Blogs from Taos, New Mexico, United States, North America - page 4

Geronimo! Geronimo Day at the Pueblo last Monday took place in hot hot sunshine. This is the main Festival of the Pueblo in memory of that great warrior. I missed the early Mass at the beautiful Spanish Mission, and the running races, but made it about midday (sun very very hot). The Pueblo was heaving with locals, visitors, stalls selling food (didn't eat the fry bread but the blueberry pie---- what can I say, it kept me going), jewellery, Native American stuff. Lots of milling around of brightly adorned crowds, but strictly no photography permitted. Next the sacred clowns appeared at the top of the old buildings, painted with convict/type stripes and straw hair, leaping down and causing havoc amongst the stallkeepers and crowds. The stall holders had covered their stuff but left out presents of ... read more

Arriving It started with a kiss, or rather with a jet-lagged sweat. Around 8pm last Tues eve I was crawling on all fours through a narrow opening into the shallow round tent-like structure of the sweat lodge to take my place to one side of the doorway (a wise move as it turned out). Well I am in New Mexico and isn't this all part of the experience. 15 minutes later, I wasn't so sure. The sweat had begun in earnest. Our small group were in pitch black and the Native American leading the sweat was ladling cold water on to the white hot stones in the round pit just at my feet. It was blisteringly hot and steamy. I was attempting to catch breath by inhaling through a handful of sage bush .One woman had ... read more

We didn't find treasure at Black Rock Springs, but we did have one lucky break. After hiking back out from Black Rock Springs, we decided to head to the campgrounds at Rio Grande Gorge State Park to meet our friends. We had a 45 minute drive left ahead of us, but the day was still early. We took the New Mexico Highway 522 south to Highway 64. Highway 64 led us west over the Rio Grande River on a bridge with stunning views. We decided to pull over to check it out. We pulled into a small lot and trotted to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. We passed by some tables with locals and natives selling a few goods. I spotted carved grizzly bears and some necklaces. I passed by a table with rocks and geodes. ... read more

We have been out and about seing the local sights. The chapels, churches and cathedrals here in Taos vary in size, but most are quite small. They are beautiful inside and quite ornate. I particulary enjoy the wood carving on the doors. Today we visited a church in Rio de Taos and watched a 20 minute film on the making of adobe bricks and adobe stucco. Very interesting. We also visited the site of the Taos Pueblos where people have been inhabiting the site for over 1000 years. A young Native American girl took us on a guided tour making sure that we knew the facts as told by here people and not what the US Government has told us or our history school books portrayed. It was very interesting and educational. Our weather continues to ... read more

Dear Family and Friends, it has been three days since my last travel blog post. That sounds like a bit of a confession; which it is. Let me wrap up our last day in Santa Fe before I share thoughts and reflections on our short stop in Taos, New Mexico. Our last day in Santa Fe was terrific - sightseeing, shopping and a fantastic dinner at The Shed. We spent the vast majority of the morning at a shopping complex called Jackalope where multiple artists and shops are all found - everything from furniture, home decor, plants, pottery, jewlery and so on. We met a really nice couple from Oaxaca, Mexico who were in town for a few days giving ceramic demonstrations and selling their beautiful pottery and sculptures. We carefully selected a vase with calla ... read more