My First Visit to Kentucky

John A. Roebling bridge connects Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky, here pictured from Kentucky side.

A few years ago I attended a conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Afterwards I had a few days off, and spent an afternoon visiting the neighboring city of Covington, Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati, easily accessed by crossing a bridge. While I didn't see any particularly memorable sights in Covington, my visit was... unforgettable.

Right after crossing the bridge I met my first Kentuckian. He was apparently homeless and dressed in a full, jolly red and very, very dirty Santa Claus costume, including the hat. The beard seemed to be natural, not part of the costume. It was September, and the temperature was 29C (84F).

Then, I noticed a small clothes shop advertising affordable T-Shirts, and as I needed some I bought a couple. The saleswoman, a lady much younger than myself, addressed me as "Sweetheart". My American friends tell me this is polite and not exceptional, but it surely is not something I've learned to expect in Finland.

At this time I concluded that I needed a beer. Thankfully, I just came across a pub. The bartender not only asked to see my ID (I was in my early 40s at the time), but also offered me a job in the pub. Being a foreign visitor with no work permit in the States, I declined. This was a couple of months before the 2016 US presidential election, and after learning that I came from Finland he burst into a monologue - I would describe it as a fiery sermon - about (mostly) Donald Trump and how he would sell America to Vladimir Putin, if elected. I tipped him generously.

I drank, of course, a local beer: Kertucky Old Fashioned Barrel Ale, recommended!.

I first visited Kentucky on September 20th, 2016.

There is at least one thing that is better in America

Blueberry pancakes, jam, maple syrup, coffee and grapefruit juice. Cincinnati, Ohio, 2016.

The United States is in many ways a controversial nation. There are lots of incredibly awesome places and things, but also huge problems and dark shadows of history present in the society. I know that some people wonder, whether they should travel there at all. I warmly recommend a visit to the US for everyone who has the opportunity. There are countless reasons to go there, but here, I only concentrate on one, which alone is easily reason enough to visit America.

The breakfasts.

An omelette, rosemary potatoes, bisquit ("bun" for most Europeans, I think), jam, coffee and grapefruit juice. Memphis, Tennessee, 2017.

Often, the United States thinks that it is the best, greatest and first of the World. Considering breakfasts, this indeed is the case.

Even at worst, American breakfast is better than other breakfasts. Pancaces, maple syrup, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, French toast, coffee and orange juice. San Francisco, California 2015.

The American breakfast is usually constructed around pancakes, waffles or French toast. Eggs, sausages or bacon are often served with them - but only imagination sets the limit (I've seen a breakfast menu featuring T-bone steak served with pancakes). Serving sizes are such that those used to modest European breakfasts will easily manage until late lunchtime, or longer. As the United States is a very multicultural nation, there are countless local and cultural variations of the American breakfast, such as blue corn pancakes served by the Zuni in New Mexico - recommended!

Texans have, of course, over-Texasified the breakfast, too. A waffle shaped like the map of Texas. San Antonio, Texas 2017.

Nothing in this world is perfect, not even the American breakfast (even though it gets close). It is not the epitome of healthy eating, as there generally is a lot of sugar and fat. Thankfully, lighter options are usually available, as is fresh fruit. And, although the American coffee is sometimes very good, it often isn't. Luckily there usually is enough of it, breakfast often includes unlimited coffee.

Big coffee, Brooklyn, New York 2008.

Holy Chaos

Today is the Good Friday of Eastern Christianity, and countless Christians wander all around the city in the footsteps of Jesus.
Today is the seventh day of the Passover, and countless Jews wander to the Western Wall to pray.
Today is Friday, the holy day of Islam, and countless Muslims wander to the mosques.
The salesmen, who serve no other master than Capital - at least when their shops are open - part everyone of their money, the believers and non-believers alike.
There's a sniper positioned in a window above the Damascus gate. He looks like he's about 19 years old.
On the other side of the gate there's a small cafe, with a picture of the Patriarch of Alexandria on the wall. Under his gaze the owner serves everyone, his Muslim neighbors, Finnish tourists, Ethiopian pilgrims an Israeli soldiers alike, in the same loud and friendly way, like his ancestors did when the Ottomans, or the Crusaders, or king Solomon ruled the city.
A most endearing old English gentleman welcomes us to the site of Jesus' grave. This is a different place from the other Jesus' grave we visited yesterday. There the monks took selfies with their cellphones in the Holy Sepulchre.
Slogans are chanted on Nablus road - a riot! Should we run away? Where to? But it is not a protest after all, just a shopkeeper, even louder than the others.
On the Western Wall children are more interested in chasing the pigeons than in the fact that they are in the focal point of the most volatile political crisis in the World.
In the evening three young men haul garbage on a cart, powered only by their muscles, shouting and joking at each other and passersby, past shops that sell overpriced trinkets to pilgrims, exactly like other young men did two thousand years before them.
The waiters in an Armenian restaurant are wearing t-shirts with a picture of suffering Christ, the Crown of Thorns on his head.
In the city museum there is a small Egyptian clay statue, more than 3000 years old. It bears an inscription: "Cursed be Jerusalem".

Jerusalem, April 29th 2016

What to do in San Francisco with no flowers in the hair

San Francisco is known as the focal point of the hippie movement, and I'm told one should wear flowers in the hair there. We didn't, and few residents seem to do so either.  The hippies seem to have disappeared. They are not to be found even the symbolic center of the "Summer of Love" in 1967, Haight-Ashbury district, which was not our favourite place in the city. Fortunately, the City by the Bay is full of other interesting places. I've already blogged about some of them.

Golden Gate bridge
The 1300 meter (4200 ft) bridge, completed in 1937, spanning the Golden Gate Strait is probably the best known symbol of San Francisco. It is visible from many places around town - unless there is fog, which may be the second best known symbol of San Francisco. We recommend crossing the bridge by foot, the views of town, Alcatraz and other places are great. Biking the bridge seems to be popular too, but we didn't try that. There are numerous bicycle rental shops in the city, and they also provide maps and route suggestions.

The name Golden Gate refers not only to the bridge but also to the strait the bridge spans. When the bridge was built, the U.S. Navy demanded it should be painted in yellow and black instead of red, for better visibility.

There are telephones on the bridge, with direct access to crisis counseling. There is no doubt this is a good thing, but it is a shivering thought nevertheless.

Mission
Mission is one of the most interesting districts of San Francisco. The name refers to a mission the Spanish founded in 1776, Mission San Francisco de Asís, after which the whole city was named. Today many residents of the district are of Latin American descent. Spanish seems to be at least as widely spoken as English.

Mission is known for its murals.

Thia mural pays tribute to Salvadoran bishop Óscar Romero, who spoke out against poverty and injustice and was murdered while offering mass in 1980.

Mission San Francisco de Asís is also known as Mission Dolores. Its church is the oldest building standing in the city.

Mission is an excellent neighborhood for a meal. Like many others, we recommend the El Farolito on the corner of Mission and 24th, right next to a metro station. We ate there twice, the food was excellent and service speedy and friendly ("what kind of meat for you, bro?") even though the place was unbelievably crowded (which seems to be a permanent state of affairs).

Ferries
The fastest and most practical connection between San Francisco and Oakland, on the Eastern shore of San Francisco bay, is the BART suburban train. However, in good weather we recommend taking the ferry instead. Also Sausalito and Tiburon, to the North of the Golden Gate, are accessible by ferry from San Francisco.

The historical Ferry Building still serves as the ferry terminal ofFrancisco.

We recommend buying lunch and/or ice cream from one of the Ferry Building's many takeout joints and eating on one of the nearby piers (pay attention to seagulls, though).

Golden Gate Park
There are bisons, the De Young Art Museum and a Japanese Garden (and more) in the largest park of the city.

 De Young Museum

Japanese garden.

Japanese garden.

Bisons were hiding from the heat in shade and I didn't get any proper photos of them.

Street climbing
San Francisco is famous from steep hillside streets.

Yes, steep.

Twin Peaks is not only a TV series, it is also a viewpoint in San Francisco.

Dark Side
San Francisco is no paradise. Every big city, and many small ones, have their problems. On the streets of San Francisco live an alarming number of homeless people, many of them clearly with severe substance abuse problems. The homeless are more numerous, or at least more visible, than in New York, London or Berlin, for example. One of the first San Franciscans we met was smoking pot in a park at 8 AM, having a lively conversation with someone visible only to him.

The slums of the underprivileged and the city's most prestigious properties are sometimes right next to each other. An example of this is the beautiful park in front of the City Hall, with pathways clean enough to serve a meal on. The grim, depressing district of Tenderloin literally begins one block away from the park. There the overfilled, unemptied trashcans spill their contents on the streets, the homeless are sleeping under bus top benches and a repulsive smell of urine hovers over everything. I have not witnessed such a steep contrast in wealth anywhere in the so-called Western World. The closest comparison that I can think of is Tbilisi.

Oakland, across the Bay and a 10-minute train ride away from San Francisco, is statistically the violent crime capital of California and one of the most dangerous cities in United States. However, there's statistically no reason to get hysterical. We stayed in the infamous West Oakland for a week, and not once did we feel threatened in any way.

We visited San Franciscossa in June 2015.

San Francisco Rails

Cable cars are one of San Francisco's symbols.

The United States are promised land of private cars, and public transport is not always very functional. Some bigger cities, like New York and San Francisco, are an exception to this, with their very good transport systems. The one in and around San Francisco, while functional, is a bit complicated, with several operators and several different rail networks. Thankfully, Clipper card is accepted as payment across network. In addition to modern buses, trams and BART trains, there are early 20th century style transport available.

A cable car arrives at Market Street terminus.

The Cable Cars are probably the most famous way of transport in San Francisco. The car itself is not equipped with an engine at all: the traction is provided by moving steel cables underground, below the track. When leaving a stop, the driver, known as gripman, applies a mechanical switch to grip the cable and get the car moving. When stopping, he releases the grip and applies brakes to stop the car (a more detailed explanation provided by the Cable Car Museum).

Compared to more modern trams and trains, riding the Cable Car is, unsurprisingly, uncomfortable and bumpy. Its is also quite expensive, since the cars, being one of San Francisco's symbols, are very popular among tourists. That said, they are well worth experiencing, if only to observe the gripman's actions. I recommend riding a Cable Car to the Cable Car Museum. It is in a working Cable Car power station, and one can observe the cable-operating equipment at work (see video below),

There are, of course, old Cable Cars in the Cable Car Museum.

The tram line F is a regular San Francisco tram line, with frequent schedules, but it is operated exclusively by vintage equipment, more than 50 years old trams. Most cars are painted in vintage liveries from different cities across the United States, and even Mexico City and Milan. I noticed that one detail was omitted from the cars painted in the colors of Birmingham, Alabama: the markings that separated the compartments for "white" and "colored" people.

Despite their age, the F-line cars are equally comfortable - if not more - as the modern ones. There is no extra cost for riding the vintage trams on the F-line, any regular tickets valid on San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (MUNI) buses, trains and trams are good.

This PCC car used on the F-line is painted in a livery used in Los Angeles.

We rode the San Francisco rails in June 2015.

Oakland Museum of California - the best place to spend a Friday Night in the San Francisco Bay area

Dancing is not only permitted, it's encouraged.

Oakland Museum of California, or OMCA, is one of the most pleasant museums I've ever visited (and I've visited quite a few). If you generally like museums, go to OMCA. If you generally do not like museums, go to OMCA still. If you can, go there on a Friday night, when tickets are half-price (free for everyone under 18), there's live music on the courtyard, street food for sale from food carts as well as beer and wine from local small producers, and themed guided tours in the exhibitions. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of people of all ages and the mood was generally very relaxed and good.

Because one always has to have some complaints, I complain about the queues to the food carts.

Even if you are not in Oakland on a Friday night, OMCA is well worth visiting. The permanent historical exhibition is well designed and executed, covering a very wide range of subjects but compact enough to be comprehensible and not overwhelming. I was particularly impressed by the way the exhibition deals with the history and experience of "common people" and their stories. For example the sections dealing with Native American peoples of California and social history of 1960s and 70s were created co-operatively with local residents and communities, showcasing everyday stories of ordinary people in an interesting and engaging way. In addition to the historical exhibition, there are also natural history and temporary themed exhibitions.

In OMCA, the Native Americans tell their own stories.

Local memories from 1960s, many people from Oakland seem to remember it as a dark and violent decade.

Ronald Reagan's poster for the 1968 Republican party presidential candidate race. That time, he lost.

During the Great Depression of late 1920s and early 30s many people from th American Midwest went to California to look for a better life. They often rode overloaded T-model Fords like this one.

Many things are invented in California, for example portable computer.

OMCA isn't afraid of dealing with difficult matters.

We visited OMCA on June 26th 2015, on a Friday night.

Our recipe for a Road Trip

Note: this post is written from the point of view of middle-aged Northern European tourists. Americans and others may find most things discussed here obvious and/or boring.

Our faithful ride, a marvel of Korean engineering, Hyundai Elantra.

Four thousand nine hundred and ninety-six kilometer (three thousand one hundred and four miles). Seven National Parks. Five states. Three canyons. Two weeks. One ocean. Traveling the United States by car can be an unforgettable experience, and many interesting places are impossible or very difficult to reach without a car.

I've been asked some questions about how we arranged our road trip, and I had quite few things to sort out and think about - I was even worried about a few things. Everything went very well after all. So, below a brief account about how we arranged the practicalities of our road trip. Obviously, I do not claim that all our decisions were best possible (or even good), but our recipe produced a very enjoyable road trip.

This post is about a road trip we made in the USA, in the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico in June 2015. One should note that laws and regulations may vary widely between different U.S. states, as may prices of fuel and other things. Of course, the exchange rate between the dollar and euro, or your local currency, will probably fluctuate which has an effect on your projected travel costs. At the time of our trip one euro was worth about 1,1 dollars. About a year earlier the rate was 1,3 - a remarkable difference.

The Car
Rental cars in the USA a very affordable compared to, for example, Finland. We managed to secure our travel dates well in advance, which was fortunate because booking the car months before the actual rental saved a considerable amount of money. We ended up booking our car from Budget, because it was cheapest option available in places that were practical for us. The price of our 2-week rental including unlimited miles was 300,82€. We had also considered renting a campervan from a company like Escape or Jucy, but we came to the conclusion that renting a normal car and staying in cheap motels would probably not work out more expensive and is probable more pleasant for us. That said, the campervans might be great for people with different priorities than us. We actually saw quite a few of them in places like Yosemite and Grand Canyon.

Pros of renting from Budget included that we could return the car in a different location that we rented from without any extra fee, as long as both the rental and return locations were in California. I understand many other companies, but not all, have the same policy. We picked the car up in the small airport of Merced, CA, which we reached conveniently by bus from Yosemite National park. We returned it in San Francisco international airport, as we stayed for a week in San Francisco Bay area after the road trip. Since we were coming to the city from the south, the airport was easier to reach than midtown locations.

Most companies charge a surcharge for under 25-year old drivers and may not allow under 21-year old drivers at all. As we are old, we avoided such troubles. According to a Californian law, the spouse of the signatory of the rental agreement is allowed to drive, provided that he or she has a driving license, and the rental company has no right to collect a surcharge for him or her. This was an advantage to us, and we were not asked to provide any marriage certificate. The surcharges for second (and third, fourth and so on) drivers may be significant.

Of course, different companies offer very different deals, but usually free mileage is included and there seldom are limitations for visiting different U.S. states. Our Budget deal would have allowed us to drive to and in Canada, but Mexico was strictly off-limits. Obviously, one should read the terms and conditions of the rental agreement carefully.

On the Californian desert: good, straight road, easy and comfortable to drive.

The process of picking the car in Merced was straightforward, but took a little bit longer than necessary because the clerk, who, like most Americans, was very friendly and polite, had some problems with Budget's computer systems. This was not a big deal at all. Returning the car in San Francisco was a quick and efficient process. Sometimes an international driving license is recommended for the USA, but our EU-standard licences issued in Finland were adequate for Budget. No police officers or other authorities asked to see our licenses. When picking the car up, a deposit was charged on my credit car, I think it was the same amount as the full price of the rental (i.e. 300,82€). It took some two days after returning the car before the money was returned.

The car we got was a Hyundai Elantra, called "compact" in the U.S. but would be considered a normal-sized small family car in Europe. The transmission was automatic, as it practically always in in the USA. The rental clerk offered us a bigger car (Nissan Murano) for the same price, but we declined since the Elantra was easily big enough for the two of us and probably more fuel-efficient. I've heard that the rental companies often do this. However, we were not offered useless extra insurances, even though I had been warned that it is a common practice. Our rental included compulsory insurances and roadside assistance, and the extra insurances often covers things that are already covered by your travel insurance - never ever set foot in the United States without a travel insurance that covers emergency medical treatment.

I can't come up with any complaints about the car. It was easy to drive, on a highway it ran more than 40 miles per gallon (obviously less on the mountain roads), the seats were comfortable, the sound system more than adequate and air-conditioning powerful, which is very, very important in June driving around Southwest USA.

The Driving
Our route was, mentioning the places where we picked the car up and returned it, and the places we stayed overnight, Merced, CA - Bakersfield, CA - Las Vegas, NV - Jacob Lake, AZ (2 nights) - Bluff, UT - Many Farms, AZ (2 nights) - Grants, NM - Zuni, NM - Needles, CA - Maricopa, CA - Paso Robles, CA (2 nights) - Santa Cruz, CA - San Francisco, CA. There was lots and lots to see along the route, see our other posts about the road trip.

We do not consider ourselves exceptionally talented drivers, and at home we do not have a car at all. Consequently we were a bit worried about driving beforehand. This was completely unnecessary. Driving in the USA is generally easy, very easy. Most of the roads are multiple carriageways, like Finnish motorways. Signage was excellent, better than in Finland, and most roads we drove on were in very good condition, except some more remote roads in Arizona and New Mexico - and even they were not that bad.

A long straight and no other traffic to be seen, but thankfully the views are beautiful and dramatic. Here we are approaching the floor of the Death Valley.

Traffic was low on most roads we traveled. We met congestion only three times: in the beginning of our trip in Central California, in the city of Las Vegas and on our final driving day from Santa Cruz to San Francisco. In heavy traffic and on highways the American drivers seem to be more civilized than the Finnish ones, they even give way in interfaces if necessary - generally speaking: obviously there are a few dimwits everywhere (my warmest regards to the driver of a blue Chevrolet Suburban in Las Vegas, have you ever heard about turn signals or wondered why they are called turn signals?). The general respect for traffic regulations seemed to be on a higher level than in Finland, the complete disregard for speed limits on Californian highways being an exemption.

We only encountered two problematic situations while driving. Returning from Grand Canyon to our cabin in Jacob Lake, self-destructive deer were constantly jumping on the dark road. Our accommodation in Navajo lands, near Chinle, AZ, was very remote and the last stretch of the road was in a very bad condition after heavy rain. We were seriously worried about our little Hyundai's ability to take us to our destination. The 4WD pickups that the locals drive had few problems, though.

For navigation we used my rather basic Android smartphone and free HERE Maps -application. That worked. However, the aforementioned last stretch of road to our accommodation on Navajo Lands was unknown to the application - according to our host, this is the case with all navigation software. Sometimes it took a while before the phone managed to establish a GPS connection, but this was not a big problem.

We highly recommend driving California Route 1 along the Pacific coast. Bixby Bridge pictured here.

Compared to Finland, fuel is very cheap in the U.S., even in the higher end of the very wide price range. The prices differ wildly from state to state and also within states. I didn't collect all our fuel receipts, but the cheapest we paid was $2.69 for a gallon (1 gallon = 3,79 liter) in Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, whereas the most expensive was $4.59 in San Francisco. I would say that the total fuel costs on our almost 5000 kilometer (3100 mile) trip were no more than 300€ - try that in Europe! Of course, many factors affect your fuel costs - the roads you drive on, the weather, your driving habits and obviously the car you drive. A big SUV could easily burn twice as much fuel as our compact car.

The Accommodation
We mostly stayed on roadside motels, the like of which you have seen on American TV and movies. They provided comfortable accommodation with very few complaints. Most common problem were very noisy air conditioning devices (solution: earplugs). In addition to motels, we stayed in a cabin near Grand Canyon, in a traditional Navajo hogan in rural Arizona and in a historical inn in Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. These were all pleasant and recommendable experiences and more pleasant than the motels, even if there was nothing wrong with the motels either.

Aqua Breeze Inn, Santa Cruz, California.

An interesting thing about motels is that there seemed to be little, if any, correlation between price and quality. The law of supply and demand seems to work. The most expensive night, almost 100€ for two, was in Santa Cruz, California (a lot of demand, limited supply). The lowest prices we paid, all slightly less than 40€ for two, were in Las Vegas, Nevada (enormous demand, endless supply), in Bakersfield, California and in Needles, California (limited demand, a lot of supply). Most Europeans will find the American habit to advertise accommodation prices (and many other prices) without taxes strange. It is a common practice in the USA and does not imply dishonesty. This means that if the price of a room is listed at $50 you will actually pay some $55-65. The taxes, too, vary from state to state and locality to locality.

Many but not all motel prices included a breakfast of usually questionable quality. All rooms we stayed in were equipped with a coffee maker and/or water cooker and free coffee and tea. Usually there was a refrigerator and a microwave oven, too.

The average nightly accommodation price over 14 nights was about 67€ for two including taxes. Those traveling in groups of more than two can probably get slightly lower prices per person, most motels seemed to have rooms for four or even larger groups. Obviously, the seasonal variation in prices may be considerable, especially in popular holiday destinations like Grand Canyon. Of the motels we stayed in, the one in Bakersfield probably offered best price/quality ratio, as the rooms were newly renovated and the breakfast was adequate. The place in Santa Cruz was considerably more expensive than others of similar quality. There, too, we had no complaints about quality or service, everything worked, even though the furniture, refrigerator and air conditioning dated from the days of Ronald Reagan's presidency.

We booked all our accommodations well beforehand, before we even left Finland. In case of popular destinations, such as Grand Canyon, this is highly recommended. Of course, having everything pre-booked seriously limits flexibility: on the other hand, it provides a certain level of safety. Bookings made on booking.com usually include free cancellation in case of change of plans: however, this is not always the case. In this age of smartphones and tablet computers it would probably be easy to make bookings on the road a day or two in advance, and I'm confident the traditional way, walking to a motel reception and asking for a room, works as well.

The nutrition for body and spirit
One needs to eat on a road trip, too. Finding somewhere to eat shouldn't be a problem, there are numerous roadside eateries with long opening hours almost everywhere. Unfortunately the most common fast food chains do not provide the best quality, or even price/quality ratio. The prices are only a little lower than those in Finland. Living two weeks on, say, Taco Bell and Denny's food will probably result in a considerable weight gain. Of course, self-catering is an option, too: also supermarket price levels are close to Finnish levels, particularly California seems actually more expensive than Finland.

Zion was one of the national parks we visited.

We highly recommend purchasing an annual National Park pass for $80. It provides access to all National Parks, National monuments and other sites administered by the NPS for a year starting the day of purchase. Usually a car and up to three people accompanying the pass owner are admitted, too: this was the case in every national park we visited. Because the greatest places in the USA are mostly National Parks, it definitely is worth buying. If you visit three parks or more, you probably end up saving money.

So, how expensive is it exactly?
We paid:

• for car rental about 301€
• for fuel about 300€
• for accommodation for 14 nights about 938€, if you can travel off-season you can potentially save a lot of money here
• for national parks about 72€

In other words, slightly more than 1600€ for two people in two weeks, or about 115€ a day.

In addition, of course, there are other costs that everyone has to budget for according to their needs and preferences:

• Prices of flights vary greatly, if you can travel off-season you may save lots and lots of money.
• For food you should budget at least as much as for food in Western Europe.
• Entrance fees to places other than National Parks. They are sometimes steep. For example, we paid, not including tips for the guide (unless you have real complaints, do tip the guide, this is, after all, the USA), $48 a person for a guided tour of Antelope Canyon and $23 a person for tour of Acoma "Sky City", not cheap but worth it. 
• As much money as you want to spend on souvenirs, shopping, gambling in Las Vegas or Native Casinos, drinking beer and wine, and whatever you want to spend your money on: the United States in general provides ample opportunities to spend money.

We made our Roadtrip on June 10th to 24th 2015

Surrounded by Sacred Mountains

A Mesa on sunset. This is a typical landscape in the land bordered by the Sacred Mountains.

East of Grand Canyon is the homeland of the Navajo, who call themselves Diné, "the People". According to their own traditional origin story, the Creator has told them to live in their land bordered by four Sacred Mountains. Most of this land is today included in Navajo Nation, a self-governed territory of the Navajo. It occupies parts of three U.S. States, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

On our travels we prefer small private accommodations over chain hotels. For example the "Grandma accommodations" in the Balkans and small B&B's in Ireland offer great deals in regards to price, quality and, above all, ambience. This time we spent two nights on a farm near Many Farms village. We booked it through Airbnb. The place was rather basic - earth floor and no running water, but functioning WiFi. During our short visit we got at least some insight into modern day life among the Navajo, much more than we would have had we stayed in a roadside motel.

We stayed in a hogan, a traditional Navajo dwelling. The Arizona summer was hot, but even during the day the hogan remained reasonably cool. As the farm was situated in a high elevation on a mesa, it got almost chilly at night. We didn't need the wood-burning stove for heating, though, but I'm sure it's necessary in winter.

Hogan from the inside...

...and from the outside. This is a "female" hogan: a "male" one has a porch-like extension in front of the entrance. "Female" hogans are for accommodation, "male" hogans for ceremonial purposes. The entrance always faces east and the rising sun.

Our hogan was equipped with all necessary things for accommodation, but also with travel guides and books on the Navajo and their land. The surrounding landscape was incredibly beautiful. We took a walk in the evening, to a small canyon situated literally on the back yard, and were accompanied by our host's two friendly dogs. When it got dark, we got to see the stars without any disturbing artificial light. My personal highlight of our four-week trip was a morning coffee sitting in front of the hogan, the dogs and horses keeping me company, while Jóhonaa'éí (the Sun, literally "He who rules the day"), rose from behind  a mesa.

We don't have a canyon like this in our back yard.

Blossoming cacti neither.

As an urban dweller I am unaccustomed to the company of white horses when I'm having my morning coffee.

"...the indian sun is rising instead of going down..." (Johnny Cash: Navajo)

Navajo Nation is the largest self-governing Native American territory in the United States. According to official statistics the Navajo are the second most populous Native people. They are more than 300 000, majority of whom speak Navajo at home. It seems that the existence of the Navajo as a nation is secure. I think it can be stated that they have been more successful in dealing with settlers from Europe than many other Native American peoples.

However, there are many tragic and horrible chapters in the history of the Navajo. The most sinister probably is "The Long Walk", a forced relocation by the U.S. Military to Bosque Redondo reservation in New Mexico in 1864-1866. The conditions in badly overcrowded reservation and on the way there were unbearable. Thousands died of hunger and disease. The relocation caused also spiritual suffering, since according to their traditional beliefs the Navajo were meant to live in the land the Creator gave them, the land bordered by the four Sacred Mountains, and it would be impossible for them to succeed elsewhere. In 1868 the Navajo leaders managed to negotiate a treaty granting them the right to return home. This is exceptional in the story of the United States, land once taken from Native Americans has not often been returned.

A historical hogan in the Canyon de Chelly visitor center.

There is also another interesting chapter in Navajo history connected to the U.S. Military. During the Second World War young Navajo men were drafted to signal troops an deployed on the Pacific front. Based on their complicated mother tongue, they created a radio signal code which the Japanese were never able to break. The impact of the "Code Talkers" to the outcome of the war was significant, and their effort for the United States is a great source of pride for many Navajos even today. There were Code Talkers from other Native American peoples, too, but the Navajo were by far the biggest and consequently most influential group.

Navajo code explained in the Monument Valley museum.

Today the Code Talkers are remembered as national heroes, but during the war they were treated as second-class citizens. For example, in New Mexico the Native Americans were banned from voting until 1962. Most Navajos of the Code Talkers' generation were educated in Federal Indian Schools. There they were prohibited from speaking languages other than English. As schoolchildren they might have been beaten for speaking their own language. As adults they were awarded medals for it. Oh, the irony of history.

From a traveler's point of view, the Navajo Nation isn't that different from other regions of the Southwest United States. The small towns are no different than others in Arizona, Utah or New Mexico. However, alcohol is prohibited, like in most other Native American-governed areas. Spoken Navajo can be heard sometimes, also on  radio, but English is far more common. Like all Americans, the Navajos we talked to were very polite, helpful and friendly, and wanted to know where we are from. In one respect they were a little different than most other Americans: the Navajo generally speak less loudly. I understand that needlessly rising one's voice is considered impolite.

There's one thing connected to the Navajo self-government that may cause confusion fo the tourist. In the USA, the states can decide many things themselves, for example whether to observe the daylight saving time or not. Arizona doesn't, but the Navajo Nation does. Consequently, the Navajo are an our ahead of the rest of Arizona in the summer, but at the same time as all of Utah and New Mexico. As if that wasn't complicated enough, the Hopi, whose lands are completely surrounded by the Navajo Nation, observe the Arizona time. Make sure you consider this when asking about opening times and such!

The fusion of Navajo traditions and modern popular culture has created some interesting results, such as  Navajo Metal and a Navajo-language version of the original Star Wars movie. Generally speakin, I couldn't care less about any beauty contest, but I do respect Miss Navajo Nation, who has to prove her skills in sheep butchering, among other things. To people interested in contemporary Navajo culture, I recommend Jim Kristofic's book Navajos wear Nikes, which is also available as an e-book from  Amazon. And of course, travel to Navajo lands and see it yourself!

We visited the land bordered by the four Sacred Mountains from June 14th  to 17th 2015.