A Mexico vacations adventure in Santa Fe"MEXICO VACATIONS"
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4/8/1999 High adventure and high culture await summer visitors to Santa Fe. "White-water rafting down the Rio Grande and "Carmen" sung under the stars by the world-renowned Santa Fe Opera Company are among the things that make New Mexico vacations so memorable." Puye Cliff Dwellings, 28 miles northwest of Santa Fe, must be seen. This lofty ruin once housed more than 1,000 Pueblo Indians _ from about 1250 to 1580. The cliff dwellers' modern descendants live at the foot of the cliffs in Santa Clara Pueblo. They say a severe drought forced their ancestors to abandon the once-prosperous farm community whose members carved 740 rooms into the sheer face of the volcanic tuff overlook. MEXICO VACATIONS Santa Clara Pueblo offers guided and self-guided tours. There's an access road to the top of Puye for cars, but it's more interesting to climb the rugged system of rocky trails and wooden ladders 200 feet to the top of this archaeological treasure.
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Puye means "pueblo where rabbits meet." Only rabbits and birds live atop the mesa now. Come in the late afternoon when the tourist crowds dwindle and the colors of the surrounding desert are at their best. A maze of crumbling foundation stones marks the storage rooms where corn was secured from animals. Climb a ladder 20 feet down into Talus Kiva, a bowl-shaped ceremonial chamber carved into the mesa floor. MEXICO VACATIONS After exploring Puye, visit Santa Clara Pueblo village. Every New Mexico vacations pueblo produces its own distinctive pottery. Santa Clara's highly prized red-and-black earthenware was directly influenced by 600-year-old pot shards found at Puye. Numerous little village shops are well-stocked with Indian craftwork. San Ildefonso Pueblo, about 15 miles from Santa Clara, is known for the exquisite "black-on-black" pottery developed in 1919 by New Mexico's most famous pueblo potter, Maria Martinez, and her husband, Julian _ the first Indian potters to sign their work. Earthenware by the Martinezes and other Ildefonso artisans is on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art. The Eight Northern Pueblos Artist and Craftsman Show, the biggest American-Indian event of its kind, takes place the third weekend of July at San Juan Pueblo. MEXICO VACATIONS The next stop is Bandolier National Monument. Humans lived in this magnificent canyon as far back as 9500 BC. The relatively recent Pueblo tribes lived here from 1150 to 1500. Bandolier's most impressive ruin is Tyuonyi, an oval pueblo built between 1350 and 1450. In summer, the little creek that flows through the canyon makes Bandolier a cool, green oasis. Visitors who are in good physical shape can hike the 1.5-mile, self-guided canyon trail and climb 140-foot ladders to Ceremonial Cave, a natural alcove in the canyon wall. MEXICO VACATIONS
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The Rio Grande flows near Santa Fe, and White Rock Canyon offers even beginners a chance to do some white-water rafting. Gabriel's is the place for lunch when you're pottery shopping in pueblo country. The waiter wheels a caddy of avocados and limes to your table to whip up some terrific fresh guacamole. But go easy on the margaritas if you plan to go cliff climbing afterward; the region's 7,000-foot elevation makes each drink equal to three drinks. Hate to go inside after all that fresh desert air? Catch a perform-ance of Mozart's "Idomeneo" this summer at the Santa Fe Opera Company's indoor-outdoor amphitheater. Another world-class musical event, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, takes place in July and August at Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts..... Compare Mexico vacations here /cheap airfares home |