Enchanted in New Mexico

"The Land of Enchantment" vs. "The Land of Entrapment"

After twelve months of living in this this bizarre, wonderful and completely unique world I have decided to share my impressions. One of the shuttle drivers taking people from Santa Fe to the Albuquerque Airport once stated that New Mexico is not really the USA. In fact, it is not Mexico either. This is a very special land with totally different culture, nature and it is a home to everything unexpected. Before I first visited, I was convinced that there was just a desert, few canyons, mad scientists and some strange meth addicts (i.e. the Breaking Bad TV series). Well, I stand corrected. This article is a summary of my impressions of New Mexico from the past year, talking about the place we moved to and completely fell in love with. In this text I will also address many of the misconceptions people have about this "empty flat desert".

Typical New Mexico adobe building style.

When I was finishing my PhD in England, me and my husband decided that moving to the USA would be the natural next step for our careers and adventures. At that point I was already deep in negotiations about taking a position at Livermore labs at the San Francisco Bay area or at Princeton, as well as some other places in the US. We were almost convinced that we would move to to California or the northern East Coast, after all these were great prestigious names and famous/popular locations. When I was contacted by my future boss at Los Alamos to come to visit them in New Mexico and give a talk for a job interview I saw this as a bonus, but I had never considered this option before. As a good traveler and adventurer, I agreed to come and explore this new place. Of course, I had heard a lot about the Manhattan Project and the history of the lab, but I knew absolutely nothing of NM, apart from few images of Jodie Foster at the VLA during the Contact movie. Just, like everyone else, I was convinced this was a dull flat desert with nothing in it apart from few poisonous snakes and spiders. I could not be more wrong! During my job interview at Los Alamos, I somehow must have mentioned that I enjoyed nature and outdoors, at that point my future boss decided to take me to White Rock to take a look at the Rio Grande valley and at that point I was hooked, this was the moment when I knew I would be back.

Sangre de Cristo Mountains, NM.

Well, I did get that job and now, we live in Santa Fe, which is one of the oldest cities in the USA. It was founded by the Spanish colonists around the year 1600, although the Native Indian (Pueblan) population dates to 900 A.D.. Much of the city centre feels more like a old Spanish village than a US state capital, which is what we love about it. It has a very friendly and picturesque atmosphere decorated by old churches, cafes, restaurants, bars, countless galleries, street musicians and surprisingly green spaces. The views are dominated by the eminent peaks of the Sangre de Cristo mountains reaching to 13,000 feet (over 4000 metres) above the sea level, which are also the southernmost point of the Rocky Mountain Range crossing the entire Northern American continent. My first association of Santa Fe went to the Andalusian paradise town of Granada. The city is friendly to pedestrian and cyclists and its relaxed attitude makes it a wonderful place to live.

New Mexico is all about symbiosis of ancient, traditional native, Spanish and modern art forms.

The culture of present New Mexico is largely a result of their remarkable history. As mentioned, New Mexico was declared a colony by the Spanish, who were progressing through the Americas searching for their riches. When they reached the upper stream of the Rio Grande, they did not find Eldorado or any the Seven Cities of Gold, but a dense network of advanced cities and villages ("pueblos") surrounded developed agriculture and connected by a sophisticated trading network, built by the Native Americans. As quoted by the Spanish Colonists Society of Santa Fe, the Spanish had to justify their stay in New Mexico and since it was not for its resources, they started building missions. Despite tensions with the Spanish, some bad treatment of the indigenous population that resulted in a few indian rebellions, this gave a rise to a very unique culture, where the Spanish and Indians were able to live side by side and enrich each others culture. A lot of this cultural coexistence and influence is well explained in countless museums all around the state, so far my favourites are the Pueblo Museum in Albuqueque and the Spanish Colonial Art Museum in Santa Fe. When the English speaking world reached this land, this has long been an established normal, and their culture simply got incorporated into this marvelous mixture. Pueblan land has been largely respected, so the local reservations are not useless land that the Indians have been relocated by the authorities, but they do live on their ancestral land. Often converted to catholicism, they also kept a lot of their traditions. 

Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi (left) and San Miguels Mission Church build in adobe style (right), Santa Fe.

We have been fortunate to experience some of the local gatherings of the American tribes, called Pow-Wow, featuring many dances and traditional food feasts and it must have been some of the most exciting experiences of our lives. As a Wallachian-Moravian-Czech I must say, one of the greatest pleasant surprises here was that the Navajo taco (delicious fried bread with toppings) is virtually identical to my favourite street food originated in Hungary - Langos, yum!!! The cuisine of New Mexico is truly special, different both from the Mexican and the famous Tex-Mex, it has its own flavour rich in substance and somewhat more heavy, most likely catering to the colder mountain climate. The true trademark of New Mexico cooking is the "green chile", which I would call a "highly addictive substance". The famous green chilli comes from Hatch, however we visited a chilli festival in Los Lunas and completely loved the local produce. Most locals roast and preserve their own green chilli every autumn and so did we. Until now, half of our freezer is filled with this deliciousness! The true signature of New Mexico in September is the constant smell of roasting chillies in the street, outside every supermarket, from every home. Pure goodness! If one wishes to sample the local specialities, I would suggest visiting the Shed in near the Santa Fe Plaza and Maria's, famous for their Margaritas.

Local produce @ Viva Chile Festival, Los Lunas, NM.

Pow-Wow at Taos Pueblo 2012.

Some of the coolest things about New Mexico is their unique building style, art and furniture making. A lot of it comes from the spanish colonists, which to our amusement, was influenced by the North African Moorish art and woodwork. In fact the word Albuquerque (largest city in New Mexico) is based on a Portuguese spelling of town/region in the Iberian peninsula which can be related to the original Arabic name of 'Al-Barquq', meaning "the plum". Many motives in the local art then can be traced to the Indian part of the culture which included images from nature, geometrical shapes and very special colour combinations. Perhaps it is the beautiful scenery or it comes from the strong culture of the Spanish and Pueblos, New Mexico has been attracting artists (folk, modern or traditional) from all over the world and it remains to artistic hub of the world. Many cities including Santa Fe, Taos, Truth of Consequences, etc. are full of galleries and artists practicing their trade here. That also attracts a lot of other culture and interesting characters to this region. One of the most amazing experiences is to walk up the Canyon Road in Santa Fe and pop into all those little galleries and studios, talk to the local artists which came from all corners of the world and share their enthusiasm for the place and all the inspiration they get of this place. However, if one wants to buy local art for a decent price, I would recommend to visit the Tesuque Flee Market past the Santa Fe Opera, this is where the spirit lies. Also, Truth of Consequences has a lot of affordable and authentic art for sale. New Mexico's art was brought onto the world's scene with the passion of Georgia O'Keeffe, who's famous work was deeply rooted in this land. She once said: "If you ever go to New Mexico, it will itch you for the rest of your life," she could have not been more right!

Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area, Red River, NM.

Santa Fe Ski Basin, NM.

Fresh snow at the Taos Ski Valley, NM. (photo: April Aronie)

Truchas Peaks, Sangre de Cristo Mountains (southern Rockies) source: www.pmags.com

Williams Lake, Taos Ski Basin, NM.

Finding my zen at the Williams Lake, Taos Ski Basin, NM.

New Mexico is a land of contrasts. Many people are aware of desert climate of the state, which is however only a small part of the picture. The local landscapes vary from bright white sand dunes of the White Sands National Monument, deep wonders of the Carlsbad Caverns, high empty plateaus covered only with juniper bushes too dry for any agriculture but a few cows here and there and often not even that, monumental canyons along the Rio Grande valley to spectacular peaks of the famous Rocky Mountains. At one point you drive through a desert and before you know it you pass by a sign "Elk crossing"!!! Yes, there are also countless mountains with deep and fresh forests, cool rivers and waterfalls full of animals such as deer, elk, Mountain Lion or black bear that one would rather place somewhere in Canada. Once again, welcome to New Mexico! This winter in New Mexico was the best ski season both me (born and brought up on the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains) and my husband (hardened by the cold climate of Northern Sweden). Due to the wonderful dry climate, somehow New Mexico and Colorado provide the best powder snow on the globe! What is amazing though is that one can enjoy a perfect ski moment in a powder with a marvelous sunshine while looking down onto the desert climate down below. The craziest view of my life was standing on a ski hill in Cloudcroft surrounded by perfect Alpine nature looking down on the pure white sand dunes by Alamogordo, which once were a bottom of an ancient sea. One time we called this place a "geologist's wet dream", since we stand here on top of the American Continental Divide, famous for extreme vulcanic activity, world's most studied super vulcano that formed the Jemez mountains or one of the most recent lava flows of El Malpais (only 3000 years old lava flow, named by the Spanish explorers "Badlands" as its terrain was to difficult for them to cross) with famous formations such as basalt stone insulated "fridge" called the Ice Cave, where even in the heat of the New Mexican sun ice stays all year round. Thanks to all this rather recent volcanic activity New Mexico is full of splendid hot springs! This place is truly great for any outdoor enthusiast, not only because of all the natural marvels of the state itself, but here we are only couple of hours drive from the majestic mountains in Colorado and famous national parks of Arizona and Utah such as the Petrified Forest NP, Grand Canyon, Arches NP or Canyonlands.

White Sands National Monument, NM. (photo from www.newmexicogolfdestinations.com)

Sunset over White Sands, NM.

El Malpais National Monument, NM.

The Ventana Arch, El Malpais National Monument, NM.

El Morro National Monument, NM.

Most Europeans view North America as the "new continent" with not much of a history. Well, this is definitely not true for New Mexico. When I was a small kid I was mesmerized by ancient cultures of Egypt, the Aztecs or India. When I was nine I was given a book by my parents that described many wonders of the world both natural and man-made. It was in this book, when I first read of the the Ancestral Pueblo or Anasazi people (Anasazi = Navajo word with loose meaning of "the ancient ones" or "those who came before", a term often avoided by the actual Pueblo Indians, often offensive to them, due to its unpleasant original meaning "the enemy ancestors"). I was astonished, especially since any of my history lessons neglected to mention this marvelous culture that was as old as the Mayans and often traded with them. The Pueblo Indians that brake up into many individual nations (Hopi, Zuni, Taos Pueblo, etc.) are a very old culture that has been building great cities for thousands of years. The local rocks are decorated by houndreds of thousands of petroglyphs.  The local landscape is enriched by many spectacular ruins like Chaco Culture, Mesa Verde (in Colorado), Bendelier National Monument, Pecos National Historic Park, Aztec Ruins, Gila Cliff Dwellings, ruins in Canyon de Chelly (Arizona) and countless sites all around New Mexico and the neighbouring states. In fact Chaco Culture still remains my favourite national park in the entire US, it is hard to get to as one has to endure a rough ride on 40 miles long dirt washed away road, but the nature, exciting hiking trails and majestic ruins make it well worth it. This place even appeared in Carl Sagan's Cosmos series as it is a home for some of the most spectacular ancient astronomically aligned structures, making this place particularly interesting during solstices and equinoxes. Many of these original cities which are often more than 1000 years old are still inhabited with famous examples being the Taos Pueblo (oldest constantly inhabited settlement in the USA and UNESCO World Heritage Site), Zuni Pueblo or the Acoma "Sky City". Having a heart of an adventurer archeologist I often feel like Indiana Jones exploring ancient treasures when climbing through these magical places. Some of the ancient ruins have not even been fully excavated and you can truly feel like a proper explorer there. It is common to be able to find hundreds of years old pottery or jewelery in the sand of the historic sites of New Mexico. 

Overlooking 1200 years old ruins of Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Culture NHP.

Pecos National Historic Park, NM.

Kiva at the Alcove Cave, Bandelier National Monument, NM.

Aztec Ruins National Monument, NM.

Acoma Sky City, continuously inhabited for over 800 years.

Taos Pueblo is over 1000 years old and it is the longest constantly inhabited settlement in the USA.

Abo Ruins, Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, NM.

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

It is also here, where the true flavour of the old "Wild West" can be found, many ghost towns and sites like Silver City still have the essence of the western expansion and all that lovely excitement so beautifully pictured in the movie Cowboys and Aliens. It was in New Mexico where the Santa Fe trail lead the American pioneers, merchants, settlers from Europe, adventurers looking for gold and silver and outlaws like Billy the Kid, who probably did time in every single prison in NM!) that passed through or settled here. It was also New Mexico where some of the most heated battles with the native tribes like Ute or Apache took place and became the source of the romanticized "Wild West" we know from novels and films. One of the most important US military outposts in the (Wild) West was Fort Union, now protected as a National Monument. It was built to protect the Santa Fe Trail and was a key base during the Indian wars. It also played an important role during the Civil War when the US forces from this base with many New Mexico volunteers and black "buffalo" soldiers stopped the Westward advance of the Confederate forces. Some of the scenery one can find here have the power to truly transport you back in time. A wonderful place to visit for this is the Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, which used to be inhabited by the original Pueblo population, it was also an old farm of the first pioneer settlers, and later become a place of inspiration for many artists including Georgia O'Keeffe herself. In 1940's several paleontological findings were made and the site now completes for the oldest most complete fossil of a dinosaur. Ghost Ranch also harbours a growing archeological research  as we found out recently from one of the local archeologists  there is evidence of constant inhabitation dating more than 9000 years into part in this area. Today, you can enjoy many wonderful hike trails, great museums of atrhropology and paleonthology, historical buildings and great events or tours there.

Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM.

Fort Union National Monument, NM.

Pinos Altos "ghost" town, Gila, Silver City, NM.

Silver City, NM

Madrid, NM.

The tasty and fabulous Pie Town, NM.

The Spanish came in 1540–1542, when Francisco Vázquez de Coronado reached this area in the search of the mystical Seven Golden Cities of Cibola. Needles to say, they never found any gold, however the New Mexico territory became a good buffer as a border zone for the Spanish colonies. Historians say that the Spanish justified their presence here by building the Missions to spread the Catholic faith. Their mission was therefore of "peace" and faith, at least at first. It was probably in New Mexico where the indigenous population of the America's received most respect and "good treatment" by the European explorers/invaders. But, even here things were not perfect. I guess, they were pretty lucky there was no gold! :) The Spanish were impressed by the sophistication of the Pueblo people's culture and city building, in contrast with the nomadic tribes that surrounded them. However tensions, especially over the religious oppression and increasingly violent attitude of the newcomers resulted in a revolt by the Pueblo people in 1680 in which the colonists were kicked out of New Mexico. The Spanish eventually came back under the leadership of Diego de Vargas in 1692 and retook the territory "peacefully". After Mexico declared independence from the Spanish kingdom, New Mexico became part of its territory until 1846, when the US army marched into northern New Mexico during the Mexican-American War, which they later won and New Mexico became US territory. It was however not until 1912, when New Mexico finally became a member state of the USA. 

New Mexico is also home to some delicious wine!

The Spanish brought the adobe building style that New Mexico is so famous for, which was also adopted by the Pueblo population. They respected the Indian territories and build their cities such as Santa Fe in places other than the original pueblos, thus all current reservations in NM are also the ancient Indian lands, i.e. Pueblo Indians have never been replaced like in most other parts of the US. The Spanish enriched this land with stunning cities with countless beautiful churches and missions. The San Miguel's Mission is the oldest standing church in the USA dating to 1600. Santa Fe also has a majestic cathedral (Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi) built by Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1869 and 1886 on the site of an older adobe church, La Parroquia (built in 1714–1717). Since Santa Fe, Taos and many other towns around are old even by European standards, they do not have the typical feel of American cities, they are rather filled with narrow crooked streets, small shops, plazas, bars, restaurants and cafes just like in cut out of Southern Spain. This region has had a very turbulent and exciting long history that shaped its culture and demographical make-up. The American, or "Anglos", came along the Santa Fe trail during the 19th century and brought this region its strong american "Wild West" feel. Later, the scientists and hippies enriched this already very "liberal" culture with new inputs. 

Tent Rocks National Monument, NM.

We also discovered the pulsing musical scene. Being passionate both rock/metal as well as classical music fans, over the year we have attended lots of great music performances, gigs and festivals. Albuquerque has a great alternative music scene with leading venues like the Launchpad or great outdoor venues for festivals like the Hard Rock Cafe & Casino arena hosting big names like Iron Maiden, Killswitch Engage, Lacuna Coil, Incubus, etc. The New Mexico Philharmonic is world famous and performs all over NM and the world. We have just seen the Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no. 3 by the New Mexico Philharmonic hosting the great Alexander Gavrylyuk on piano, which was rewarded with standing applause and screaming audience! Santa Fe has a famous Opera House (apparently the 2nd best in the US after the New York Metropolitan!) presenting world-class performances that people travel from great distances to see (see some wonderful articles in Czech here and here). New Mexico is also famous for its film industry, due to low cost and versatile landscapes Hollywood also makes the use of local facilities. In fact some of our friends have acted as extras in many famous movies and one of my coworker's son is now becoming a new famous child actor starring in movies with Tommy Lee Jones. For exaple the latest Terminator movie was shot around Taos and Albuquerque. 90% of the Lone Ranger movie is actually filmed here. My personal favourite must be the Contact with Jodie Foster set at the Very Large Array near Socorro. A true curiosity is the British comedy Paul where Simon Pegg and Nick Frost cross the entire US between Nevada and Wyoming actually being shot within 15 mile radius of Santa Fe! So much for the boring flat desert :D Albuquerque is also famous for the world's largest hot air balloon display: The Balloon Fiesta!

El Morro NM

Gila National Forest, NM.

Central New Mexico ... just desert? :)

Hiking in the Jemez Mountains, NM.

Valles Caldera, Jemez Mountains, NM.

Balloon Fiesta 2012, Albuquerque, NM.

UFO Museum in Roswell,NM ... still going strong :D

This crazy little corner of the USA is also famous for its science and technology. This was the principal reason for me moving here indeed. Many know of the Manhattan project, which brought many famous scientists like Richard Feynman, Enrico Fermi, or J. R. Oppenheimer to Los Alamos to build the first atomic bomb, which was later deployed over targets in Japan Nagasaki and Hiroshima ending the Second World War. The site currently named the Los Alamos National Laboratory and my current employer was soon joined by the Sandia National Laboratories near Albuquerque, currently operated by the Lockheed Martin for the US Government as a research facility as is home to many wonderful project including the biggest z-pinch in the world (Z-Machine). Not many, however know, that it was in New Mexico, where R. H. Goddard built the first liquid fuel rocket effectively starting the space age. His original lab and rocket launch pad can still be found in Roswell, NM. Speaking of Roswell, I am sure everyone is aware that New Mexico made the first contact with aliens from space decades ago ;) The worlds (still) largest radio telescope array in the world is located just west of Socorro, NM. The Very Large Array (VLA) is a stunning machine, where the movie Contact with Jodie Foster took place. I would strongly recommend visiting the facility, they give excellent (and free) talks and tours, and stay till the sunset, when the place just looks like a different planet! Well, this is not all yet! The White Sands Missile range and base has been home to NASA as a landing platform for the Space Shuttle and has a pretty cool museum. 

Visitting the VLA, Soccoro, NM.

NRAO Very Large Array, New Mexico. (photo from www.rockymtnrefl.com)

Los Alamos, New Mexico.

New Mexico also has the world's first commercial rocket launch complex: Spaceport America, which can also be visited. There are many other smaller research labs lased at universities and pulsing hi-tech industry tapping into all this big science done in New Mexico. The Trinity test site, where the first nuclear device was deployed is open twice a year and the The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History organizes excellent tours from Albuquerque there. Well worth a visit is also the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos, which has many great exhibits on the Manhattan Project as well as modern research carried out at the lab.

Workshop where Goddard build the first liquid fuel rocket in 1932, Roswell, NM.

Spaceport America, NM.

Although the official motto of New Mexico is the "Land of Enchantment", many locals call it the "Land of Entrapment", which in their minds has a rather negative meaning. Some of them feel trapped in "this boring place". However, I have also met many who came to New Mexico for a holiday and got "trapped" here for life. This place attracts many interesting characters: scientists, engineers, artists, actors, film makers, musicians, outdoor enthusiasts, writers, journalists (The Outside magazine is based in Santa Fe), environmentalists (the Santa Fe Institute think tank, Earthships, environmental building, water management), hippies, adventurers and balloonists from all over the world. As a results many places like Santa Fe and Taos are pulsing hubs full of culture, intellectuals and liberals. Santa Fe has one of the largest gay communities in the USA (next to Texas?:P). So you can imagine our little parties with friends are on the quality side. There is another motto, rather less official, that the locals go by "Carpe Mañana". I would describe the local population relaxed, just like Southern Spain, but with the efficiency of Germany, no on ever seems to get stressed, yet somehow, things always get done! :) It does however take a special character to love New Mexico, either you take it all and love every aspect simultaneously; the art, nature, history, people, culture, the sun, science, skiing, elk hunting, the craziness, the laid-back attitude all in one or you end up hating it. All I know though, this is a special place and I fell in love at the first sight ... thank you White Rock Overlook!

Me enjoying a warm sunset over White Sands, NM.

Check out the New Mexico tourism site: http://www.newmexico.org/
Pretty video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKpHgD9Nf_0
Big science in New Mexico: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1SJXxlIsqk

Great photographs of New Mexico: http://www.rockymtnrefl.com/newmexicogallery.htm
A lovely article about the Dalai Lama's visit to New Mexico: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2014/02/dalai_lama_at_a_santa_fe_ski_resort_tells_waitress_the_meaning_of_life.html


Nové Mexiko je najamerickejší štát USA: http://zivot.azet.sk/clanok/9717/nove-mexiko-je-najamerickejsi-stat-usa.html
Nové Mexiko - země okouzlení: http://www.novinky.cz/cestovani/amerika/268168-nove-mexiko-zeme-okouzleni.html
Nové Mexiko: http://www.amerika.cz/staty/nove-mexiko