Stuck in the Atacama desert

It was the noise that woke me up. It sounded like a pop, short and distinctive. The driver of our shuttle bus looked a little worried then not so worried as he looked in the passenger side mirror. There was silence for about 40 seconds and I thought everything was ok. Then another noise started and this one I knew well- it was the sound of a newly flat tire. Great I thought. I have a flight to catch soon. The driver pulls over, gets out and sees the damage. Then he grabs his phone and quickly exits the vehicle. He says something to the lady in the front row, but he says it so softly that barely anyone can hear it. He calls the bus company and I assume they are sending another bus for us.  The driver doesn't make any announcements or say anything to us. This is such a culturally different way of handling things.
 

Flying solo to the Atacama desert

Today I flew alone to Calama and then bused to San Pedro Atacama, the famous desert in Chile. I almost didn't come because I had a wave of fear.  What would happen, traveling alone, what if I get lost? But everything I want is on the other side of fear so I booked the trip. I'm so glad to God that I did. Getting here was a long process and the town seemed much more rugged than I thought it would be, but now I like it. I'm super glad to see something that I've read about in person.  And since I missed visiting the Valle de la Luna in Argentina,  I'm glad to visit it here (by the way Chilean and Argentinian Valle de Lunas are two different valleys and have very different looking scenery).