We got up early this morning to head to the Visitor's Center. Good thing we left so early in the day - there were already tons of people there and tickets for the entire day were selling out quickly! Luckily we got tickets for two different tours. They wouldn't start for a couple of more hours, so we used the time to drive around and explore the area.
There were a couple of trails that led to overlooks, where we could get a faraway look of some of the cliff dwellings. It really put things in perspective, to see the dwellings from afar, because then you could see just how high off the ground they really were! Seems super inconvenient to me, I can't even imagine how they would get to their houses. Like, what if they were hunting and killed a deer, how would they even get it home?! They must have been a lot stronger and more limber than us, because even the 4 flights of stairs up to our China apartment was about too much for me.
We made some friends along the way. Cute little lizards! I like these little lizard guys! Can you see him on that cement square?
There were a couple of places we could stop to see where some pit houses used to be. The Natives of this area didn't always dwell on cliffs, sometimes they actually lived on top of the "mesa" in their pit houses. They dug shallow pits then built their houses above them. They've since disappeared (most of them have burnt down) but we can still see the original floors!
Finally it was time for one of our tours! We were so excited! They made a nice little pathway of stairs for us to reach the dwelling. We also had to climb up this ladder!
Our first tour was of the Balcony House, and it was amazing! It is one of the only dwellings with a wall along the edge of the cliff. They think that the wall was there because of their turkeys. Apparently the Natives raised turkeys! Honestly I could think of a million reasons why they might have a wall there. Maybe it was their daycare dwelling and they didn't want little kids falling off the edge!
It was cool to climb around the houses and imagine what they'd be like in their full glory! Near the back we found some water coming from the rock, explaining why it was a good place for dwelling.
What a neat place it was!
To exit the Balcony House, we had to squeeze through a tiny little hole! It was a bit freaky, but it was only a short way to crawl.
After our picnic lunch, our next stop was the Cliff Palace! Now, we thought Balcony House was amazing, but oh my gosh it couldn't compare to the Cliff Palace. I can't believe how huge the place was!
Our tour guide was awesome and we got to walk around the kivas and look into windows. This seemed more like a neighborhood to me, and I could almost imagine it as a bustling city. What a strange place to live!
We had so much fun in Mesa Verde today! I've seen a lot of ruins in my life, and it was fun to see some close to home.
It is crazy, though, how young these dwellings are compared to ruins I've seen in China. Also interesting is the fact that there is so much mystery surrounding Mesa Verde, because they didn't really have a written language. I'm used to going to a place and being able to learn exactly what went on there, because China developed their writing system really early on. In fact, around the time Mesa Verde was built, China was producing the very first printing press! Anyway, I hope that someday we can get a little bit more information on Mesa Verde. It was SO cool to visit though!
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