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The most Welsh of the cordillera towns, TREVELIN is a small, easy-going settlement which retains more of a pioneering character than Esquel, with several of that time's characteristic low brick buildings. Lying 24km to the south of its larger neighbour, it commands impressive views across the grassy valley to the peaks in the south of Parque Nacional Los Alerces. It was founded by Welsh settlers from the Chubut Valley, following a series of expeditions to this area of the world that began in 1885 with a group led by Colonel Fontana of the Argentine army and John Evans. Its Welsh name means "village of the mill", and the vital flour mill , a stalwart brick structure dating from 1918, now forms the main museum in town, the Museo Regional Molino Andes or El Viejo Molino (daily 11am-8.30pm; $2). The exhibits - mainly items from pioneer days - include a fascinating group photo of the 1902 plebiscite when the whole colony had to vote on whether it wanted to be Chilean or Argentinian: those who want to know more should read Down where the Moon is Small by Richard Llewellyn, which is evocative in its recreation of the pioneering years of the Welsh community here and of its relations with both the indigenous Mapuche and the Argentine authorities at this time. The mill, though interesting, is outshone by the Hogar del Abuelo (Dec-Feb 9.30am-noon & 3-9.30pm; rest of year, knock at door; $2), the house of Clery Evans, granddaughter of the village's founder, John Evans. In the garden is the Tumba del Malacara , the burial place of his faithful steed. On one of the early Welsh explorations, El Malacara leapt heroically down a seemingly impossibly steep scarp, thus saving his master from the same grisly fate as befell his companions - butchered by enraged Mapuche warriors who were bent on reprisals against any whites, in the wake of an atrocity committed against their tribe during the Campaign of the Desert. The house attracts a steady stream of Bruce Chatwin pilgrims, as the story features in his classic travelogue, In Patagonia . Welsh heritage is evoked in the celebration of a minor Eisteddfod (two days in the second week of October), and several casas de te , the best of which is Nain Maggie , at Perito Moreno 179 (tel 02945/480232; 3-10.30pm; $10 for full tea).
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