travel again, this time at the center of Australia. The reason is simply that I have said in the work I have to take a vacation, I've reached the limit of cumulative hours and I'll lose if you do not become a holiday. Mineko is busy and can not travel, but I do not want to miss this time of rental. Given that you do not hear Mineko visiting central Australia (too hot, no water, dusty and very little green), take the opportunity to travel alone, the place is another part of Australia I want to visit.
The center of Australia has the world's most famous rock, Uluru, near other natural wonders, and some traces of Aboriginal culture. The trip promises, and I fancy I can only think that travelers also discover something new, or at least I'll be more receptive to discover new things.
The trip does not begin with right foot, then to the taxi driver who takes me to the airport is your first day, I'm almost his first client, and he is very nervous, terrible mistakes here. At the end I have to say, almost street by street directions to the airport. It amazes me that people so ill-prepared to take people to work as a taxi driver. But hey, I get to the airport just in time without problems.
already on the plane, flight Connellan Airport, our destination, I start making plans, when I hear words in English. I find that the companions of the English side are, Celia and Javier, who are spending a few weeks in Australia and its first stage is Uluru. We started talking, and not stop until reaching the destination, about three hours later. And here I thought I would get bored on the flight ... over time does not speak English, this opportunity is appreciated. And the coincidence means that we are staying in the same place (the truth is that there is plenty of choice in the area), which are left for later. For the moment we said goodbye at the airport, I have to take the rental car and they go on the bus. His plan is to join package tours in the area, mine is to go without a guide, not anyone tell me where to go, what to watch or listen to.
The area is one of the Australian desert. It is winter, but the heat is very strong, and dry. The soil is red and dusty, but the amazing thing is that there is vegetation. Despite the heat and low humidity, the place has lots of tall shrubs and trees. No hills, is mostly flat, and the distance is the purpose of our visit, Uluru, the big rock. I take time to leave things in my room, a shared room with four bunk beds, but for now is empty. Visit the tourist office to see if there is something interesting to join, and discover the Anangu agency, an agency created by the aborigines who specializes in telling stories and customs of the locals. Maybe point me to one of their tours, but now prefer to visit the rock with my eyes and not with a guide. So, buy some water in the nearby store (which blistering heat) and I go way to the rock.
The rock is there, in front, and little by little, as I approach, it gets bigger and starts to show some of its details. It's something awesome, a sort of magnet for anyone less than fifty miles away. A red rock, several hundred meters high, with stripes and caves on the slopes. Western science says it is a sedimentary layer was formed over a hundred million years, when the area was part of a sea. Forces nature and the passage of the eons made the sea became desert, and vertical lathes horizontal strata, creating the most impressive natural wonder I've ever seen. It's something that encourages belief in God or supernatural forces. And later I discovered that this rock is really the spiritual center of the Aboriginal communities in Australia, and almost every detail of the rock has its mythological origins and legends.
After a short visit to the visit Uluru, the end arrived at the base of the rock. One path leads to the summit of the rock, and a trail of people, like ants, laboriously climbing the hillside, under the heat of injustice. At the beginning of the path is a sign she asks, please do not upload. This is something I've often wondered. Aboriginal beg people not to upload, but travel agencies seem not to pass this request to tourists, and many people who come to this place with the hope of climbing the rock sign and encounter this dilemma, "go up or not to raise?
The reason for asking not climb the mountain, a guide tells me later, not because the rock is sacred, it is not really (only parts of it), but because it is dangerous, there have been accidents and deaths from heat and strong wind, and when something happens Aborigines feel it's partly your fault for letting them go.
My destination is not is this part of the rock, but the map shows that there is a road to get there. In the end, after surrounding the rock, came to Kuniya, the part I want to visit. This part is in shadow, which is much nicer. There are fewer people, and I see a group of tourists with two Aboriginal guides, two elderly women, a young interpreter and race indeterminate. The interpreter speaks the language and Aboriginal English with an accent, but his features are more Asian. I find that the agency is Anangu, the Aboriginal agency. The group is very small, women enjoyed guide showing the customs and stories of their ancestors, and most tourists enjoy hearing them. If I go to sign up a tour, I decided to be with this agency, the super-intimate, impersonal tourist I have seen with my short time in the area.
are already five in the afternoon. The heat continues, but the light starts to become warmer and softer. We are approaching the magic hour when the rock becomes the spectacle of color that attracts many photographers. But I decided to sign on the Anangu tour tomorrow afternoon, so I'll watch the sunset tomorrow. Today, however, go to Kata-Tjuta, another of the wonders of the area. Kata-Tjuta
are rocky hills about 60 miles. If they were elsewhere in the world these hills would be the main attraction. But here are merely secondary to Uluru, which people see the way, after visiting the big rock. Still, as I approached, the hills begin to prevail, and once you get to the lookout, just in time for the sunset, the hills are bathed in red with the last rays of sun. Is truly espectaular.
Back at the hotel I'm in for a special tourist attraction. Is closed, moonless night, and above us gives us another spectacle of nature. Are the stars, something that is rarely seen with the lights of cities, but here are the stars. The tourist attraction is to explore the constellations, showing biggest stars, the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds that can only be seen from the southern hemisphere, and of course the Southern Cross. The South has many more stars than the north, and when I had the chance to see the starry sky in my first year in Australia I was captivated by her beauty and plenty of stars. But this tour guide too, for that, tourist. The guide quickly shows stars and constellations, but no time to enjoy them, and then we pass from one to another stellar attración. It's like going on a tour bus. "To the left you can see the star Arcturus, right the Southern Cross, left ... "In the telescope we see four things and count, and always with little time to enjoy them. All a disappointment, there are many ways to show the stars, and this guide to choose a formula so unattractive. Luckily I bring binoculars, star chart and book of astronomy. As the tour can do stellar on my own with no distractions.
Well, the journey has just begun. I have already seen many things, the big rock has impressed me , but can show more of her charms tomorrow?'ll soon find out.
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