Day 56, 12th October 2011. Moab - Monument Valley, Utah

When we were getting ready this morning, I had to pack a rucksack with anything that I might need overnight because we were staying in a Navajo Hogan in Monument Valley and wouldn't have access to all of our stuff. Of course I completely overpacked and took loads and loads of stuff with me that I didn't need, but I had to have it all 'just in case'.

The drive to Monument Valley was quite a long one but it was very pretty. We stopped a few times to take some photos, including these weird rock formations.

Stopped for lunch at a really nice picnic area with nice scenery and places to walk, so we had about an hour to explore there.

Gary messing around trying to wobble a bridge

Saw a cute lizard

Sua taking the dangerous route

Gary doing some sunbathing

When we started driving again we stopped at this lake/reservoir place and took some more photos.

Shadow photo

To get to Monument Valley we had to drive down a really thin, bumpy, steep twisty road. It was kind of nerve wracking while we were on it because it felt like the van would tip over at any moment. Luckily it was fine.

Our first view of Monument Valley was from above

The views were so beautiful, we spent about an hour up there taking photos and having a look around.

Sua being dangerous again

Gary messing around again

We then drove through the town of 'Mexican Hat'. It is called that because there is a rock that looks like a sombrero. I thought it would be a massive thing but it was actually the size of a regular sombrero so I wasn't that impressed. 

To get into Monument Valley you have to drive down the Forrest Gump road. This was another one of those little things that I was way excited for! Again I was let down... The Trek America website is filled with photos of like evert single group running down this road like Forrest Gump. That is one of my all time favorite films and I was so excited to do this..... Oh.... Mark says we have no time to stop there. Maybe we shouldn't have taken an hour lunch break then.... this is another thing I will never get over. I didn't get to run down Forrest Gump's road.... :(

All I got was a photo from inside the van

When we got to the entrance of Monument Valley, we had to pay $85 for our tour and accommodation for the night. The only way you can actually see Monument Valley is if you are being guided by a Navajo person and we had been given the option to also stay in a traditional Navajo Hogan overnight instead of camping. I wasn't so fussed about it at first, but then Carlos told me it would have bunk beds so I got excited about it.

We met our guide, his name was Jordan, and he first took us to the Hogan so we could leave some of our stuff there. Carlos was so wrong about the bunk beds. It was literally a mud hut with sand/dust on the floor. Camping in a tent would have been much more comfort than this. It looked so tiny from the outside we didn't even think we would all fit inside, but it was bigger once we were in there and we could just about all fit in.

We then started driving around Monument Valley and saw loads of rock formations and scenery. We were in an open top truck thing and it was quite cold and dusty.

We saw pictures that had been carved in the walls hundreds of years ago, and ancient pottery shards too. It was really cool to hear about their culture and see things that had been there for so long.

When it started to get dark, Jordan took us to the place where we would be having dinner and spending the evening. The Navajo people had made us taco's for dinner, and the other tour group were there as well, and a group of Japanese tourists. The Navajo tacos were nicer than regular tacos but I still didn't really like them. There was nothing else to eat so I just had to be hungry. They were really nice people and I didn't want to act like I didn't like it, so I just put as much of it on Gary's plate as I could.

The best part of the evening came next, the entertainment. They started with telling us old Navajo stories around a fire and doing lots of singing and dancing.

There was an interactive part where they had us all do a dance in couples and 'get married' which was embarrassing but fun. Luckily no one got any photos but it was just a really good moment where we all had to do little dances for the group and we were all laughing at each other, but in a nice way. Definitely glad no one got any photographic evidence. 

Then because it had just been my birthday, and it was nearly Carlos's, they sang us a traditional Navajo birthday song and gave us necklaces made from beads that had been bitten open by squirrels. It was such a nice thing to be a part of and something I will never forget. 

The evening ended with them doing some more dances

Me and Kirsty with our tour guide/Navajo dancer, Jordan

Then it was time to go back to the Hogan for bed. Jordan drove us there and luckily Mark had left the van there with all our stuff in. Of course there was no running water so all us girls had to do a 10 minute walk to a toilet, and even though I was so thirsty I couldn't let myself drink anything because I didn't want to risk needing to pee in the night and having to walk all that way. 

It was so cool to just be in the middle of Monument Valley at night. It was so peaceful and it was crazy to think that its the same as it was hundreds and thousands of years ago. The stars were so bright in the sky, it was so cool to be there.

Then there was nothing else to do apart from go to bed. Although I could appreciate the authenticity of staying in the Hogan, I was still not happy about sleeping on the dusty floor. We laid plastic sheets that usually went under the tents on the floor, but it still didn't stop everything getting dirty. Luckily there were a few plastic chairs in the Hogan so we could put stuff on there too. We then discovered that there were mice in there. Some people, especially Steph, were freaking out, but I figured that it meant there could be no spiders because the mice would eat them. This made me feel better because I'd been worrying about spiders. I thought the mice were really cute, of course I didn't really want them running around, but it wasn't that bad.

We all settled down in our sleeping bags, and it was kind of like a sleepover. I'll say at this point we definitely felt closer to this group than we had a few weeks ago. We were all chatting and laughing and then people started telling scary stories. Leah was just in the middle of one when Matt suddenly screamed because there was a mouse running up his sleeping bag. He jumped up and the mouse flew across the hogan ad hit the wall. It was SO funny, I felt a little bad for the mouse, but it ran away so it must have been ok.

The back part of the hogan was made of logs all going into a point in the ceiling, and me and Kirsty were laying right under this bit. As we were falling asleep we could feel sawdust falling on our faces, we turned our torches on and saw there was a colony of mice up there running around, one of them was dangling down and was literally about to fall on our faces. I could totally handle mice running around the floor, but I did not want one to fall on my head while I was sleeping... a) that would hurt, and b) thats gross.

Me, Kirsty and Gary decided to sleep in the van outside. It was 100 times more comfortable and it was fun because none of us were tired we stayed up for hours talking. Me and Gary told Kirsty what we might be doing in Vegas and she was excited and said of course she would come. It was a really fun night just chatting and laughing and we actually slept quite well in the van once we went to sleep.