Spiritual Tourists in Northern New Mexico

Descending into the San Luis Valley from La Veta pass, then turning south at Ft. Garland, the New Mexico vibes start to sink in. The sun is setting as we pass through the town of San Luis and out onto the llano where signs warn of wild horses on the highway (we see several of the beautiful creatures right next to the road), the sky alight with fiery hues and the snowy peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range aglow in the final rays of daylight.

Just north of Questa we are trying to spot the stupa which we know exists among the juniper and pinion pine forest to the east but which we have never visited. Rather remarkably we do catch a glimpse of the white and gold spire in the dark, pull off the highway and follow a rutted dirt road until we reach the Buddhist shrine. It's a magnificent sight, locked at this hour but peering through the door's window we can see beautiful paintings on the walls and ceilings and vow to return sometime during daylight.

We arrive in Taos around dinnertime and are happy we have reservations at what has become our favorite restaurant there, Antonio's, housed in an old hacienda. We are now fully immersed in the spirit of New Mexico and feeling immense gratitude for all that it offers. After dinner we walk to the historic Taos Inn and sit in the lounge and listen to the ballads of a singer-songwriter from Oklahoma.

The next morning we visit the Neem Karoli Baba ashram and Hanuman Temple, a Taos landmark we have never before been to. We sit in the temple while Hunman Chalisa is recited, then tour the grounds, chat with some devotees and visit the gift shop.

A walk through the backstreets of Taos, with its old adobe houses and cottonwood trees, leads us to the historic plaza where shops display Indian jewelry, western wear and tourist trinkets.

New Mexico sits atop the Rio Grande rift which means there are lots of hot springs, some famous, some known to only a few. We decided to seek out one of the latter which we had only recently learned of. Ponce de Leon hot springs had once been a thriving resort but all that remains to the present day is a few cement pools in the forest. It is on private land but we read on the web that access had been permitted at various times in the past. The directions we found were rather vague but with GPS coordinates I was confident we could get there.

The drive from Taos didn't take long and after several miles on a dirt road we saw a gate and a sign giving temporary permission to enter (at your own risk). Nothing about a hot spring but we figured we had found the right place. A beautiful hike along the road and then a short climb through the forest led to the springs which had a small, unlined source pool and two lower cement pools. The larger of the two cement pools was our favorite place, because it was the warmest (we could feel seepage of hot spring water through the gravel-lined bottom) and because it was large enough to allow swimming laps.

We had planned to stay there for an hour or two. But it was one of the most enchanting spots among the many we have found in this our favorite part of the country, and we didn't leave until after the sun had set.

One other visitor came to the springs while we were there and he made the afternoon all the more enchanting. Herrero arrived dressed in a cowboy hat and boots with sarape over his shoulder. He greeted us warmly in Spanish and proceeded to undress and slip into the far end of the pool. I could see that he had huge shoulder muscles but the muscles in his left arm were deformed and his leg was badly scarred. We began to converse, Jitka and I pooling our limited Spanish vocabulary and learned that he came from Chihuahua state in Mexico, had 12 children, the youngest being 20, and he had been trampled by a horse when he was seven. He came to the springs to wash and be healed. We talked about our daughter and how I had family in Mexico. He asked if ours was the blue car parked by the gate and when we said yes he advised that there were "mal gente' (bad people) that broke into cars there and there was a better place he could show me. So when he was ready to leave I followed him on a narrow path through the woods, down narrow washes and up to the road where his dilapidated van was parked. He drove me back to our car, so I could move it, and there we said goodbye. I asked for his phone number but since he could neither read nor write he pulled a worn business card out of his wallet and said it was his "patron" (employer). So I wrote that down.

That evening we ate dinner and slept at the Rancho de Chimayo. In the morning we visited the two rustic chapels there and then headed towards Santa Fe, taking a back road (Bishop's Lodge) into town so we could stop at the Shinoni sculpture garden near Tesuque Pueblo. That evening we strolled the streets of Santa Fe, ate another great New Mexican dinner at the Guadalupe Cafe and then hung out on the plaza where they had just illuminated the Christmas lights for the season.

Heading back north the next day we journeyed into the country around Abiquiu and the Chama River. After reading about it in a local magazine we had decided to visit a Benedictine Monastery, "Christ in the Desert," situated in a beautiful valley at the end of a 13 mile dirt road. They accept visitors and even rent rooms for those seeking quiet and solitude for prayer and meditation. We very much enjoyed the majestic surroundings and the austere and peaceful feeling that pervaded there. Earlier Jitka and I both had wondered, after reading the magazine article, what it would be like to lead a life of contemplation and quiet work there (all are welcome - the author of the article was a Buddhist/pagan) but decided that Baba's ashram was more our style. But there's no question that New Mexico offers peace and inspiration where ever you go.