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| The view from the balcony of our room. |
Today we travelled about two hours to Monument Valley which straddles the state line between Arizona and Utah. Monument Valley is famous for its scenery and also as a venue for approx. 50 movies and a countless number of advertisements. A number of western movies including some starring John Wayne were shot here. “Forest Gump” and “Mission Impossible II” were two of the most recent ones.
We booked in to The View Hotel after reading reviews about its stunning location and were not disappointed. While quite expensive, the facilities and the view in particular considerably offset the cost. All rooms have a view over the valley and the buttes and mesas for which Monument Valley is famous. The exterior of the building is coloured to blend in with the surrounding rocks and provides employment for many of the local Navajo.
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| Travis, our Navajo guide |
We had booked a 2 ½ hour tour with a Navajo guide (Travis) and had the entire tour to ourselves. He took us through some of the “public” areas of the valley but spent most of the time in the “back country”, which most visitors rarely see. Without doubt the highlight was when he produced a guitar and drum and led us to a natural rock amphitheatre. It turned out he was an extremely talented musician and entertained us with a number of songs he had written himself. The Navajo and Apache tribes are close in their ancestry, and he also performed an Apache rain-dance.
In all, it was a hugely entertaining and informative afternoon.
The 4WD vehicles we travelled in at Canyon de Chelly and here at Monument Valley would never pass registration at home and could only be described as decrepit wrecks. Still they served the purpose but did leave us wondering how they were able to get away with it.
It is recommended that only 4WD and high clearance vehicles take the road into the valley but that didn’t stop people driving their cars in.
