[aezell]

My mom lived there for years when I was in high school and college. My wife (girlfriend at the time) and I visited my Mom in Antofagasta. We took a bus from Antofagasta to San Pedro de Atacama for a few days. At some point before arriving in San Pedro, we were the last people on the bus. The driver pulled over on the side of the road in the middle of this desert. No other people or cars or anything in sight. He motioned for us to get off the bus. He was increasingly loud and insistent. My wife speaks Spanish but his accent was thick and the bus's engine was loud so she had a hard time understanding him. I was certain we were going to be robbed and potentially murdered. But, he got off first and walked over to a big rock and went around it on a small ledge. I peeked around the edge of this boulder and he was making the universal camera/photo gesture. Ahead of us was the Valle de la Luna [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle_de_la_Luna_(Chile)]. The sun was setting and it was one of the most beautiful sights I've seen in my life. After we arrived at San Pedro, he made sure we got to the hostel and we shared an ice cream in the central plaza with his children.

[helloguillecl]

Thanks for sharing your story. My German wife could not help herself getting emotional about the character of the people there, where she lived for 10 years, while I read her your post.