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IF you want to travel around the US, you must do a road trip. You'll understand the country better. And you'll discover the long-standing American love affair with the car. Jack Kerouac immortalised the road trip in his classic novel On the Road. Statistics indicate that Americans love to hit the road. Every day, Americans take 1.1 billion trips, averaging 40 miles per person. Road trips are a popular holiday choice. Some 85% of leisure trips were taken by car in 2002. Perhaps this road-lust spirit is in the blood. After all, the country was built by pioneers who headed west in covered wagons. I had always wanted to drive from the East to the West coast. Not long ago, I found myself on the road in the US with a friend who is a seasoned traveller. In the 10-day trip from Atlanta to Arizona, we covered more than 4,000 miles! We had time, lots of energy and a good measure of wanderlust. Deciding to go at a moment's notice, we just packed a modern-day covered wagon (of the Isuzu kind) and hit the road. Until recently, I thought a three-hour drive was “long”. After all, in less than half a day, you can reach Singapore from my hometown, Kuala Lumpur. Going a thousand miles was simply inconceivable. Plus, I don't really care for cars. How would I survive this road trip? But my companion had lived long enough in the US to adapt to its car culture and had no problems driving all day – or all night! We set off early one Saturday morning with coffee, snacks and plenty of CDs. From Atlanta, we got onto the “I-40”, which goes all the way to California. “I” stands for Interstate highways; the even-numbered ones go across the country while odd-numbered ones go down. Very organised. Some roads even have their own fame – ever heard of Route 66? Some hours later, we reached Memphis of Elvis Presley fame. We had lunch on Beale Street, “where the blues was born”. A colourful street lined with bars, it offers lots of Elvis collectibles. It was only a pitstop, though, and soon we were on the road again. Few other towns on the I-40 were as inviting. We decided to head straight for picturesque Santa Fe, New Mexico, where we planned to stay with friends. We drove through Tennessee and zipped through Arkansas (the home state of former US President Bill Clinton) to arrive in Oklahoma City for dinner. We had done close to 1,000 miles of driving and were tired. But I was uninspired by the town and keen to move on. “Let's keep on driving. We'll take turns,” I said, to my own surprise. I was getting obsessed about clocking up more miles and not wasting time. I was also beginning to understand America. Only on the road do you realise how big the country is – it can take hours to cross a state and days to travel coast to coast. I began to see how the car culture emerged. And why Americans love big cars. In a road trip, the car is the living room and even bedroom. I was grateful for the space in the Isuzu when we grabbed a few hours of shut-eye in the early morning. Next morning, we hit northern Texas. Flat plains – and plain boring. Desolate. Raw. Hard to imagine this state could produce a president. We stopped at a small traditional diner selling Route 66 souvenirs. Boy, I thought, this was pushing it now – the only thing of interest in the area was an old road! By the time we arrived in Santa Fe, we were utterly exhausted and very grateful. That was the craziest drive I had ever done. After the monotony of the previous day's scenery, the dusty, desert landscape of New Mexico seemed heavenly. The strong native American influence – evident in the many adobe homes of the pueblos (towns) – brought character and culture. Arizona greeted us like an oasis in the desert. It captivated me as much as in my first visit 10 years ago. There is plenty for the tourist – the staggering Grand Canyon, the new age town of Sedona and the Indian reservations. It's an interesting drive from the town of Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon – the landscape is constantly changing, with forests and mountains, desert and creeks. We saw plenty of animals including deer by the road. The Canyon itself was, of course, awesome. We drove up to another great gorge – the Canyon de Chelly in Navajo country, the site of a terrible battle and massacre of Indians. We stayed in a lovely old log cabin there and I bought some beautiful turquoise jewellery from Navajo women. We also stopped by the Hopi mesas – 1,000-year-old stone settlements built atop high natural platforms. The Hopi are among the most reclusive Native Americans, but we met an affable Hopi man who carved kachina, traditional dolls, and told us of ancient prophecies. One prophecy is of a third world war, which will be started by people with the ancient knowledge (China, India or the Arab countries) and will destroy the US. The desert landscape made driving in Arizona a sheer pleasure. The sky is always so deep blue and cloudless, and looks breathtaking against the earthy reds and browns of the desert. Even at night, or in rain, the sky still looks stunning. One night, we stopped in the middle of a dusty road not far from the Navajo reservation. The sky hung over the flat land like a big black bowl. I wanted to see the stars. This is cache, read story here
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