Sunset Saturday XV

I snapped this picture of one of the sunsets during the longest bus journeys I have ever been through, somewhere along the Pacific coast of northern Chile. After the earthquake I did not really want to stay in Santiago but the only way out was by bus. And so I booked the ticket for the 30-hour bus ride from Santiago to Arica. The sunset and the tranquility of the ocean were nice to watch, but I remember that looking at the steady swell for too long made me kind of dizzy. From Arica, it was 'only' another 10-hour bus ride to La Paz and then I did not even want to come close to a bus for a couple of days.

Sunset Saturday IV

I took this picture in Hayama, Japan, during a work trip in 2009. The sky was purple and blue with a misty view towards the coast and the mountains in the distance. It was a quiet evening with a peaceful atmosphere there.
With all these worrying news coming from Japan these days, I hope people there will be able to get some rest soon and recover from this devastating disaster. It's hard to believe what is happening there and my thoughts go out to the people in Japan.

surviving Santiago

the earthquake hit in the early hours of the morning and shook everyone out of bed by its force

luckily, the building was very solid and so no big damage was done but of course everyone was shocked and scared and only slowly realised what had just happened

I am really thankful for getting out of this without a scratch, but my thoughts are with those who were not as lucky as we were...