Monument Valley

Monument Valley is an iconic destination and has been the scene for countless cowboy films. The local Navajo Native Americans have worked this out and as the valley is on their land they charge for entry ($5 per person). Now most people take guided tours of the valley which is very expensive ($40+ each for an hour) but we wanted to drive ourselves around so opted for a self-guided tour.  The Navajo seem greedy as they even ban hiking without a guide (which of course they charge for).

One way they make sure that most people take guided tours is by ensuring that the condition of the road is very bad. The road through the valley is not paved and is one of the worst roads we have seen on our trip so far. It wasn’t helped by a water tanker driving down the steepest hill watering the ground to limit dust for the tours. We switched to low range and made it up through the mud with no problem though.