If you ever find yourself wondering across the high desserts of New Mexico, you really should pay a visit to the charming town of Taos. This-extremely-alternative town is gorgeous: short adobe buildings stretching on the side of the lean streets, dried red peppers hanging from the buildings´ edges, and small shops selling every sort of goods. Additionally, the landscape is breathtaking with its grand mountains surrounding the little valley.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay much in Taos because of our tight schedule; nevertheless, we were able to experience the city´s best attractions! So this blog is especially dedicated for those who are struggling to cross everything off from their New Mexico´s to-do list.

Sooo here´s my “What To Do in Taos in One Single Day” blog post:

8 am-I was woken up from my beauty sleep by my sister´s “why you sleep in so much?!”, which was definitely my favorite morning alarm. After having breakfast and getting informed in the visitor center (we slept in their parking lot, which was quite practical) on what´s going on in town, we went off to finish our RV chores.

10:30 am-Our first stop was Taos Pueblo-my absolute favorite part of the day, and surely a highlight of my year-long trip! It is quite challenging to explain what an incredible place that pueblo was…but I´ll try my best.

For starters, some of the buildings of this pueblo are a thousand years old, and Taos is one of the few living pueblo of New Mexico (they still live like hundreds of years ago: no electricity, water, gas, etc). The terra cotta adobe buildings dotted the surroundings, blending in with the dessert-like landscape; only the edifices´ turquoise doors and windows, as well as the hanged colorful peppers, could be easily seen. Little signs told me where I was allowed to enter and what kind of goods that specific shop offered: jewelry, freshly baked blue corn bread, paintings, or ice-cold juices. A plain, yet charming, white church stood in the middle of the pueblo, and a little creek parted the village into two sections: the southern and northern sides.

When in Taos Pueblo, going on a tour (it´s only thirty minutes) is heavily suggested because there´s so much history. Also, stop and eat at one of their local cafes; they have delicious freshly baked bread and their blue corn taco is to die for! And for those who are big fans of streets fairs and Native American jewelry, the Taos Pueblo is a great place to shop for many reasons: 1) you are supporting the Native American community 2) the prices are very good and there are endless options of merchandise 3) they are highly skilled craftsmen, thus, everything they make is beautiful!

How to Prepare for Taos Pueblo:

• Get a camera, and if you have more than one-bring it too!
• Definitely bring money because even if you think you won’t buy anything, sorry to say…but you simply can’t help yourself.
• Definitely go there with plenty of time in your schedule (I planned to stay 2 hours and ended up staying 4 hours…).
• Pets are allowed.
• And I highly recommend sunscreen and tons of water.

3 pm-Our second stop was at Earthship Community. Now, you must be wondering what exactly is an Earthship Community…well, they are communities composed by recycled, sustainable, and waste-free houses. Sounds weird? It is actually exceedingly interesting and very surprising how they build their homes and how they work too. They offer a quick educational tour in one of the residences (it´s cheap and fast); additionally, they rent their houses for anyone interested.

The large walls ´ base are car tires, and for smaller walls, cans are used.

The interior of the model Earthship house

One of the many designs of the waste-free houses

4 pm-the Earthship community is a little far away from downtown Taos, but on our way there, we drove by the Rio Grande. The river is situated all the way down a giant canyon, which is quite the sight. A ten minute stop will be enough to explore and take pictures of the great canyon.

4:30 pm-Our last stop of the day was at the annual Taos Pueblo Powwow –a gathering of Native Nations for three days of dancing, singing, and drumming (begins July 7^th). The area was packed with trailers and cars, food trucks and tents selling Native American goods, and at the very center a space was reserved for the performers. The Pueblo Powwow isn’t a religious event, thus, nonnative people are allowed to come and watch (there are etiquettes to follow though); conversely to the Lakota Sundance, which is a very exclusive ceremony. The dancers were dressed with multicolored costumes-feathers, beads, strings, and intricate designs-and performers of all ages gathered to dance and sing. The dance contest commenced at 7 pm and went on for a few hours, and prior to that, a singing contest was going on.

9 pm-I really wish we had time to explore the picturesque and artsy town of Taos; however, we still had to drive for a few hours. We quickly stopped at the visitor center to cook dinner and shower, then, we drove off into the dark valley towards Santa Fe.

I do highly recommend for people to spend more than one day in Taos because it is just beautiful and full of outdoors activities! There are many trails for mountain biking as well as snowboarding; similarly, there are endless art studios and little cafes to check out.