A spectacular hole - The Grand Canyon

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What's there to do in Phoenix? Little that l knew, when l was asked to travel to Phoenix Arizona for work, Arizona has some amazing desert views, 40 + degrees temperatures, monsoons weather and one of the worlds most natural wonders...

Jo and l arrived in Phoenix from a long and tiring Delta flight, (travelling over the Atlantic always seems to hit me worst with jet lag than the Pacific) anyhow it was late and we were tired at 6pm on Friday evening, all we wanted was a beer and a big 9 oz steak! So that’s what we went and had and went straight to bed. With the over night temperatures of 33 degrees, and my jet lag kicking in l was awake, up and in the hotel swimming pool by 7:00am the next morning.

We only had the weekend in Phoenix. The public transport system there is non existent, taxis is the only way to get around, we decided to hire a car for the weekend go shopping at Arizona Mills (which has at least 300 shops in the Mall - it was huge, I’d forgotten how Americans do everything BIG!) and drive to the Grand Canyon on Sunday which was only 3hrs away. Along the way back we stopped off in Sedona by taking the Oak Creek Canyon scenic route on the Interstate 17 - even drove on the route 66 which l found exciting!

l wasn't expecting to see the Grand Canyon on this trip and l certainly wasn't expecting the mass size of it when l did see it. This hole is HUGE! No picture can capture the sheer mass of the Grand Canyon - 1 mile deep and 3 miles wide - further than the eye can see. A real natural beauty, the changing play of lights and shadows are breathtaking. Jo and l literally sat there taking hundreds of photos and still when l see those photos it doesn't compliment the Canyon for its size and beauty. After spending an hour (we only had little time, l could have spend the entire day sitting on the edge of the canyon) we started making our way back to Phoenix via Sedona which was recommended to us by our hotel bus service driver.

Sedona is a beautiful town in the middle of the desert, surrounded by cactus and stunning mountainous red rocks. The kind of place l'd love to have a holiday home - its hot, it's beautiful, it's in the middle of the desert - sounds remote but in America nothing is remote, you can find a starbucks and pizza hut even in the desert!

Besides my eyes being sweetened by the great American desert, the people of the southwest are the friendliest folks I’ve come across yet. They literally will help you out at any time in any situation - l found a valet parking attendant walked me all the way to the closest ATM machine coz it was a easier than explaining and he wanted to chat to us tourists folks. Constantly people were willing to smile, say hi, answer any questions we had, help us if we needed help it was a really nice changed environment.

Sadly l didn't see any cowboys to practice line dancing, or American Indians for that matter, but in my short time spend in Arizona l can say your average folks in the south west are worth visiting, they will make your stay very comfortable and enjoyable.

Next stop...Ibiza!

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