Yosemite is beyond what I could imagine. Click on the picture below and see what I mean. I did not plan on doing much in Yosemite because I initially thought it’s just a big park. The more I learn about it, the more I wished that I had planned for more than two nights here.
We stayed in a place called Curry Village which is located just right smack in the middle of the Yosemite Valley. I only started looking into booking accommodation just a week prior … I’m just a big procrastinator. By the time I started looking for a booking, the only available place is Curry Village and it’s a tented accommodation. I guess I had no choice and being so close to the vacation dates, I had a lot more planning to do. I placed my booking and hoped for the best.
You know, after coming from Las Vegas, it was pretty depressing — we simply hated the place. Although we knew it was a tented accommodation, we had no idea how rough it was. It was not that we cannot deal with this but it’s just that we’re so ill-prepared.
Firstly, by the time we got to Curry Village and checked in, it was already dark — and I meant pitch dark (that picture below was taken the day after). We can hardly see anything.
Then we were made to sign papers saying that we will not have a single morsel of food or drinks (even bottled water!!) in our tents and cars. You see, we were told that this is bear country and food draws bear. I am a cynical person — I think they’re doing that more because they wanted us to buy food from them … and they are not cheap.
It was pitch dark right? Well, we had to walk all the way back to our car, bring all the food & drinks to the lockers (below) only to find that it was so dark we cannot see which is ours. Anyway, over the course of the two nights there, I have learned how to count the location of ours … I can still remember … count nine from the left and ours is the bottom one.
By the time we settled down, we were quite hungry but also very tired. So, the best thing for us was to grab a pizza and call it a day. There’s a Pizza Patio in Curry Village — it was quite packed with people with a long line up to order. The boys were already grumbling but what can I do right? We still got to line up.
After placing our order, it was still another wait. They gave us a beeper to let us know once our order is ready. That means one thing … it’s gonna take even longer before we can sink our teeth into the pizza. It was pure torture!
The pizza, while OK, is overpriced if you ask me. A simple pepperoni pizza is 19 bucks.
Well, just hours ago, we had a buffet in Las Vegas and now what we have is only pizzas.
We stayed in tents like below. There must be something like 300 tents in all in Curry Village. It is not horrible but you know … it was just last night we were sleeping in nice big comfy rooms in Las Vegas and what do we have now …
One light bulb for lighting. No heating and it was freezing cold here in Yosemite even in summer. The blankets smells dusty and very thin that it did not help at all. I did not have even a jacket to keep myself warm. The beds were not made … we had to take the sheets and blankets and make it ourselves. The washrooms is something like a 5 minute walk away.
And guess what … the kicker is that this costs about $120 per night. Las Vegas’ rooms are only $90!!
OK, I admit … I am complaining. I do that when I am tired and hungry. A good night rest and it’ll be all behind me.
Ouch. I remember visiting Curry Village and hating it too.
i was here many years ago during the winter! yeah, expensive food but that’s the only place i can get some warmth.
fortunately, i didn’t take the offer to share the tent.
I drove from SF during this visit
Great info. I have to have my bottle of water with me at all times and I don’t like darkness, so, I can’t stay in Curry Village. My husband and I were driving to Yosemite many many years ago and we ate at a restaurant. The food there was unbelievably delicious. All I remember was, that restaurant had outdoor toilet. I wish I remember the name so that I can share it with you.
It sounds as though you are not from Calif. We do, indeed have bears – hence the black bear on our state flag – and they will absolutely go after any food they can smell, often a very long distances. The US National Park Service makes every attempt to keep visitors safe, even those who foolishly choose not to believe their warnings.
With regard to lodging prices compared to Las Vegas, Las Vegas hotels are subsidized by the gaming industry. The casino hotels do not want their patrons leaving the casino so both food and lodging are priced for this purpose, not as a stand alone moneymaking venture.
I have no affiliation with the Park or its facilities except as a taxpayer, but I grew up 2 hours away and am continually amazed at what a great job our park rangers do with very little resources to make everyone’s visit to Yosemite safe and accessible.