Gaiman, a little slice of Welsh in Patagonia

My bus to Bariloche didn’t leave until 8pm Friday night so I thought I’d take some time to visit Gaiman a town built by Welsh settlers and famous for serving Welsh Tea in several tea rooms. Some people here even still speak Welsh.

I jumped on the bus for Trelew (leaving Puerto Madryn every hour), about an hours journey, and then caught a bus to Gaiman (leaving every half hour) another 45mins and was dropped off in the main square. I picked a direction to walk in and happily ended up at the tourist information office.

The gentlemen inside apologised for not speaking more English, people here I think are the most friendly I’ve ever met, and showed me a few places to visit. Sadly I didn’t have time to visit any of the museums but Gaiman is a beautifully tranquil town I wish I could have spent the night in. Most things opened in the afternoon and I had to leave by three to get back. I started by heading up to the viewing point.

And then along a disused rail tunnel which also explains some history in Spanish. It was pretty dark in there.

Crossed the rope bridge

I visited the Church

And took a little tour of the town

I had a tour of the tea shops and as I was leaving one opened so I popped in.

and had a huge array of cakes to myself for 330 pesos. I also drank 4 cups of tea, which is a lot by my standards. It was really good and flavoured more like Earl Grey which is more up my street.

I had to run to catch the bus but it would have been nice to stay all afternoon. I think that is the closest thing I will get to anything British for a long time.

Next stop. Bariloche.