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Published: January 9th 2013
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My first idea was to simply not do any blog about the Grand Canyon, and to put the pictures in my next blog.
There are two reasons for this blog. First...what is coming next worth an entry by itself, without the need of average pictures from the Grand Canyon in the same blog.
Second, was my feeling...and the one of Leslie and Tiffany while visiting the area next to the Grand Canyon Village on the 3rd of January.
But first, let's come back few years back...summer of 2004...
You don't come to the States "just" for the Grand Canyon. Most people will actually visit on a day trip either from Las Vegas or the Phoenix area. For me I splurged a little back in summer 2004...flying over it...than having an helicopter flight over it followed by a short land visit to the rim. Trust me, this would be way out of budget for three of us...so I drove from Page today.
Staying prior in Kanab, than Page, the logic would have to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon...way less crowded...but this is winter, and
the North Rim access to the Grand Canyon is closed...for the winter!
So we drove the two hours from Page...on a pretty boring road! Entry on 64 is pretty uncrowded. Our plan was to stop over the few lookout of the 25 miles to the Grand Canyon Village. The first stop is the old watch tower...that place is pretty cool...but shall I add....it was freezing. I mean with the wind, it was way below the 15 degres celsius mark...beautiful sun...but best to enjoy the views from the inside of a car than trekking around.
Later on we reach the main viewpoint...and there it it us. Minimum 80% of the tourists were chinese...and there were hundreds of them. I can stand the crowd in the Shanghai metro...but here...no way. The crowd on this 3rd of January simply made us run away.
Let me be very clear...this is nothing against the chinese...but rather when a place is invaded by nationals from a single foreign country. Worst when those people apply the "etiquette and rules" that apply to their home country...and not those of the host country. Let put it simply, in the States,
Americans are friendly, do say hi, and don't push you just to be able to take a better picture without saying sorry. In the States, a queue is a queue...and it makes life way easier for everybody.
Chinese have worked hard to get where they are today. This gives them all the rights to enjoy travelling like anybody else, and they should enjoy it. But hey, could we stop groups invading places...or give them restricted access by either numbers...or time? Well, the answer to this is simply no. They help the economy of the country where they travel...we will just have to live with the new demographic of the world tourism.
The interesting point is that any "new tourist" have a wishlist to go through...which means...many places will get "invaded" first...and those places not yet on their list...will be traffic free. Over the last few days, we have witnessed this first hand in Nevada, Utah and Arizona.
The face of tourism is going to change deeply over the next 10 years...for something I don't really dream of, but it's a reality we will have to live with. HongKongees, Taiwaneses, Singaporians are
great world tourists...let's just hope the Chinese will leave their buses and groups soon...explore on their own...and be part of the world community...and not a side invasion of it!
The face of tourism is changing...but today...the Grand Canyon didn't win the heart of Leslie and Tiffany! Having been here before, I cannot even say that it was about expactations...but we found out this week that there is a lot more to see behind the Grand Canyon...Canyons that are way "grander"!
Is this our last experience with the Grand Canyon? The answer is easy...no, we still have to raft it...on day..either in Spring or Autumn....I guess this will be a way less crowded place, but for this, Tiffany and Leslie have to grow few more years...
Next, back in Page...one or two places I had been waiting to visit...and who didn't disappoint!
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Anastasia78
Anastasia78
Beautiful!
This is such a great shot of you two! I've actually never been to the Grand Canyon but I'd love to take my kids one day. Thanks for sharing. :)