Poncho & Tupo

 Argentina and Chile are Poncho countries. The Indians and later the gauchos used to ride across the Patagonian pampa wrapped in their poncho which doubled as blanket at some make shift shelter during the night.
The gaucho is nearly a figure of the past, but the poncho stayed.

I can testify to the warming capacity of an ample woollen poncho. I did not cross the wind swept plains on horseback but even as a pedestrian ambling in the street of some forlorn  Patagonian town I experienced the fierce wind and was happy to have my poncho tightly wrapped around me.

The dark red one is coarse but quite warm. The soft grey one is the city version from Mandra Diseño in Buenos Aires.





The poncho has no button or zip. You best close it with a tupo, the silver pin known since times gone by. And it serves as a welcome excuse to endulge in ornate silver jewellery which comes in many enticing shapes.




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