The Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona - Day 1

The Grand Canyon is one of my life long dream place to visit and now i can finally checked that off my list. yippy!!! What they said were true, the feeling to be there and see it with you own eyes it's ....i really have no words...just at awe

From Las Vegas we drove about 4 hours to get to our hotel...well it's actually a highway inn, Quality Inn at Exit 163 at a town called Williams, Arizona. It was quite cheap and it includes breakfast(typical highway motel buffet breakfast), which were something we need at a place like this, save us the hassle to find a restaurant. We paid $147 for 3 night tax and service charge excluded. The distance from the inn to the Grand Canyon is about 40-50 minutes drive. Many people would prefer to stayed in Tusayan, a town about 10 minutes away from the canyon, or hotels at the canyon village but it is pricier.

In the town of Williams there is a supermarket(Safeway) it's cheaper to buy your supply there. We bought mineral waters there and brought it to the canyon. 

after a good night rest and a heavy breakfast, we headed out pretty early thanks the time difference.

the view on the way to the Canyon.

as we were driving along the rte180, just within the speed limit enjoying the view, a silver Volkswagen tailgate us for few minutes he manager to pass us and speed off. We were like... he must need to go to the bathroom really bad. 10 minutes later we saw the same silver Volkswagen was being pulled over by the sheriff..

Lesson to learn from this is being fastest doesn't always get you to your destination fast. So make sure you don't go over the speed limit too much. If not it'll be a not so pleasant start of your vacation.

For gas along this rte180 there are a few gas stations and it's slightly cheaper than in the town of Williams

we bought an annual pass from the America the Beautiful - The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass. It's $80 a year and unlimited excess to all the National Park in USA...for more infos-------> http://store.usgs.gov/pass/index.html

entrance fee to the Grand Canyon National Park is $25/ car and it's valid for 7 days

http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/entrance-fees.htm

We're here!!! Before we get too excited and wander aimlessly, 1st stop visitor center!

before we start our trip i did do some research but wasn't sure how to go about the area. The visitor center was really informative and they have suggestion on how to plan our 2 days trip in the national park

let our journey begins, the nearest viewing point from the visitor center is the Mather Point. it's just a short 5 minutes walk

my reaction was exactly like this, when i 1st laid my eyes on the beautiful canyon

our 1st picture together with the Grand canyon

i know right!!!

breathtaking

we were really lucky, it was early November, weather was great, not much crowd. loving it!

definitely a nice time to visit the Canyon!

we just couldn't stop posing with this amazing view

from Mather Point we walked along the rim trail to Yavapai Geology Museum,

but if one have limited time or are disable, there is a shuttle bus available that one can take to all the viewing point and it's FREE!!! 

enjoying the view along the way

this bench looks awesome after being vandalize...hehe

some of the walkway area are nicely done 

some area are not so nice. so comfortable shoes are required but i did saw few brave individuals tried to conquer the Grand Canyon with heels.... amazing

that pointy formations on the far left, Geologist Clarance Dutton, named it Vishnu Temple

me and the forming temples

my private spot

after a long walk about 45 minutes, we reached Yavapai

Yavapai Geology Museum

and bought a nice postcard for 3.99. There is a post office at the village(shutter bus blue line), once you are here with a map, you'll have a better idea where's where.

we then took the shuttle bus from Yavapai to the village. from orange line to the blue line

the shuttle bus

had our lunch at the village's general store. Simple menu at a reasonable price. Chili bread bowl $5.49 and my chili dog $3.99. I would definitely recommend the chili dog cheap, filling and surprisingly yummy

after a nice lunch we continue to explore. We had 2 days, so we decided to cover the red line which is the Hermit Rest route for the 1st day and Kaibab / rim route (orange line) for the 2nd day

map-----> http://www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/upload/2012SRsummer-guidemap_letter.pdf

@ Village route transfer

we basically just hop on and off the shuttle bus to one point to another

one of my favourite picture, thanks to a kind strange who helped us to get this beautiful shot

it's nice when there is no crowd, you have this beautiful view all to yourself with no tourist on the background of the picture

the Colorado river

I've have no idea which viewing point is anymore but they are along the Hermit Rest route.

there are many rim trail that one can explore, we chose one which is not too wide a 0.8miles from Mohave point to Hopi point

random things we saw

nature

at Hermit Rest point

fire place inside Hermit Rest

it was built in 1914 designed to look like a natural rock formation, apart from the prominent rubble-stone chimney 

view from Hermit Rest

another favourite shot of mine

they are just too amazing, i couldn't choose the best they are all the best

Powell Point, last point before head back to Mather point for the sunset view

it was freaking cold when the strong wind blows

sometimes u just need to stop and see the view

this monument honors Major John Wesley Powell, the leader of the 1st documented expedition through Grand Canyon

took the shuttle bus back to Mather Point just in time to watch the sunset.

It was during the sunset, a bus of tourist swap Mather point out of no where. There goes our romantic quite time

well at least we got to take nice sunset picture.

love hos the sun hit the rock and make it look as it it glows. Simple magnificent

it get dark pretty quick, so it's best to leave after the sunset, it will be a bitch to search for your car when it's cold and dark

headed back to Williams and had a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was a bit pricey and the food was so so.....so i won't bother with the name