Just one remark on climbing Uluru. When I left for the tour I was leaning towards not climbing the rock as the Anangu people, the traditional inhabitants of the area, prefer you not to. When we arrived at the base, however, I changed my mind and went up. My basic reasoning in finally going went along the line that they merely ask you not to climb it but do not declare it out of limits (as they do with several other areas in the region, e.g. parts of Kata Tjuta and certain spots at the base of Uluru). They leave the decision on climbing explicitly up to you. I therefore concluded that the spiritual relevance can't be of that much of importance to them and decided to go. I did enjoy the views to be had and it was a special experience for me.

The two main reasons for the Anangu not wanting visitors to climb, as far as I understand, are that the trail has great spiritual significance to them and that they feel responsible for visitors on their land. The fact that several people each year die from heart-attacks and other accidents on the rock causes them much grieve. As for the latter, I was certain I would not contribute to the problem. The former issue, however, was obviously much more significant. The land (and the national park) are under administration of representatives of the local communities, as at least they have the majority of seats in the administrative board. I hence concluded they could easily forbid tourist to walk up the trail.

The thing I did not know back then and have only learned now, a couple of weeks later, following up on this issue, is that upon putting the responsibility and ownership back into the hands of the local communities in 1985, they had to agree to keep the climb open for tourists. It is hence not up to them to regulate the climb! This does make me see the issue in a different light now and I would therefore not climb it again, was I in the same situation. For that reason I have also removed my pictures from the climb from this album.