Albuquerque, a walking tour

I didn't expect to enjoy Albuquerque as much as I did, but I did. While the city itself wasn't that impressive to me, it was my experience walking through it that really made my trip. For one, I had a really awesome walking partner-- my roommate, whose adventurous attitude took us to all different parts of the city that I'm sure, even some locals don't ever walk through. Our first walking adventure (chronicled in the previous post) took us through some nice neighborhoods, with nice adobe homes, parks, and a general air of suburban calm. Our second walking adventure, the goal (more of a joke) of which was to reach the Rio Grande, was quite the opposite.

It's amazing how the simple act of walking can reveal so much about a city. I've always said that the best way to explore any place is to walk through it. Only then will you actually take the time to pace yourself and enjoy your surroundings. If you're lucky enough, you'll discover some hidden gem or interesting sight that would have been missed if you had driven through the city. On this walking tour toward the Rio Grande, we got lost more than a few times and walked through some "questionable" areas. And even though my ankles ached throughout (damn my inadequate shoes), I wouldn't have traded it for any other experience.

How else would I have seen the Rio Grande?! Sure, it was DRY and we had to walk through a sort of creepy bike trail in the dark to get there, but it was a joke between us that actually came true. Proves that if you approach the most far-off goals with persistence and most importantly, good humor, you'll achieve it and get a good laugh out of it too.

Our walking tour also led us to walk through the lower-income neighborhoods of Albuquerque, under freeway underpasses, and desolate streets. These parts of town, I'm sure, probably aren't recommended evening walking destinations for two females, but you know, it really confirmed that fears of these areas of towns are really misplaced. Because, not once, did I feel unsafe (only a little creeped out, but that's attributed to my fear of the supernatural). It's like when people express fears of East Side San Jose. Uggh. Annoys me so much. Why, because there's colored people?! Alert the police! Poor minorities live in the area! I'm scared they'll harass me! Hate that sentiment. These communities are a lot safer than people give credit. Anyways...end rant and back on-topic. Walking!

Walking took us through the Old Town of Albuquerque. The one interesting thing there was this 18th-century church. I love the gloomy night sky. Gives this image a sense of foreboding.

San Felipe de Neri Church

An intrinsic part of walking (and travel in general) is getting lost, of which we did plenty of. But that's the beauty of travel--to get lost and wander. If we hadn't got lost on our walking tour, I wouldn't have even known that there's a sort of Little Vietnam in Albuquerque.

Sure, it was isolated to about a 2 block radius, but it was neat to see Vietnamese coffee shops (yes, with the blacked out windows), noodle restaurants, and even an Asian supermarket. Who knew that Vietnamese people settled in New Mexico?

I definitely would not have seen all I have seen if it were not for walking. My trip would have been quite lame and my judgment of Albuquerque unfair if I not had taken the opportunity to walk around. It was by walking through Albuquerque that I learned to appreciate it for what it is. It's definitely not the type of city I would enjoy living in, but discovering this was the adventure in itself.

New Mexico: Day 2

I was about to resign to the notion that this whole Albuquerque trip would be spent inside the Marriott, where my training is taking place. Albuquerque is very much like San Jose. Everything is really spread out and public transportation isn't so accessible, all of which makes it very difficult for those without a car to get around. Add to that my unfamiliarity with the area, it just seemed like my stay here would be more of a sedentary than an exploratory one. But no, Vina doesn't resign. I came here to experience a slice of New Mexico and I was going to do it.

Without much of a destination, my roommate and I set off on a walking tour of New Mexico. Our destination? The mountains. No, really. We saw mountains in one direction and started walking, with the premier goal being that we wanted to witness quintessential New Mexico images (gathered from stereotypes, of course). We wanted to see tumbleweed, cactus, adobe houses, different types of New Mexico birds, and all other stuff to reinforce that we actually experienced Albuquerque instead of just sitting all day in an air-conditioned hotel.


We walked quite a while, past cute adobe houses...

...cacti. Apparently, cacti in Alburquerque don't stand upright. They're all on the ground, like they're too depressed to stand upright. It's okay, cacti. Totally understand how you feel sometimes.

...these things, hanging from trees, which my roommate said looked like ornaments- little, dried desert ornaments. I just think they look really neat.

Sadly, this was the best tumbleweed we were able to find. I was imagining some big, circular tumbleweed. But no...just this. It's not even circular shaped. Sad.

We even tried to get it to roll...didn't work.

Finally, we "reached" the mountains.

Fellow Americorps posing in front of gorgeous mountains.

Although we were far away, we could see how beautiful these mountains were--especially at that time of day, with the sun setting, casting purplish-pink across the mountainsides. One day, I'm going to go on the roadtrip through the Southwest just to see these mountains up close.

In sum, Day Two was great! I got to see parts of Albuquerque I didn't expect to see, which really is the best route I could have taken to see the city as locals do. And mostly, I'm just glad I got to get off my ass after 9 hours of sitting through training to burn off all the heavy hotel food I've been eating. Hopefully, Day Three will be just as adventurous as today!