2103hrs

We had a bit of a lie-in this morning, and didn't get up until about 9 o'clock.

We hung around the room for a bit, looking at leaflets and nicking the soap. Then we went out to the grocery store. It being the only one in the area, they can basically charge whatever they like, and they do. We didn't even get proper carrier bags, but dodgy cardboard jobs without handles. I think they do that a lot here, but it's the first time we've had them.

Then we went back and had a look around the hotel. They had everything there, a games arcade, a bowling alley, a swimming pool... it was like a whole world in one building.

When we were ready to go, we called the concierge from our room and told him to call us a cab. He said it would be there in about twenty minutes.

We went and waited outside, when it began to rain, rather heavily. Eventually we went in and waited in the lobby, but by then we were soaked anyway. I was, at least. Colin had an anorak.

It was now over half an hour since we'd asked for a taxi, and it was pretty obvious that it wasn't going to come. I asked the guy at the desk, and he said that it had come, and the driver had asked him who it was for, and he'd said he didn't know. He called us another one, which he said would be here in 25 to 30 minutes.

A lot more than thirty minutes later, the cab finally arrived, and brought us to the National Park. I might now have finally seen the Canyon, but it was very foggy and the background was a blank white sheet.

We booked into the Maswik Lodge, where we're spending the night. The room wasn't ready yet, so we left our rucksacks in the safe.

We were finally in a position to see the Grand Canyon. But it was lunchtime now, so we hopped on a free bus which does a continual circle of the village, and went to a little cafe. I had a salad and some chips, and very nice it was too. The first proper meal I've had in weeks. Colin just had chips. I also had a Coke, in a small cup. You could also get large ones, for more money, but since you get free refills anyway it's hard to see why anyone would bother. We shared the drink and had three refills, so got good value for money. There were two Coke dispensers, and the one I used originally dispensed Coke that was a bit flat, but I rather stupidly refilled from it twice. It was only on the third refill, when that was in use, that I tried the other dispenser, which dispensed colder and fizzier Coke altogether.

Finally, it was time to see the Grand Canyon. The suspense by now had been building up for over twenty-four hours - it was a lot like Jurassic Park, where you don't see any dinosaurs until halfway so you appreciate them all the more. It's a cheap artistic device, but it works, and by the time we had our first sighting of the canyon, I was more than ready to appreciate its splendour.

To date, there has been something predictable, almost formulaic, about my descriptions. I described New York as just a big city. I described Central Park as just a big Park. I described Niagara Falls as just a big waterfall.

I will not be describing the Grand Canyon as just a big hole.

It is without doubt the most incredible thing I have seen in my life. When you stand on the rim and look out at the giant, sweeping gulf in the scenery before you, with rocky towers and pylons hitting the sky with defiant disregard for human scale or perspective, the desire to transmute into a raven and leap out into the void with wings outstretched, is very great indeed. Thankfully, I resisted the urge.

I took about twenty photos of what was basically the same view, from slightly different angles. As a wise man I overheard rather eloquently put it, "It's just whichever way you look, woo-hoo-hoo!"

Until this point, Colin had been quite clear on the fact that he wasn't hiking all the way to the bottom. He just wanted to go around it in a coach.

His resolution began to break down as soon as he saw the view.

"Maybe I'll go down a little way," he said. It was the same view which established in my mind the stone-cold certainty that I was going all the way. Colin could do what he liked, I'd go on my own if I had to.

Having looked around there for a bit, we went to collect our rucksacks and brought them to our room. It's not exactly a hotel, this, more like a load of mini-hotels scattered around the place. Cabins, they're called.

Our room isn't as nice as the one we stayed in last night, but it's still a big improvement on youth hostels. It's still got an en suite bathroom, and huge beds, and a telly. It's a fine room.

Once we'd settled in here for a bit, we went to watch the sun set over the canyon. We strolled a little way down the path we'll be taking tomorrow, and met a man coming the other way in a tee shirt stained with sweat. He'd been all the way to the bottom. He'd set out at about nine, he said. It was now just gone six in the evening. Tomorrow we're planning on rising early to see the sunrise at 6 a.m., so if we set out then we should get back in plenty of time to leave for LA at five.

By this point, Colin was admitting that he'd quite like to go a fair way down, and saying maybe about five miles. Since it's only about nine to the bottom, I'm pretty sure he'll agree in the end to go the whole way. We'll see.

We then went back to the top to watch the sunset. Unfortunately there was a big cliff in the way, so we didn't get a great view, and the film in my camera ran out before the best bit anyway. We shouldn't have either of those problems with the sunrise.

But that means an early start, which means an early night. I'd better get ready for bed.

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