Day 19 - Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley, Arizona

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This would be the first time I ever hire a car overseas. I hired myself a nice Chevrolet Aveo from Budget. My plan for today was to drive to the following locations; Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley. I left my hotel at 6:40, got to Budget at 7:00.

So first things first. I adjusted to driving on the right-hand side of the road. I had a GPS handy, and punched in the coordinates for Page, a town in the north of Arizona. With a couple hours of driving, through diverse and beautiful landscape, I reached Page and got my bearings for Antelope Canyon.

I had a choice between Upper Canyon and Lower Canyon. As I was driving, I needed to make the choice between the two as the signs were coming up - both canyons in different directions. Fate decided I would take to the Lower Canyon.

It was 10:20 by the time I got there. I had to purchase a tour to enter the canyon, which started in twenty minutes. I prepared myself. It was quite hot, and I made sure to wear sunscreen.

Our tour guide greeted us and lead us down into the canyon. It was beyond spectacular. Flash floods would often flow through here, and we could see how finely the water carves through the canyon. It was magnificent. I kept taking photo after photo, and actually ended up draining my camera battery. It was low again.

As spectacular as that was, it came to an end an hour later, and I set off for Monument Valley. Along the road, there were moments when it was raining - I hoped no flash flood would sweep over the road! It was an enjoyable drive, though.

I got to Monument Valley, and the scenery was brilliant. I crossed the border into Utah, then back into Arizona - the place was spread over the border line. You've really got to be here to see the magnificence of what you're seeing though.

I drove along the Valley Road, a scenic dirt road through the valley. My camera battery was dead by this point, so unfortunately I had to resort to my iPhone's camera, which still takes good pictures, but you lose a lot of definition.

After my personal tour to both these fantastic locations, I drove three hours back to Flagstaff and got myself another hotel room. I ordered pasta from Pizza Hut.

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