(01)The place
Sleep beneath the mesas with a Navajo guide who knows every shadow by name.
We travel the Colorado Plateau slowly, on Navajo land and with Navajo guides, which means the stories come with the scenery and some places are simply not for visiting.
Nights are spent in a hogan and under canvas, close enough to the buttes that you can watch them go from orange to violet to nothing. Days start early, before the heat, and end around a fire.
(02)Three moments
What you’ll still be talking about.
5am in the canyon
A slot canyon at first light, before anyone else is allowed in. Bring a jacket and no plans.
A night in a hogan
The traditional eight-sided home, a wood stove, and a sky with more stars in it than dark.
Fry bread, properly
A morning with a family kitchen near Kayenta, and the argument about honey or powdered sugar.
Next stop — Vietnam
Hạ Long