Hawaii unsurprisingly always seems to top America’s happiness polls, but the people and places we’ve encountered on our many trips to New Mexico radiate sunshine like nowhere else.
This special feeling is at its most palpable at ‘Ten Thousand Waves’, which I can best describe as a Japanese style Onsen (hot springs spa) with all the formality, wardrobe etiquette and reverence stripped away. It’s the most relaxing place we’ve visited in all our travels around the US, though Dunton Hot Springs near Telluride in Colorado, runs it a close second. Near to Santa Fe and yet remote from it, this mountain resort had us spending our days hanging out in bathrobes and flip-flops.
The pleasures it offers are simple and sybaritic, from soaking in communal or private hot tubs to enjoying massages and treatments in one of the remote huts which are dotted around the property. Sabrina and I loved our Yasuragi head massages and salt body scrubs and my German masseuse’s bracing craniosacral rub had added drama as it was accompanied by a dramatic thunderstorm, so while the rain played timpani on the building’s tin roof, I counted the diminishing number of seconds between thunderclaps. In the evenings we relaxed on the terrace of our room between bathes and caught up on classic Japanese movies. Ironically, all that’s really missing from this aqueous tonic is a decent restaurant, but then even in relaxed New Mexico you’d probably have to get dressed to enjoy it!
This is our first summertime visit to the ‘land of enchantment’ (for once a state tourism slogan that’s no exaggeration) and without the usual mountains of ski gear to transport to Taos Ski Valley, we’ve opted to ride the rails on the overnight ‘South West Super Chief’ train from LA’s Union Station to Albuquerque. I may have oversold the comfort of the reclining ‘sleeper seats’ to Sabrina and our daughter, but wouldn’t have traded the experience of crossing the desert under a full moon, for anything. As the sun rose the following morning and the summer camp councillor in the next seat slept blissfully on, I looked across the aisle at my already awake family. Fortunately, I was soon forgiven for this mostly sleepless night, as Sabrina pronounced our room ‘House of the Moon’ to be the most beautiful she has ever stayed in.
‘Pinch me’ moments of serendipity, sheer unadulterated joy and generosity of spirit have come thick and fast on this trip. First there was the barista in Santa Fe who was happy for me (a complete stranger) to “come back later” to pay for my drinks and muffins (I’d wandered in after a hike with no cash and only an Amex card, which they didn’t accept). Then there were the jeweller and baker we’d been chatting with in Taos Pueblo who turned up unannounced a half hour later to “help out” and to carry on our conversation at nearby ‘Tiwa’s Kitchen’, the restaurant they’d recommended.
Their friends, Ben White Buffalo and his wife Debbie Moonlight Flowers, prepare authentic Native American food in traditional beehive ovens, from ingredients grown and husbanded in their own garden (the delicious bison burgers that we chose was sourced from their own herd, which we could see munching the Mesquite trees contentedly in the near distance from our table).
Bison (Buffalo) Burger in a Fry bread Sandwich: Serves Four
Fry bread:
3 cups AP flour, plus a little extra in reserve
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1¼ cups warm water
Mix the dry ingredients together, then make a well in the center and pour in the water. Mix into a smooth dough. If it is sticky, add a little more flour until you have a smooth, soft consistency. Cover with a dishcloth for 10 minutes to let rest.
Roll into a log and cut into up to 10 pieces (6 to 8 if you want them larger). Roll the pieces into balls and then into flat discs. Heat a cast iron or other heavy pan with about 1” of oil. When the oil is hot drop the dough discs in, cooking one at a time until both sides golden (about 2-3 minutes per side). Drain on kitchen paper.
Burger:
1lb ground buffalo/bison meat
1 large onion, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sliced tomato
Shredded lettuce
Mix the meat with the minced onion, salt, pepper and olive oil. Make patties the size you want; fry or grill. Make a sandwich for each patty with two slices of fry bread, adding lettuce and tomato and whatever sauce you like (green chilli is my personal preference).
Later that same day as we sat on the terrace of the irrepressibly quirky Taos Hotel for Happy Hour Margaritas and snacks, we were so suffused with well-being that like the locals we merely shifted our table umbrella a bit to avoid the worst of the sudden downpour and stayed outdoors during the dramatic electrical storm, then laughed our heads off as we bowed to the inevitable and got soaked to the skin running back to our room to get ready for dinner.
In this kind of mood even mistakes can seem serendipitous, as early the following morning the hotel’s parking valet sent me in completely the wrong direction for a hike and I ended up walking the rim of the Rio Grande gorge, so much more spectacular than the trail I’d planned.
It’s our final morning and I’m up even earlier than usual to climb the Devisadero Peak trail through piñons, juniper, gambel oaks and fields of wildflowers. Devisadero means ‘lookout’ point, as the peak was once used by Taos Pueblo’s warriors to stand guard against the Apaches who would come down Taos Canyon to raid the village- a far cry from the warm welcome you’ll enjoy today.
Determined to squeeze every last drop from our time here we detour en route to the airport to the Georgia O’Keeffe museum in Santa Fe, to view her ‘Abstraction’ exhibition. She loved this land, and for me one painting above all others in this beautiful show captures its radiance perfectly.
Georgia O’Keeffe: ‘Morning Sky’.
This brings back a lot of memories and makes me want to plan another trip to New Mexico ASAP. It is truly deserving of its name, an enchanting land in so many ways. We like to visit a different hot springs, Ojo Caliente. It’s near Taos and has really excellent restaurant that serves a lot of regional dishes often made with herbs and vegetables from a garden right on the property. Thanks for sharing the post!
What an incredible experience. You seem to have the ability to find extraordinary places to visit.