Anasazi Indian country - the atmospheric and historic city of Santa Fe

The adobe streets of Santa Fe
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Santa Fe isnt so much a town....its a state of mind.

Its a gorgeous historic town up high in the Sangre de Cristo mountains that blends hispanic and Indian cultures. All buildings are built in the sand coloured adobe way and modern planning restrictions mean any new buildings must be built this way as well. The result is the most cohesive town I saw in North America - something that had the feel of Latin Europe. One of the few towns I encountered in the United States, along with Savannah, that had the feel of time travel about it.

Mystics, new age acolytes and just plain hippies come here to be near the spirituality of the native americans

Indians selling souvenirs outside the Spanish governors palace
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Its very old for America as well. The Spanish had come up from Mexico and founded Santa Fe long before the English reached Plymouth rock. It officially came into being in 1609, the last northern outpost of the Spanish/Mexican empire. It ruled an enormous territory encompassing Arizona, New Mexico and bits of southern Colorado. And was most famous for being smack in the middle of Indian country. Utes to the north, Cheyenne to the east, Navajo to the west and bloodthirsty Apache to the south. Its still an Indian city. There are about twenty pueblos in and around Santa Fe and native americans walk the street and there is even a kind of university. The famous Woolworths on main plaza is manned by check out girls who come in from the Santa Clara pueblo each morning.

The chic Spanish revival architecture of Santa Fe.
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There is also a sense of New Age thinking about Santa Fe and attracts people from all over the US with its sense of spirituality (rather like our own Glastonbury). Mystics, new age acolytes and just plain hippies come here to be near the spirituality of the native americans. Our hostel  this evening was full of people who had arrived to "find themselves". In the common room last night they tried to explain to me what "new age" thinking was all about. I was shown crystals and to "get in touch" with my inner spiritual self. It was amusing for one night and we picked up one of these mystics to take to Taos this afternoon.

But we spent most of the day strolling around Santa Fe. First of all its surrounded by the Sangre de Criso mountains which were flecked with snow. San Francisco street is the main shopping drag and is full of art galleries, new age bookshops and Indian artefact boutiques. The three of us were utterly charmed by one boutique and had a good time messing around with stetsons, Indian rugs and looking at those little fridge magnets in the shape of American states.

Every adobe corner had a statue of a deer or wolf god. People played pan-pipes in the street and on the main plaza stands the Palace of the Governors dating from 1610 and the oldest surviving building in the United States. This is where the pueblo Indians gather to sell torquoise jewellry on spread rugs. Want a dreamcatcher or torquoise eagle talisman? Well, it will cost you ten bucks.

But Santa Fe immediately charmed me. I was sorry to head up to Taos and we collected our hippy at the hostel and headed north east up further into the Sangre de Cristos. For most of the climb soaring red rock cliffs dotted with clumps of snow were to our right while the raging Rio Grande was to our left. Every time we turned a corner there was another spectacular view. But we pulled into Taos at dusk and booked into the 'Abomnible Snowmansion' hostel.

Taos has ski fields and the hostel had switched to its ski/winter season. We could have slept in a dorm but myself, Sue and a snowboarder from Georgia elected to sleep in an authentic tepee outside.

With electric heater thrown in of course..