We had booked online to tour Antelope Canyon at 11:30 am. We left Horseshoe Bend and reached the departure point of the tour trucks around 11 am. All those who had booked were divided into small groups and sent in separate trucks. It looked like a desert all around. There was only sand as far as the eye could see. In the distance was a dust zone. By then the trucks were running and disappearing and appearing.
After half an hour of waiting, the truck arrived to pick up our group. There are only two seats in the back of the truck. Both are long. They looked at each other. Always one of us would overtake and take the place. Neither of us went now. Both of us patiently climbed up at the end, thinking that only if we sat down last, we would be able to enjoy the view. I raised my eyebrows and smiled at him as if I had achieved something impossible. He sat beside me. After a while the truck left and we also started disappearing into the dusty forest.
After going for a short distance, high mounds started to be seen on both sides. There was a wide dirt road up to the distance of 3 miles and mounds on both sides of the dirt road. The back wheels of the truck spun the sand and put some in the air and some in my eyes. He looked at me and smiled. I understood the meaning of his smile. “If I had known it would be like this, I would have given it up!” I said and laughed. At some places the bumps came and the cart shook all of us and finally we reached the destination.
At the Antelope Canyon entrance our guide Baani (not sure if the name is correct) introduced himself. Then she said that she belongs to the Navajo tribe that maintains the Antelope Canyon and that they have been maintaining it since her grandfather’s time. Then she explained us how Antelope Canyon was formed.
Before Antelope Canyon was formed, it was a large sandstone called “Navajo Sandstone”. A flash flood eroded the sandstone and formed Antelope Canyon. During the rainy season, rainwater runs into extensive basins at the top of the valley and then drains into narrow channels below, eroding the sand. Starting with a small crack, over time the floodwaters carve the cracks and make the corridors deeper and wider. A wave-like structure is formed in the corridors here due to rainwater. She took us inside and told us some more interesting information about Antelope Canyon.
Both sides have narrow smooth walls inside. The walls on both sides were curved and going upwards somewhere. I don’t know if the two are connected at the top or not. The guide asked us to walk without touching the walls as much as possible. The reason is that the soil in the mold and its wave-like structure should not be disturbed. That’s the beauty of it. We walked further along the narrow path. Going a little further and looking up, the cracks of the basins were visible in some places. The sky was also visible through those cracks. Its walls, sculpted by rainwater and polished by wind, could be seen wavy from the top. During drought times, strong winds blowing through dry walls remove and polish the loose soil, making the walls softer and smoother.
After a few steps the path widens. Rays of light entered through the cracks above and decorated the place. The sunlight falling on the curved parts of the wall and reflecting the red and orange light amazed the onlookers. The red color of the walls is due to the chemical compound Iron Oxides present in those sand in varying amounts. Now the time comes for everyone’s cameras to be busy. We each started taking photos and moved on. Baani gave us some tricks to take a fantastic photo of the path of the light beam in some places. The idea is to take some sand from below and throw it in the direction of the light beam. Rays of light can be clearly seen falling on the ground as the sand particles fly through the air. Now you can see the clear path of the light beam in the photo taken. In this way, everyone throw sand in the air and stood there and took photos.
At one spot, a light beam was falling through a crack in the ceiling. We both joined hands and held it for a few seconds to keep it from falling to the ground. It put sparkles on our hands as a debt of gratitude. how can we forget to take a picture of it?
Like this, We stopped at all our favorite places, took pictures and had fun, dressed by red sand and reached the exit.
Unarvugalin Sangamam 
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