Monument Valley

Continuing the journey towards Monument Valley, we made a stop to sleep due to the incredible distances. We ended up in Kayenta, a rather sad and desolate place consisting mostly of supermarkets, fast food restaurants, and gas stations, like so many insignificant small towns. What was shocking here was the visible poverty of the Native American population, which still lives here in large numbers.

At dawn, we headed to the world-famous desert valley between Utah and Arizona. It is located in the Navajo Reservation, on Native American land. You can see amazing rock formations with powerful monoliths and mesas, the two most famous ones are known from countless westerns and commercials. It was a beautiful spectacle to experience the sunrise there, a great play of colors in the red light of the sun. Rocky, barren desert as far as the eye can see. The only thing missing was John Wayne, the cowboy from the Marlboro commercials, or Winnetou riding up the prairie on his horse at dawn.