We ain't had enough of canyons and natural beauty, plus this friendly park ranger gave us a deal at the Grand Canyon if we go to some place called "Mesa Verde," which is Spanish for "Table Verde". Also, there was something creepy in our Lonely Planet about "seeing ghosts at Mesa Verde" and Matt is into flighty crap like archeology, so we had to go.
But it turns out it was worth it, because of one thing, and that thing is the kiva, pictured below.
Now the kiva is a big hole that was dug/built by these dudes called the "Ancestral Puebloans," which is the new hot name for "Old Navajos," or in some cases, "Filthy Anasazis". Matt and I came to Mesa Verde hoping that the Ancestral Puebloan elders would teach us the secret of the ultimate high and that we would all smoke a mystical holy peace pipe together in the kiva. Turns out the Ancestral Puebloans haven't been around since about 1300 A.D., but the kiva IS where they used to drink snake blood and get wild. So seeing them was kind of sweet.
The kivas are located inside the pueblo dwellings, which are underneath overhanging cliffs and look like this...
and this...
and this...
and this...
We got to go inside one of the cliff dwellings because we posed as professional archaelogists, and because we paid $3, and it looked like this...
Our awesome tourguide showed us how water can drip through sandstone, which is AMAZING.
We climbred around on ladders and stuff.
And the Ancestral Puebloan dudes were really small, judging from their windows...
But, in addition to knowing the secret to the mystical path to enlightenment, they also know how to "corbel" wood, as Matty described it...
And build sweet walls...
This is me, right in front the kiva, realizing that simplicity is the key to the Ancestral guru way...
And our ranger guide with the kiva, explaining how the Anasazis would drink snake blood and get wild down in the hole.
Also, we crawled through this tiny Injun tunnell...
up a cliff...
and we even went down into the kiva, where we drank snake blood and wiled out...
1 comment:
question: so if the dirty sanchez is giving that special someone a nice little poop 'stache...what would a filthy anasazi be?
and thanks for that portuguese definition of plateau. now when the situation should arise that i'm around some little kids and they ask me in all their wide-eyed innocence, 'what's a plateau?' i can just pull out a middle school yearbook, go to the cheerleading section, and point. awesome.
looking forward to rodeo postings, yeehaw!
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