We came for a night, we stayed 74. Fundo Punguiruca

Justina
Jun 23, 2018
2 min read

3.56 in the morning. Just took a hot bath. Next to my right is the fireplace which warms me up and the shoes are drying in front of it. Last pieces of wood are prepared to be burned in the morning. It’s cold. It is colder than we have expected it to be. Our journey path was not meant to go through cold and wintery weather. We did not plan to sit in a small room, look to the fire and drink hot tea. As we did not plan to take care of twenty dogs, help with cows and horses, paint houses, build decks or do electrical work. But that is exactly what we did for the past 74 days. And we loved it. Truly.

The day when our initial plan changed was windy and rainy. We were standing on the road in a small city- Osorno. Yes, we were hitch-hiking, we were full of hopes that somebody quickly will stop for us. Our planned destination WAS Bariloche. Angie stopped for us saying, that as soon as she saw us, she felt like saving us. For the record- she NEVER stops to hitch-hikers. It was first time to stop for her, and it was first time that a lady driver picked us up. At first, she offered us a ride to the next small town about 35 km away, but as soon as we found out that the border is closing in 50 minutes, she offered us to stay in her farm overnight and then the next day she said she could take us to the border. Angie warned us, that there is nothing fancy in the farm. And it looked totally opposite to us.

From the very first step we fell in love with a place. A place, where the owners gave all of their hearts to take care of the farm and animals. The house that was meant for us to stay overnight was way more better than most of the places we have stayed so far while traveling. And people!!! During our stay we got to know only 3 family members- Angie, her son Juan Carlos and her lovely husband Eddie. We cannot count how many serious and funny discussion we have had, how many times we sat next to the fireplace for hours, how we helped each other in different things and so on and on and on. And never got bored. All good words, shared meals, trips, smiles, warmth. Wonderful people. By all means.

After all this time together, we had to make a hard decision and step out of this warm and cosy comfort zone. To leave HOME once again. We call it home, because we felt like that since the very beginning. And with tears in our eyes we have to say:

Goodbye all the cows and bulls.

Goodbye lovely horses.

Goodbye all you fluffy white minions. Little and big marshmallows. We will miss you to the moon and back.

Goodbye Fundo Panguiruca.