Grand American Tour Day 15: Monument Valley

YeeHaw!!! That’s what my car will say!



Today is a day of putting my car to the test. A Honda Prelude takes on a 14-mile desert off road course. It was the Monument Valley tour. See, you can either hire a tour guide and ride the jeep, or just drive your car onto the beat up road and hope you don’t have to call for help. My Prelude handled it like a piece of cake, over taking those pretenders and off-road wannabies like cross overs and the terrified family sedans.





So how was the valley? Well, it was the valley, big ass plugs that stood there to be seen. Yes it was big and grand, but somehow, it just wasn’t as impressive as how I expected it to be. I don’t know why. May be it’s because along the 14 mile restricted road was peppered by Indian craft stands and house rides. May be it’s the awkward porter potties that stood along with the natural monuments like as if they have equal right and appropriateness to be there. It felt a bit like…. A circus.









At the visitor center was some history of the Navajo Nation. One of the displays basically listed some stats of the Navajo Nation demographics. It basically said something along the line of “we are poor, but we are strong and proud of our culture”. Culture? What I saw was nothing but Indian arts and crafts stands. The only business I have seen so far along the trip, other than the arts and craft stands are hotels and gas stations. Of course, there’s the farming and ranching, but there’s awfully few opportunities given the way they life their lifestyle. Sure, they have the right to retain their traditional lifestyles which is very important. Sure it is not exactly appropriate to judge them using the standard measures of modern society to determine the quality of life ( not everything can be translated into numbers), but it is also a fact that high unemployment, lack of education and resource is a huge problem that pretty much defines the Navajo Nation. I don’t see the native Indian philosophy or culture. What I saw was more like an excuse not to move forward, exploiting nature’s offerings and not establishing a way for future generations to find their future.





The Monument Valley therefore seemed that much less meaningful. Nothing but a bunch of rocks that I had to pay to see.








Talk about big ballzzz...



Any how, we were on the road again heading to Moab where the Arches National Park awaits. As we arrived, we decided to head right to the national park as this will be the only chance to snap some starry night shots. And we did, walked into the pitch-black trail not knowing what’s going to happen. It was more enjoyable than I expected mostly because the walk was simple and the temperature was much more comfortable. The stars were there for us, and the canyon, being in the dark, provided much anticipation for what we were going to see in the day since all I could experience were silhouettes of strange looking objects. I could already feel the rock party that can’t way to start.



"Mexican Hat"











Prelude to Arches. An Arch along the way before we arrived at Moab, just as impressive.







Best of Moab






Arches at night


Few more photos here!!!

Grand American Tour Day 14: Antelope Canyon

The same horseshoe bend taken in the morning.




Antelope Canyon is one of the most anticipate stops for this trip because of the famous light beams and extraordinary organic rock formations. The tour starts at a visitor center. Being in the Navajo Nation, it means we have to join a tour run by the native Indians. I was on the photographer-centric group where they take us there at during the short time window when the light beams form in the canyon. The ride to the canyon was bumpy but fun. It was basically a pick truck on huge soft wheels. The canyon is a few miles from the site entrance, so the off road experience was a bonus.



Arriving at the entrance of the canyon was kinda of strange. Since I was just at the Grand Canyon and Zion, Antelope Canyon is really more like a crack in the rock, like the back alley in a highly populated metro downtown. The outside of it looked ordinary, like any other rock, but upon entering the opening, it was an eye-opener. Then, it all became a battle field.

There were more than 10 of us in the group, all photographers armed with our cameras and tripods. There are also tons of other tourists in the canyon. It’s a very narrow canyon with a lot of people, like a constipated large intestine. It was a fight to get a decent shot. Groups compete for the best time to be at a particular spot, and group members fight to get the best spot within each site. It was not a pleasant experience, let alone the $50 I paid for the tour. There was no time to enjoy the beauty, the colors, the organic surfaces and the atmosphere. It was a warfare.









The canyon was also extremely hard on camera equipments because of constant sand raining from above. The sand gets into everything, from your hair to the camera lens and tripod. It was bad. There was no way I’d change lens in the canyon exposing my camera to the hazard. You have to decide which lens to use and stick to it. Also, older lens that extends physically when adjusting zoom means the sand will find its way into the mechanics, causing the lens to zoom and focus with difficulty. Therefore silent-wave lens is recommended for such conditions.






No shot came easy. The canyon is actually filled with people, so it was really tough to get a clean shot.

Over all, I did enjoy the canyon. Two hours went by quickly and towards the end of it, I got some moments to catch a breath and immerse myself in the canyon. It was a short moment when it was not about the photos, but about my interaction with where I am.

During the tour, there were several other tours led by different guides. All of whom are native Indians. It was strange, and somewhat comical, that each of them carried a musical instrument, and talked about the canyon using Indian tales to explain the natural formation of the rocks. It all started to feel very gimmicky. Why would I want to hear how the rock pattern looks like a wolf head accompanied by a quick tune on flute, instead of the geological process that created the pattern? I don’t know, but the tourists seemed to take whatever that was thrown at them. In a certain way, it was quite a circus.









The other half of the day was a drive to the next site. Monument Valley. It wasn’t all that eventful except that I managed to capture some lousy sunset shots, and my friend got the car stuck in the ditch. So I’d take this opportunity to thank the kind native Indian couple who stopped by to tow us out.



You may notice that I have not posted any photo of the locals. That’s because many of them don’t like to be photographed, so I just didn’t even try.

Oh and…. Germans! The Germans are EVERYWHERE!!!!!







Click here for MOAR photos of Antelope Canyon

Grand American Tour Day 13: Drive to Page

We were supposed to visit Bryce Canyon today but we cancelled it because we realize what a drive it will be if we did that. So we designated this day to… drive and enjoy! For me, I was particularly looking forward to the mountain pass that I rushed through at night, the one that took me to 8000 ft with deers dancing around the road.



The route also takes us to the access point of Grand Canyon North Rim. As compared to the South Rim, the North Rim is much quieter like the best kept secret. The view isn’t as “grand” as the south rim, but you can get much closer to the canyon and experience the strong draft of wind that travels in and out of the canyon. It’s definitely a very different perspective.




Old man waiting for the right light to cast on his favorite tree to take the perfect shot.








Flowery landscape on the way to the North Rim.



The way to the North Rim is also very different from the typical canyon landscape. It’s actually temperate pine forest with green prairies and marshes. The road is fast and windy, but comfortable and relaxing. It’s the one where you want to drop your convertible top.

Driving towards the canyon lands means driving into the Navajo Nation where native Indians live. The entire area is protected and governed by the native Indians, which mean very little development, no major city, lots of rock and native Indians with road-side stands selling crafts and souvenirs at the most unexpected places. You’d think they live among the rocks, because there’s no sign of civilization anywhere.






House Rock Valley on the way between the North Rim and Page.









Navajo Bridge across Colorado River, along the Marble Canyon.



Entering the town of Page, we stopped by a spectacular work of nature. It’s the horseshoe bend, a C-shaped canyon cut deeply into the land by a river. The canyon is so deep and narrow that you have to look over the edge of the canyon to see the entire depth. Mind you, there is no fence at all. It is strangely “un-American” because this is one popular site where there is no management or safety measure. Oh well, definitely makes the experience more natural.






Horseshoe Canyon just south of Page.





MOAR PHOTOS HERE!!!