Not having much information other than location and start time, I left Gaiman early in order to get to Madryn in time for a wander around and lunch.

Fortuntately, the 11am bus to Madryn was just pulling out as I arrived in Trelew, and I was able to flag it down and sit at the back during my first look at the paith from the bus. Miles and miles of scrubland and straight road. Strangely fascinating, but also very boring after a little while.

Getting out of the bus at Madryn, it didn�t feel much like a town founded by the Welsh, more Latino and Mediterranean than Trelew or the other parts of the Valley. I wandered around the central shopping streets for about half an hour and found the beach and the tribute to Welsh woman, surrounded by flowers and plaques commemorating Wednesday�s Gwyl y Glaniad festival.

Feeling a little peckish I found a street corner cafe and ordered myself a small pizza and read the Madryn local papers before my pizza Napolitana appeared, with lashings of ham mixed in amongst the cheese. I read the menu again. No ham on the menu. Right, will have to remember to actually specifically say �no meat at all anywhere, got that?�in future when ordering. Once again, I scooped the cheese and ham off and ate the tomato base, paid and made my way to the beach.

Not knowing where the university was, the location of the Eisteddfod, I went to the tourist office and asked, innocently, where the Eisteddfod was. Woman behind desk pulled out her map and dotted the venue. Then dotted the Information Office. Then drew a long line between me and the Eisteddfod. About three kilometers. Nice. I opted for the long walk along the sea front and some bracing air.

I walked for a good three quarters of an hour before realising that what I thought was the university, a seven storey white building, was actually just a shell of a building and the university was further on. Crumbs.

Arriving at the building as people were still getting ready for the first session, I got the chance to wander round the exhibitions before the competitions began. The first session was the youth section, so we were treated to small children being pushed on stage and cooed at as they sang traditional songs and recited poems.

After the first session came to an end, I checked my timetable for the event and for the buses and realised, with horror, that I wouldnt be able to make most of the second session because the last bus back to Gaiman left at 9:40. Damn. And, of course, I had to get back to Trelew to catch that.

During the interval, I wandered round to the Teheulche Monument on the corner and pondered my plight. There was no way round it, I was going to have to leave the Eisteddfod at 6:45 (45 minutes after the second session started) and make sure that I got the 7:30 to Trelew as if the 8:30 was late arriving then I would miss my connection to Gaiman and be stuck.

As it happened, I barely saw any of the second session as it started half an hour later than planned, leaving me to walk out during the introductions. Humph. Hot-footing it across town, I reached the bus station just in time to catch the bus back to Trelew, but as we arrived there I could see the earlier Gaiman bus turning the corner, leaving me with an hour to kill in the city.

It wasn�t too difficult to do, as I bought an ice-cream and walked through the streets at 9ish watching the shops shut around me. Arriving back at the bus station, I bumped into Beca on her way back from Madryn (the later bus arrived on time) and then, eventually, I got the final bus back to the hotel.