The Aztec ruins were incorrectly named. Historians thought people from Mexico had travelled north to found a new city but these buildings were created by the anasazi indians.
The state of preservation was excellent with intact buildings with original roofs but only the first of maybe 3 or 4 storeys. An enormous Kiva had been reconstructed.....These people were very sophisticated.
We then moved on to Canyon de Chelly (4 hours driving) where we intended to camp (free).
The canyon was breathtaking, you would have thought that we would have had enough of ruins but this was even more spectacular than anything we had seen before. The canyon was hundreds of feet deep with sheer walls and lots of different dwellings built on the canyon floor or high on the cliffs. The floor of the canyon was very fertile which is why the navaho indians put up such a fight to stop it being appropriated by settlers. There are some heartbreaking stories about the atrocities which were perpitrated against the navaho here.
McKenna's Gold filmed here
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