Herb told us that in Chinle, that night, there was the annual Navajo fair where a traditionnal Pow-Wow was going to take place. These events are not usually open to the public, so it was a unique opportunity to see Navajo dances and celebrations.

We were told to keep driving on that road and eventually we’ll find the location… All of the sudden in the middle of a deserted landscape, here is what we saw…

Unforgettable night.

Genocide on a postcard

At around 6am Herb woke us up telling us we would miss the sunrise if we stayed in bed much longer.

Although we slept on the floor, it was surprisingly comfy. The soil underneath is rather soft. We had a fire on all night and it got pretty warm inside. Herb burnt cedarwood and the smell of it was so lovely. (I wasn’t awake enough to take a picture in focus)

The view as we stepped outside

Then Herb drove us to his “special place” for the sunrise: Totem Pole. We sat on a rock and had our breakfast to this spectacular sight…

I love all the names they call the rock formations… This one is The Cube

The Three Sisters

The Thumb

Then it was soon time to say goodbye to Herb… and to Monument Valley…

Hum… Something I forgot to mention yesterday was that during that beautiful day a fateful event occured due to my infinite capacity for #massivefail. I locked the keys inside the car. Yes, I did, on a friday evening, in the middle of a National Park and as we were getting ready to drive to our hogan to watch the sunset.

So I tried to stay calm and think about a solution. Calling a garage seemed a drag, as it would take them ages to get to us, would cost a fortune and most likely would ruin our amazing plans for the night.

So I decided to ask our new friend/guide Herb for help. I assumed Navajo people would be full of resources and man, they didn’t disappoint. The incident led to a pretty memorable scene.

When I went to Herb to explain the situation, he said “don’t worry, i can open your car, I do it all the time.” I never was so happy to hear these words. He took a knife from his pocket, a bandana from the other pocket and proceeded to slide an antenna he found (?) by pulling the car window with his knife (?)

Yes, a part of me was worried that he would damage the rental car, but I felt like I could trust this guy. And well, honestly, we didn’t have many other choices….

Herb was making steady progress when his friend Watson arrived with a bigger antenna and a piece of barb wire (?)

They got the antenna into the car and were trying to hit the central “unlock” button inside the car. Not easy, especially when you need quite a bit of pressure to push it and the antenna was just a notch too short.

After a few minutes, 2 other Navajos arrived with huge grins on their faces, ready to show that they were going to fix the situation. They started fiddling alongside Herb and Watson, so we had now 4 Navajos gathered around our car trying to help. The whole scene became hilarious as other tourists walking by seemed slightly worried about that Navajo car action going on… Herb and Watson decided to leave the scene to go get “bigger tools” as we seemed to be making no progress (45 minutes had gone by).

So, predictably, it didn’t take long for the Navajo Police to show up in the person of the Sheriff (which was female). She asked a few questions but soon started laughing and stuck around just watching the scene. She looked like she was having a great time!

Finally, a couple more Navajos arrived, including a younger bloke who came accross as witty and quick. He said “What are you stupid Navajos fiddling with?” with a smile on his face, wanting to take charge…

So now we have 6 Navajos, 3 antennas, 2 pieces of barb wire, 1 knife and 1 Navajo Sheriff gathered around our car, as Charlotte and I looked at each other in disbelief. Not much progress was being made however, as the guys could touch the unlock button but still not push hard enough to press it – the barb wire was bending too easily… So the younger guy started twisting the wire into a shape and attempted to actually pull the handle of the passenger car… I didn’t think he would get anywhere but in a few minutes he had opened our door!

Ahhh the relief! Everyone clapped and we shook everyone’s hand with gratitude! The whole thing had become some sort of a competition, they all had tried to open our car and he was the winner.

Oh my.

One of the things I really wanted to take on since being off is horseback riding. I’ve started practising over the last few months and while in the US, one of my dreams was to horseback ride in Monument Valley. With our guide Herb, horses Spirit, Crazy Eye and Yellow Jacket, Charlotte and I went on an early morning ride. It was so magical. Charlotte had never ridden before and she was really scared but she overcame her fear and in the end found herself having a lot of fun, which made me very happy!

I’m so in love with that place.

Herb also showed us how to ride bareback like the Navajos which we proudly did!

Arizona, Navajo Nation, USA, Utah

The giftshop was selling Kachinas but they’re not in fact Navajo items. They are a tradition of the Hopi tribe…At sunset we headed to a traditional Navajo hogan to spend the night in the middle of the valley…

EarthshipForget about Route 66, Route 64 IS the shit!Gobernador. Loved that name.