Albuquerque....driving to the East...

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We are driving East, and for the first time, I'm in New Mexico. This trip is also about visiting few places on my personal wish list...and Santa Fe is one of them. I have to admit, hotels in Albuquerque are way cheaper than in more glamorous Santa Fe....so here we are, three nights at the Sheraton Albuquerque....the hotel may be old, but we finally land a more comfortable room!



The drive from Monument Valley to Albuquerque is a good 5 hours. I tried to take few of the back road to make it more fun. First, a drive back next to Mexican Hat. It's a small city getting his name from a rock in the shape of a Mexican hat, that I feature in my last blog.



The roads are long and can be slightly lonely...we have left the tourist tracks. We had a fast late lunch in Gallup. This is pure Native American Navajo country. Would have loved to stay longer, but it is pretty interesting to stop in places where the Native Americans are still the majority. We would learn more about them later on in the trip.



There are not thousand of things to visit in Albuquerque. We asked the concierge and the two places not to be missed seem to be the Sandia Tram as well as the Old Town.

The Sandia "Tram" is actually the longest cable car ride in the world. We went first at the end of the morning, just to find out that the top was still covered in clouds...not the best idea. We went for an early lunch by Whole Foods supermarket...and once this was done, as the mountain was still covered, we moved to the Old Town. The place is just actually few streets. It is gorgeous, but looks slightly like a tourist trap. Well, why not, we had a good time!



Albuquerque ranks about one of the best city to live in the States. We can understand this when you see the amount of outdoors activities available. The city sit around 2000 meters....high it is....and the top of Sandia Peak is at 3100 meters....you can golf, bike and even ski during the winter!



By the time we were done with the Old Town, Sandia Peak had cleared. The ride is 25 usd return, and it's a truly fun one! High it is...I wouldn't want to be stuck between the top and one of these towers! from the top, there is some hiking, and also some skiing in the summer. I say "some" as I was surprised at the basic level of the ski chair lifts...these truly don't look 21st century....well....



We went the next day to Santa Fe, but for this, you'll have to wait the next blog, I need to win some time here to organize a little more the pictures that are coming in the next few blogs. Few places ahead that are simply a first for me...as for Tanya, everything is a first here!

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