The Australian Outback

Ayers Rock, or Uluru by it's native name, is one of the most properly planned vacation towns I have ever seen. Practically ran by the tour companies, even flights are ideally timed to make the most of the trip.

Only a handful of flights land and take off at the two-gated airport, all the flights are scheduled to come in and leave between noon and 4PM. The Ayers Rock Resort, which is located only 10 min away by the complimentary bus by AATKing will stop at all 5 lodging options possible. With relatively few options, the hotels are all quite pricy with the rooms no less than a hundred bucks a night. We stayed at the backpackers hostel at the Outback Pioneer Lodge. Bunk beds and all, it's surprisingly comfortable and convenient with the water pressure at the showers being better than any shangri-las I've stayed at. At night, the the Outback is really the only hotel with a bar with any atmosphere with a live band that's better than the insomnia cover band in lkf.

While most ppl will whiz through Uluru in a day, I recommend two nights. You would have time to check out Kata-kjuta, the anagu's male sacred site where young boys become men, do both sunset and sunrise and have time to relax by the pool. My favorite part was definitely the Sound of Silence dinner, a wonderfully catered meal under the stars with a full astronomy lesson and unlimited wine and beer. I have never seen the milky way so clearly before. You also will learn how to use the southern cross since polaris is not visible in the southern skies. The sunrise camel ride is also worth a try. It's actually quite a different experience than riding a horse.

Uluru represents a place of ceremony and spiritual significance to the anagu ppl. While a very secretive ppl, a few stories about the legends have been told to the outside world. My favorite is the Kuniya and Liru tale. Because it's significant, the anagu ask the guests not to climb the rock. It would be like the non-bhuddists trying to climb a statue of bhudda. In fact the land is very sacred that it's rumored that if you take a piece of rock with you, bad luck will follow you around until you return the rock. There's a collection of letters from people around the world at the cultural center making up the "Sorry" book from ppl who took a piece of Uluru with them.

Beautiful place with friendly ppl and limited cell phone reception, I recommend ayers rock to anyone that has the chance to visit down under with a real taste of the outback