The kindness of strangers

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We had a number of experiences while travelling through South America which we feel should be shared. These tales of kindness will, we are sure, restore your faith in the human race as it did for us. Following these experiences we were also able to come to the conclusion that Argentineans are indeed the friendliest people in the world.

The first experience took place on a journey from Pucon (where we climbed the active volcano) to Bariloche. Our bus was departing Pucon early - 6:40am. Lottie felt pretty average when waking up but just figured it was exhaustion and tiredness which would wear off. We forced down breakfast and then things started to go wrong. Intense stomach cramps started and they continued to get worse during the first leg of the journey to Osorno. We knew the situation was bad when Lottie threw up in a plastic bag on the bus (starting to recognise a trend here - this wasn't the first time) ... and we won't mention what else. We were due to change buses in Osorno with our departure only 15 minutes after we arrived. There was no way this was going to be possible so we postponed the journey to the bus departing later in the afternoon. We waited out the time at a small ´Ma and Pa´ cafe across the road from the bus terminal. The family at the cafe took pity on us and offered to let us rest at their house. We worked this out through translations that their daughter kept running back and forth to the internet cafe for. We were very touched by their kindness and it didn´t end there. Their two daughters accommpanied us to their house, organising and paying for the taxi. Natalie, the 15 year old daughter, stayed with us at the house while Lottie slept on the couch and Steve was set up in front of the tv for a couple of hours. As we were making our way back to the bus terminal later that afternoon there was more throwing up on the side of the road. It was clear we needed a new plan of attack so off we went to the hospital where Lottie spent the next couple of hours on a drip and receiving oxygen. The daughter came with us to help with translating and ended up spending at least 4 hours with us at the hospital. We ended up in Osorno for the next couple of nights until Lottie was better to travel again. We did stop in and see the family again before we left Osorno. It was important to us to thank them for everything that they did. Natalie presented us with one more letter, translated using the internet. It turns out that the family is just starting out with the business. It's incredible to us that these people, who are struggling themselves with a business in a part of the world that is not as fortunate as where we come from, went out of their way to make sure that we were ok.

A second experience took place when we were in the town of Bariloche. The day after we arrived was a Sunday which is when some markets and the recommended 'Curranto' take place at nearby Colonia Suiza. The 'Curranto' took longer than we expected which meant that we didn't have as much time for hiking around the Circuito Chico. We had to wait close to one hour for the next bus and figured that we may as well try hitching from the bus stop...if we weren't able to get a ride we could always just catch the bus from where we were, if we did get a ride we might save a bit of time. The second car stopped and offered us a ride. The family was Aida Pawlak together with her husband Tony and two beautiful daughters Constance and Camilla. We were only with them for 15-20 minutes as they drove us to Bahia Lopez where we could start hiking from, but they were extremely friendly. We think that they actually drove a bit out of their way and would have been happy to drive us around and back to Bariloche again but we wanted to see at least a portion of the circuit. It turns out that they are from Buenos Aires and were excited that we will be travelling through that way soon. They gave us their details and the offer for a day out on their boat while we are there. We waved goodbye to them as they drove off and couldn't believe how lucky we were to keep meeting such genuine people.

The third and final experience that we will share is another hitch-hiking story from El Bolson. We did a hike in the area behind our hostel up to Refugio Piltriquitron. To reach the trailhead we had to walk approximately 8Kms up a dirt road which was neither interesting or challenging. We tried to hitch a ride but there weren't many cars passing us so the odds weren't great. After about 3Km a couple stopped and picked us up. Their English was limited, so was our Spanish, but we managed some communication on the short drive. This couple was on a short holiday from Buenos Aires and we discussed the fact that we would be passing through there on our travels. Once we reached the trailhead there was a 45 minute hike up to El Bosque Tallado and it was while we were walking around here looking at the collection of tree wood carvings that they came rushing up to us. They wanted to leave us with their details so that we could look them up while we were in Buenos Aires in case we needed somewhere to stay.

Argentina is truely a beautiful country. We are almost prepared to say that it was our favourite country from all that we visited in South America. It is the people that we came across while we were there that made it such a special place for us. We only hope that we can pass on a similar experience to travellers in Australia one day.

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Comments

[Fern]

I am so glad that you shared your positive experiences with these amazing people, with all of us. it reminds us of the love and kindness people have for each other in this difficult and often cold world. Thank you for sharing