I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty of deserts, so I couldn’t miss the chance to visit Death Valley last summer. The best seasons to go there are of course spring and fall, when it’s not so hot, but I combined it with a trip to the West Coast and went there in July – the hottest month.

But it’s actually no problem when you have a good car and a lot of drinking water, and you’re not planning to do something crazy like walking for an hour in the heat. There is also one point, where a street sign tells you to switch off the car’s air conditioner for 22 miles because otherwise you risk overheating of the engine. Some people apparently weren’t in the mood to do that, and we saw them standing on the side of the street with the hood of the car open.

The outskirts of Death Valley are extremely hilly,  up to the point that there is winding road after the other, and you cannot see what’s behind the next hill. I wasn’t aware of that and it was really scary to me, but the beauty of Death Valley is definitely worth it.

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Also the silence in Death Valley is really impressive: especially in the salt flats in Badwater Basin you can hear nothing except the cracking of some salt crystals. It is an exceptional place that I’d like to visit again some day (in spite of the hills).