09-09: Tecopa to Las Vegas

I'm sorry for the delay, but I really had no time to update my blog. Now I am back in Germany and can roll up everything in a few last posts, because I experienced a lot in these days.

In Tecopa, we checked in our hostel, a quite spectacular one. We had the opportunity to stay the night in one of these double-wide trailers, which half of America seems to live in. It had everything: bathroom, kitchen, couch, air-conditioning and three rooms. It was empty except for us two, so we had the whole thing for ourselves. The air-conditioning was definitely necessary because we were only a few miles south of Death Valley, the place on earth where the hottest temperature ever has been recorded. In the evenings when the sun was already low, the temperature approached bearable regions and due to the silence of the desert this place got very relaxing. Before heading into Death Valley, we decided to spend a day in the Mojave Preserve. Therefore we had drive all the way back to Baker and into the Preserve, which made easily 100 miles only to get there. Sophie had planned everything we would visit there, so I just did the driving. I have to admit that I was tempted to exceptionally over speed on the deserted road back to Baker (which I did when I could see that there is no car near us for miles). We headed straight into the center of the Mojave Preserve which is a light depression. Therefore we could overview the road for a dozen miles. In the center of the Preserve, there is also a historic Union Pacific train station, which is still in use. Two dozen trains roll through it daily, and they are looooong I tell you. They can be up to one and a half miles guy at the station said. And due to the terrain you can see them from far away, cutting the land in two halves. Really cool. Coyotes were strolling around the station, obviously fed earlier by stupid tourists (not us).

The next stop were the Kelso dunes, giant sand dunes visible from the train station, but still 15 miles away. Sophie drove us there because she didn't want me to speed. I wasn't surprised about that J. The dunes looked "boardable" so I decided to carry my bodyboard up there and slide down like I did in NZ. The hike up to the dunes didn't seem too far and the information stated a three-miles-roundtrip. Additionally, it was only half past nine in the morning. But, like always, I carefully covered my exposed bodyparts with sun lotion (SPF 30) and wore my hat before starting that hike. The temperature rose with every passing minute and soon I used my board as protection against the sun. The hike wasn't as easy as it sounded, partially because of the heat (which I expected) and partially because the ground was pure sand. Everybody who has tried to run or walk on the beach knows that you are only half as fast there as on solid ground. Sophie turned after two thirds of the distance, while I was committed to reach my goal. Another problem occurred: the sun was behind me and shone perpendicularly on the sides of the dunes. In connection with me only wearing sandals without socks (because socks would be uncool), the hot sand could easily burn my feet when I sunk in too long. On the last two hundred metres it got so hot that I had to jump on my board, which resulted in me sliding down a few dozen metres. But after another effort I finally got up to the ridge. This was amazing. It was hot, but amazing. I rested for a while, tried to spot Sophie in the desert. She was only a black spot far far away and I was glad that I had the board with me because it FELT like desert too. I could easily imagine people die here because of exhaustion. Soon, I did an unsatisfying slide down the dunes and stumbled back to the car always holding up the board to create some shade. When I arrived I was covered in a mix of sand and sweat.

Next stop on Sophies plan was a place called Hole-In-The-Wall, another 40 miles away. The cool thing about the Mojave Preserve is that it is an area of four different desert types. Interesting, isn't it? Doesn't sound like it, but once you are there… Ok, so we headed for mysterious porous walls. I did another hike while Sophie preferred to stay in the shade. She would have loved this one. The hike led you down through such a narrow canyon that two people wouldn't fit into it next to each other. Once you made your way to its end, something like a clearing awaits you. In this clearing a tarantula awaited me too, but it didn't seem very active. Behind the clearing, a wide open space began: dusty, brown and full of different types of desert plants. Occasionally, rock formations stood like debris in the desert (be sure to check out the pictures). It was awesome, like in those western movies: desert, cactuses and a lonesome stranger fighting his way through the rattlesnake-infested plane. Okay, I couldn't find any rattlesnake, only heaps of jackrabbits. But jackrabbit-infested would sound uncool. After an hour I finally made my way back to the carpark. From then on we just drove back towards our hostel in Tecopa. We used a different route which led through a forest of Joshua Trees (famous since U2s masterpiece). They sure look unique.

In the evening, Sophie went back to the hot pools, while I wanted to try some natural hot pools nearby, which some locals recommended me. They were really natural. Funny stuff swam on the surface of the bad-egg-smelling water, and the ground was mud. I sunk in unto my knees. Additionally, the locals said that there are some bugs or stuff in the mud, which could give you some rash, but ONLY when the water and the mud has the right temperature and when the moon is in its second phase and if you are Mexican. Rubbish. It was almost dark and I nevertheless was scared of the bugs, so I decided to shorten the bath and head back to the hostel. Unfortunately, the mud immediately dried in the dry air of the desert and I had to scratch of the crust at home. If you ever go to Tecopa, do not try the natural hot pools! I think the ones you have to pay for are worth the money.

In the evening I could see the lights of Las Vegas lighting up the sky in the distance. We stayed only approximately 50 miles far away from it (beeline). By car it was easily 100 miles.

The destination for the next day should be the famous Death Valley, hottest place on earth. We got up early to have as much time as possible in the "cooler" morning hours. But once we arrived at the Visitor Center (ca. 10 am), it was already 34°C. By the way: This was the first place since days where internet access was available. We visited Badwater Basin, lowest elevation in the western hemisphere (-232ft below sea level). There wasn't much. It looked like everywhere in the valley, but people got out of their car walked a few hundred metres through the salty plane, shot a picture of a salty puddle of water (bad water) and that's it. Somehow I had to think the whole time about what could be so fascinating about this place. I mean, there is nothing there. The whole Death Vally is hostile. And yet, somehow it fascinates people. Maybe they just want to see what the hottest place on earth feels and looks like. I doubt that I had another reason apart from that. And I can tell you: There is nothing there. It is just a huge, dry and hot Valley. The National Park has a bunch of hikes and "sights", but it somehow felt like they were turning everything they could find in this valley into a sight. For example Devil's Cornfield: nothing but a few dry bushes on a large plane. Or Devil's Golf course: That's a part of the valley, which is so dry that there are huge cracks in the ground. Or there is a hike through a canyon to a natural bridge. I mean, sure, a natural bridge can be fascinating, but not such a small thing, and especially not after you walked 15 minutes uphill in the merciless sun. I don't want to turn everything bad; there were a few cool things, too. For example a very narrow canyon, polished smooth by ancient water streams it seemed. Another attraction is Scotties Castle, a mansion in the northern part of DV. It appears unreal like a Fata Morgana. I am sure the infinite resources of the WWW can provide you with its story.

We drove a little bit around, had a look here and there until it was 2 pm. The rangers at the visitor center told us that temperature peaks at 4.30 pm at around 48°C, but for me, it was already too hot. We did one hike of about 1 mile through a nice canyon (one of the cool hikes), but in the end I felt that this is not really healthy. I had my water bottle always with me, but it seemed that I was getting thirstier and more tired faster than I could drink. The thermometer in the car showed 44°C in the shade. I decided that I had enough, and Sophie had nothing against leaving this hell hole, too. So we drove out another way and over the close border to Beatty, Nevada. My travel guide mentioned a hostel there, but we couldn't make contact and didn't have much hope. In the end we were right (the hostel was closed long ago) and had to check in one of the motels for 50 bucks a night. That is the same price as for a hostel. I wanted to stay in a motel for one night while I was in America, just to check out how it is. And I figured out that I didn't like it. Probably because we arrived there at 3pm and there was nothing to do. It was hot outside and boring inside. Nevertheless I was fascinated by this small town in the middle of nowhere. That's another thing I wanted to check out: life in a small town in the desert. I started to stroll around town while Sophie stayed in the motel to cool down.

And I have to say it was really like I imagined and how you know it from US movies. Half of the population lived in these trailers I already mentioned. There were car wrecks here and there, lots of trucks passed through, lots of motels along the main street, some saloons with local drunkards. The local high school football team practiced in the late afternoon sun. Hillbillies in big gum boots walk here and there. Aggressive dogs defended their owners' property. Beatty even had a small town park with swimming pool, which didn't look like it has received proper maintenance during the whole summer. Wild mules were feeding on dry grass next to the street. There was an army ammo box store next to the main street. The sheriff was patrolling up and down the main street, occasionally pulling over a speeder. The town was very dusty, but the founders have chosen a beautiful location in a valley, surrounded by rocky hills. I was fascinated. I got back to the motel around six o'clock and Sophie proposed to eat out. We had a burger in one of the local casino-motels (we were in Nevada now, where even petrol stations have one-armed bandits). And there was still something else on my checklist for today. A few miles from Beatty lay an old ghost town from the early twenty-hundreds. I definitely wanted to visit one of these ghost towns and this was THE opportunity. Sophie joined me, and we drove there. It was really cool, because we were arriving at dusk; the sun was long gone behind mountains in the far distance. In the last bit of daylight I explored this old town while lightning was striking in the background (app. 50 miles away). Awesome (Check out the pictures).

After that we went back to the motel. I used the laundry and went to a local saloon in the meantime to have a beer. It was Monday night and they showed the NFL games. After watching these I have to say that Rugby and American Football are very different from each other and there will never be a game between teams of both, because the rules are too different. What a pity. In the saloon were proper cowboys with large hats and vest and stuff and lots of people with faces which showed traces of life-long alcohol consumption. After one beer I left and watched the lightning strike in the distance before going to bed.

The next day we drove once again into the Death Valley because we didn't know what else to do. We did another small hike, and then we drove towards Las Vegas. On the way there we visited Red Rock Canyon, quite a scenic location. There we did another hike to some springs (first natural running water that I had seen for days) in the hope of seeing some wild animals satisfying their thirst there. But unfortunately we didn't encounter anything except one jackrabbit. No mountain lions or big horn sheep or wild mules, nothing. Bad luck. After that we drove into Las Vegas where we did book different hotels. Sophie wanted to stay in the hotel where her tour would start two days later, but it was too expensive for me. I mean, hotels are usually more expensive than hostels or motels, but not in Vegas. In Vegas, the hotels want that you spend money in the casinos, so they have cheap room rates to get you into the building. I exploited that. I found one hotel in my travel guide, smack bang mid-strip (the strip is the main attraction where all the casinos are) for 28$ a night. I booked it over the internet, where it had another name. I checked the street, and it was the same mentioned in my guide. I thought that they must have renamed it. I was really looking forward to relax in a hotel right on the strip, maybe even with pool. Now when Sophie dropped me off there, I couldn't find anything by the old or new name. I asked a bouncer for help, and he said that the hotel which I booked is on the same street but six miles east of the strip. Now I was really pissed off. I even planned to relocate my accommodation to somewhere on the strip for the next two nights (I planned to stay for three nights in Las Vegas). The half hour bus ride to my hotel didn't improve my mood the slightest bit. But when I arrived their, I recognized that the place wasn't as crappy as I expected. In fact, it was really nice. It was called Sam's Town and had a lot of stuff. I got a room with two Queen's beds, TV and large bathroom. It has a really nice and green yard with waterfalls etc, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Subway and various other fast food and normal restaurants were integrated. A big casino was there too, of course. That dampened my anger (the whole appearance, not that casino alone). When I discovered on the next day that they even have almost hourly free shuttles to lots of locations on the strip and downtown Las Vegas, I decided to stay in this hotel the whole time. The only thing that wasn't like I wanted it to be was the convenience to step out of the front door and be on the strip. But you can't have everything, especially not for this price.