Monument Valley

After another serious drive south we came to the Kayenta Monument Valley Inn. As it was still too early to check in we drove further south to visit the Navajo National Monument. At the service center a nice Navajo woman told us how to follow the trail leading to the site: well-preserved ruins of villages left behind about 1300AD by prehistoric Pueblo Indians -- the Kayenta Anasazi. We only went on the easy trail to see the Betatakin. Afterwards we had a nice picnic in the natural settings before the visitor centre. From there we drove all the way back north and to the junction of highway 160 and 163 and then west to see the Monument Valley.. As you're totally in the Navajo nation, the national park pass does not give you entrance, they ask 5$ each head. Once in you can check in to the Navajo Hotel or park in the parking lot, to photograph the mountains you could already see from 4 miles back! Oh no, wait! There's an off-road trail where you can drive in between the table mountains, and get your car messed up pretty badly if it's not a 4x4 or a monstrous car like our Dodge Durango SUV. So we decided to do a bit of off-road driving and try to follow the Indians in their 4X4's with three benches of white people in the back getting their backs messed up and eating red dust all the way... After a while it gets kinda tedious or you get rather nauseous, so we head back up after a couple of photo stops and back to the hotel with swimming pool... We ate Native American fried bread with lamb stew at the restaurant. They also give you a little bit of powder sugar. You're supposed to spread it on the bread and add a little salt. We did it with honey and salt. It's an acquired taste, but it goes really well with the stew! If we get the chance we'll try more of these Native American dishes