Today we were heading North once more – destination of the day: Taos.

We took the high road to get there, a back road going through desert, pine forests and halfway-forgotten villages with historic adobe churches. We had a few stops on the way to take in the views and get a closer look of a church – before making it into Taos. After a picnic lunch in a park, we ventured out to explore the town, walked around the plaza and followed the suggested walking tour.

In the early afternoon it was back to the car, to make our way out to Taos Pueblo – kind of the ‘old town’ of Taos. This is essentially the settlement of the indigenous people, founded and inhabited since the middle of the 15th century (and – as such – out there even since before Taos was called Taos).

We did go with a guided tour of the pueblo, covering all the main aspects, including the buildings, the history of town, but also insights into indigenous life back in the days and today.

The pueblo itself was a bit of an oddity to me … on the one hand side we were clearly walking in a well-preserved village with historic roots, on the other side however all those little shops really gave it a sort of Disneyland / tourist trap feeling. Certainly a worthwhile destination – but with a bit of an aftertaste.

From the pueblo we continued to the Rio Grande and the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. The river here has – over the ages – cut deeply into the plateau and so far produced a gorge with a depth (around the bridge) of about 250m. The bridge – a masterpiece of engineering – connects the two sides of the gorge and – in itself – is an incredible sight.

We made our way back into town – the last sightseeing stop of the day being at San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church – another historical landmark (dating back to the late 18th/ early 19th century) – we made it here just in time … the moment we left the church, it was locked up for the day.

We were also lucky on the way back … we stopped at two wineries to get a bit of a taste of New Mexican wines (again – both were close to closing for the day – so we were lucky once more). The wines came as a surprise to me … I did really not expect New Mexico to be wine country – but then, some of the reds were actually quiet good (the whites were not to my taste).

Luck proved to be on our side once more during dinner – this time on the way and in restaurant geared towards the locals (think New Mexican family restaurant) – the food was very good, service attentive … they just closed at 20:00 – so they had to unlock the door for us, to let us out after dinner …

Another great day with a lot of details to digest – and loads of luck in the end (being last customer in like four spots – that’s either luck on our end – or bad business on the other end).