5 days - Monument Valley, UT + Albuquerque, Taos & Santa Fe, NM (Mar 2014)

My husband and I have been travelling a lot in the US (current count: 30 states) and I will try to recall it and post it here. Let me start from the not-your-typical-american place first - Monument valley and New Mexico

A plane ride from DC to Albuquerque took us about 4hours. As we wanted to get the best out of our trip, we rented a car from Albuquerque and drove to Utah and back to New Mexico.

When I plan my itinerary,  I like to drive the furthest place on the first day so we will not be as rush during the last few days of the trip.

Hence, the trip:

Day 1:

Arrived at Albuquerque

 

the drive from Alberqueque to Monument valley is great, there are few cars and the scenery is good

Drove 6 hours to Monument valley (of course, by the time we reached, the sun has already set and we were not able to see anything). We checked in the View Hotel (I highly recommend this - imagine waking up and having the whole monument valley view at your balcony) It would be great to watch the sun rising behind the valleys (provided that you are not as unlucky as me who woke up at 5am but didn't see the sun). 

 

The view from our balcony!

The hotel is not expensive but could not be booked through expedia (damn! we enjoy collecting points for our expedia). The good thing about reaching there during nightfall is that you will not be charged the price for entering monument valley ($10)! In case you are still wondering, the hotel is INSIDE the monument valley, you can literally walk from the hotel to the sandstone buttes if you wish. Oh, the food in the view restaurant was great too. Green chile stew is a must try, even my picky eater husband loves it. 

Day 2

Took a tour from Navajo Spirit Tours. Our tour guide is an native american who even travel overseas to teach and promote the Navajo culture. He brought us to the areas which only authorised guides are able to access and even sang traditional Navajo song to us. He reminds me of those kind grandfathers who will read to his grandchildren with them sitting on his lap. And please, please, please take a tour from the navajo guides even if it is not from this company. You will thank me later for saving your car and yourself.

 That's how small humans look

 Was in the car when we saw this tired-looking wild horse. It was really sad that we couldn't do anything about it.

 

One of the place that the general public will not be able to access

 Some random stranger. However, I took this photo because it has the western movie feel to it

After monument valley, we drove to Goosenecks State park. It wasn't in our original itinerary, it was recommended by our guide, hence, we decided to take a look and we sure were not disappointed. The place is not only breathtaking, but also quiet (I think it's quite ulu, another word - it is not as popular for tourist) and good place to picnic

Maybe in a million or even thousand years, this would become the second Grand Canyon

Soon after, we drove to 4 corners monument (seriously had a hard time to decide if we should go, I mean, is the only place in the US where you can be in 4 states at once, but it is so far away from everything! about 1hr40mins drive from the next "civilisation"). 

 

I did the typical tourist shot but decided not to post. In case anyone is wondering, it look like this:

 

 Day 3:

By day 3, we have reached Taos, NM (5hrs drive from 4 corners). We wanted to go Taos Pueblo, but it was closed for some spring thingy (blame me for only checking the opening hours but not the calendar). In the end, we went to Rio Grande Gorge Bridge (the wind was strong and it was cold for March, it is also quite a distance away from downtown Taos), Taos Plaza and San Franciso de Assisi Mission Church.

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

Taos Plaza

 San Franciso de Assisi Mission Church

Did I mention that you will not see any high rise building in Taos (and even Sante Fe). The buildings/concept are all related to the natives (even McDonald's!)

 

Lobby of Quality Inn Hotel

Another reason why we decided to go Taos was because we heard that the drive betw Taos and Sante Fe is stunning. There were 2 scenic roads to choose from (high road to Taos and low road to Taos). We heard that both are great, but unless we are so free and crazy to drive from Taos to Sante Fe, Sante Fe to Taos and back to Sante Fe again, we could only choose one. We took the high road to Taos and our choice was right. If you are smart enough, you should guess that high road means going around the mountains.

High road to Taos

It's March but there were still so much snow!

  

Because I am a child at heart, so I will bring my Doreamon to most of my trips and will take "his" photos of him with the scenery.LOL

After 2hours drive, we decided to do a detour to Puye Cliff dwellings (again, was not in our original itinerary). It was an interesting place, HOWEVER, if you are already intending to visit Bandelier National Monument, skip this as it will be a repeat of what you will be seeing there.

Day 4:

A few hours later, we have finally reached Sante Fe (fun fact: Sante Fe is the oldest capital city in the US). And of course, when you are in Sante Fe, you have visit all the holy places.

San Miguel Mission

cathedral basilica of st. francis of assisi

 

cathedral basilica of st. francis of assisi

 

Loretto Chapel

The mysterious staircase in Loretto Chapel

View from Cross of the Martyrs

Cross of the Martyrs

Palace of the governors is also good place to do some shopping. Canyon road, which is cultural center will be a great place for ppl who are interested in art pieces. We do not like to shop as much when we travel and we are not as artsy, hence, it was quite fast for us to finish both places.

1 hour drive from Sante Fe, Bandelier National Monument  is a cultural landmark of a pre-Pueblo community. It is a must go if you are in that area. It is also similar to Puye Cliff dwellings (scroll up to see), except it is bigger, you have to walk more, you can climb up the ladders and it is cheaper.

Bandelier National Monument

 Another 2 hours drive, we have reached Albuquerque. With careful planning of the time, we made sure that we reached there an hour before sunset. Because we wanted to watch the sunset at the Sandia Mountains. Taking the world's longest aerial tram ride (Sandia Peak Tramway), we managed to be at the peak half an hour before sunset. I always like to go places where I can see sunset, because I can see the view before sunset, the sunset itself and the night view (how convenient!)

on the tram up

it was really cold at the peak

the tram

 

Eating in the restaurant and you will have a panoramic view of the sun setting in Albuquerque

 Day 5:

Before we flew back to DC, we went to the Petroglyph National Monument where you can symbols carved onto volcanic rocks by the Native Americans many centuries back. Be prepared for the weather (scorching sun!) and also the hike up the hills (bring water!).

 
 I remember before we went to Albuquerque, a lot of people were warning us about the dangers (I think they have watched too much Breaking bad). It wasn't that bad when we were there (there were a lot of other places you feel for your safety eg.Detroit but not Albuquerque). As like many other places, just do your research and don't go to areas you are not supposed to and you will be safe. However, the high rise buildings don't interest us at all, so we skipped all the downtown area and went straight to old town Alberqueque, which was a really charming area (see photos below).