Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Monument Valley

The Navajo Indians and Monument Valley! The valley is in their reservation, their way of life slllooowwwww, and at times pretty dull. Huge suicide rate, a lot of crime, high unemployment. Shame because they have such an amazing landscape:



One of the most photographed landscapes in America



A monument valley sandwich



And finger



And the monument valley Navajo step keep-fit class.

And here's the picture that sums it all up. It's the place where Tom Hanks (Forest Gump) stops running in the movie. It's the place that is on the front of numerous US guidebooks, the straight road running into the red desert. Lovely.



On it was from there, to Betty and Rusty's. Make as much noise as you like she proclaimed at 10 o clock after her and rusty sang us songs around the camp fire. Legends.



Slept the night in some awesome traditional Navajo mud huts - a lot warmer than camping!



What a place they have, no running water, no toilet other than a portaloo and certainly no showers! But the upside being that it was absolutely in the middle of no where. Got out of the little ranch and on to some sandstone cliffs to watch the sunset. Perfect.

The next day, onto Four Corners and Moab - oh yes, my finger was in 4 states at the same time. Now that's got to make me cool!



Oh one last thing, on the way back from Four Corners, saw this pole that was 4760 feet high. So decided to climb it - all the way to the top. Great views as I held on for my life.

1 comment:

clym08 said...

Beautiful pictures, i've been there. Actually i live there almost my entire life. Keep up the good work!

First stop: Trek America

First stop: Trek America
64 days - 31 states! I start my travels from New York on the Trek America Trailblazer (http://www.trekamerica.co.uk/tours/tl.html). Can't wait!

Second Stop: Hawaii!

Second Stop: Hawaii!
Then 2 weeks in B-E-A-utiful Hawaii!

Third Stop: Kiritimati (Kiribati)

Third Stop: Kiritimati (Kiribati)
Kiritimati receives just one flight a week. The pacific atoll is only 138 square miles in area - but 70% of that is lagoons! It is 2,015 miles from Tarawa, capital of the Republic of Kiribati; 1,335 miles from Honolulu; 4,000 miles from Sydney, Australia, and 3,250 miles from San Francisco. It lies between longitude 157 degrees 10' west and 157 degrees 34' west and latitudes 1 degree 42' north and 2 degrees 3' north. It is 145 miles north of the equator.

Fourth Stop: Fiji

Fourth Stop: Fiji
Then a couple of weeks island hopping around Fiji...