal point of the town is its leafy square where I did in fact find the little tourist office. They furnished me with on of the most useful brochures that I have come across. A nicely laid out “A3” sized sheet folded in half giving four pages with maps, sights and a list of services. For such small place, I was suitably impressed and thought this was worth mentioning.

The streets radiate from the square at 45 degrees. And as it turned out, Casaverde (http://www.casaverdehostel.com.ar/), my hostel, was a few blocks from the square along one of these streets. The Casaverde is very picturesquely located on a small rise over looking the town and does have some great mountain views. The log style house was built by Charlie and Bibiana (Bibi) in the early 1990’s. It was quite unlike any hostel I have stayed in. I felt more like a guest in a private home. Charlie and Bibi made me feel completely at home. The hostel has one six bed dorm room with a decent ensuite bathroom and a coupe of double and triple rooms. The open plan kitchen/dining room/living room is very cosy. Or you can relax in one of the deck chairs on the front lawn. If you are looking for somewhere quite, somewhere to relax for a few days, you could not find a better place.

It takes all of half a day to explore Trevelin and visit its two museums: the Museo Histórico Regional and the Museo Cartref Taid (Welsh for grandfather’s house). Sadly I missed out on the latter, which tells the story of John Daniel Evans, one of the first Welsh colonists to settle in the area. On the same site is the tomb of Evans’ horse, “Malacara”, who apparently saved his life during an ambush by a local indigenous tribe. There are also two Welsh tea houses, which serve the famous cake-laden “Té Gales” (Welsh Tea). And about 25km northwest is the Parque Nacional Los Alerces, which attracts hoards during the summer months. The nearest Chilean border crossing is only 35km to the west.