Dorland St.

At some point during our 24-hour stay in Cebu City, I realized that in my 20 years in the Philippines, I set foot only on a number of islands that I could count with one hand–Luzon, the island where I was born and grew up, Corregidor, and one of the Hundred Islands, whose name I never recorded in memory. I never went to Talim island, smack in the middle of Laguna de Bay, or either one of two prominent volcanic islands in the Taal caldera.Yet in the fewer years that I lived in the United States I had been to more islands, including one of the San Juan Islands of Washington state, Alcatraz, Angel, and Yerba Buena/Treasure islands in San Francisco Bay, Key West, Manhattan in New York City, Block Island, and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket off Cape Cod.

What really strikes me while traveling in the Philippines is the primacy of water and the noncontiguous nature of the Philippines–what the United States have in sheer size the Philippines has in physical disjointedness. It is no small feat that a national identity crystallized among the inhabitants of thousands of islands, and, if Spain was partly responsible for inculcating this identity, it was indeed a formidable task. And no wonder it took centuries to form a Filipino identity.

Historical considerations aside, the archipelago is geographically breathtaking. As the plane took off from Manila en route to Bohol, Laguna de Bay and Taal Lake were both visible on one side. Not long after, Mayon Volcano loomed in the distance to the east as we were flying over Masbate. Bohol’s lush green was refreshing after spending a few days in the urban grit of Metro Manila.

Sailing off to Balicasag Island from Panglao Island, the view opens to the seeming infinity of Bohol Sea, where beyond the horizon lie Camiguin and Mindanao. Towards the southwest, Siquijor looms with commanding presence, and beyond was Negros with much higher mountains. To the west and northwest, Cebu heralds itself with an almost endless rugged spine. Bohol cannot be outdone–the mountains of Maribujoc have a certain prominence.

Cebu Island rules the horizon as we sail off the following day from Tagbilaran to Cebu, but Bohol frames the view to the east. A landless gap to the north-northeast marks Camotes Sea. After almost two hours, the mountainous spine of Cebu Island is seen as defining the western margin of the Cebu metropolis. This dramatic location can easily strike anyone approaching the big city by sea.

The coastal road between Argao and Bato is said to be one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in the Philippines. Surely this sunblest region was scenic, but the kamikaze driver of the Ceres Bus which we were riding going to Dumaguete kept me from enjoying the view without thinking of impending death! I dozed off partly as we approached the southern tip of Cebu, but the magnificent view I woke up to was unforgettable. Towering, cloud-shrouded mountains defined southern Negros Island–the landscape could have been Hawaii or even British Columbia! The mountains rise above Tanon Strait to an awesome scale. Although the distance between Bato, Cebu and Tampi, Negros Oriental is comparable to that between Woods Hole and Martha’s Vineyard, the mano-a-mano topographic drama of Cebu and Negros Island over deep and voluminous Tanon Strait is a winner in taking one’s breath away!

Feb. 11 – Philippine Air Lines offered a choice of chicken or fish with noodles for hot meals. Well, it was obvious we were in the company of Filipinos, and fish, being an unusual choice, was no doubt going to be mine! The fish was prepared with a sweet-and-sour sauce, and the salad had an excellent sweet dressing–so very Filipino! We were close to landing when coffee was served. Thank God I couldn’t say no because their coffee turned out to be good! Next thing I knew everything was put away and we were on the solid land of Metro Manila, and there I was, back after 25 years!!!

Yum at Jollibees!

Feb. 12 – Bansilog and instant Nescafe at BSA Tower for breakfast at 6:30 a.m.; cold coffee mocha at Old Manila coffee shop on De la Rosa street; snack of pili nuts and Royal True orange canned soda from Rustan’s minimart at Greenbelt Park; Max’s Fried Chicken (The House that Fried Chicken Built) for lunch, which comprised of lumpia ubod, half chicken, of course, and sago’t gulaman, and trying out some of Papa’s buko juice in the shell, and Rich’s chicken sisig; merienda of ube cake and trying out Edwin’s delicious mango cream cake at Red Ribbon; dinner at Via Mare, consisting of tokwa baboy as appetizer, a whole rellenong bangus with tomato sauce and green peas (deleesh), and pork binagoongan, which Rich surprisingly ordered and liked!

BSA Tower view over Makati City

Feb. 13 – Insomnia meal of piyaya and cold bottled water (around 4:30 am); tapsilog and instant Nescafe at BSA Tower for breakfast at 7 am; small capacoffee at McDonalds on Ayala Ave. near SGV; lunch at a newly opened Jollibee’s at TM Kalaw, consisting of double beef burger, fries, and Coke Light (my first time at Jollibee’s ever!); Coke Light pampalamig after our hot tour of Fort Santiago; refreshing halu-halo with a scoop each of melon ice cream and ube ice cream plus ube halaya and leche flan (downright good) at Chow King; dinner at Bacolod Chicken, comprised of bbq chicken leg with calamansi, toyo, and sili as sawsawan and a hearty broth of batchoy with noodles, along with garlic rice (omigosh), and trying out some of Papa and Edwin’s inihaw na pusit with white onions and tabang talangka rice, and oh yes, bottomless iced tea; cafe Americano al fresco at Segafredo’s with live music.Feb. 14 – Valentine’s Day – Tapsilog breakfast and ripe mango in hotel; second breakfast of good coffee and ensaymada at Seattle’s Best Coffee in Greenbelt; after errands to travel agency at Park Square, lunch at Sizzler Barbecue in Glorietta Food Court consisting of two skewers of bbq pork, egg drop soup, and inihaw tanigue with Coke Light; after errands to United Airlines, pampalamig of mango shake from Shoemart; MRT and LRT from Ayala Center to Pedro Gil stop via EDSA/Taft Ave junction (super siksikan at ingay but thank God the trains were airconditioned); pampalamig again of gulaman at Chow King; Baywalk and CCP/Folk Arts Theater area with lots of restaurants and bars with three 20-something guys, namely Dondon, Michael, and Ernesto; Valentine’s dinner with Rich at Max’s back at Ayala Center of pinakbet and Shanghai rice and buko pandan shake (sarap-sarap); Rich ordered pancit bihon.

Feb. 15 – Had our first uninterrupted sleep (8 hours!) since we arrived; SBC breakfast of coffee, adobo pandesal, and ensaymada (we really like their ensaymada); get-together with Mama Purita and the Cruz family at Greenheights, snacked on nilagang mani and Mountain Dew, and then a sumptuous lunch, which included tortang talong, stuffed bell peppers, kare-kare, kalabasa and gulay with gata, binagoongan, and last but not the least, Cathy Cruz-Borja’s ecstatic rellenong bangus, and dessert of “bottomless” ripe mangoes, lanzones, and leche flan (busog na busog); pasyal to BF Homes Pque to visit Carlos’s parents; an hour-long exploration of Fiesta Supermall at Alabang (just one of its many malls); the traditional Filipino-style food court was a feast to the eyes–and stomach (too full to sample any, unfortunately); merienda of more mangoes back at home; picture-taking at bahay kubo on the adjoining lot; Bien gave us a ride back to BSA, and inuman with him and Rich of San Miguel Beer regular and light.

Feb. 16 – Noticeably lower humidity today; climbing the stairs from 7th to 39th floor/roof desk with Rich as our first exercise of our trip so far; bibingka rice and pasteurized carabao’s milk at Papa’s room; second bkfst at DeliFrance of coffee and sardines omelet (yum); took care of the rest of our local flights and accommodations in Bohol and Dumaguete City with the Park Square travel agency; a different type of lunch (Japanese) at Yoshinoya (tonkatsu curry over rice and green iced tea [not green tea]); our second time at MRT/LRT to Quirino stop; took care of our accommodations at Malate; pampalamig of mango shake, then a light merienda of chicharon bituka in a semi-open hut-like kainan on Adriatico street and chat with friendly staff; river of humanity at National Bkstr and Robinson Plaza; crash of humanity as we got off the MRT train at Ayala Center; pampalamig of buko juice and buko shake at Buko Ni Fruitas at the SM Food Court; nap and took care of accommodations in the Visayas; snacked on garlic peanuts and dilis with Coke in hotel room; cab to Remedios Circle; bading standup comedy at The Library and pulutan of seafood gambas and lechon kawali washed down with San Mig; shiatsu massage at Sanctuario Spa until 2:45 and bottomless lemongrass tea courtesy of spa.

Feb. 17 – Bansilog and coffee at hotel room; dropped off dirty laundry at Lavandera Loca around the corner; second bkfst of ensaymada and coffee at SBC (our third time); lunch at Mangan in Glorietta Mall, which consisted of delicious lengua caldereta and garlic rice, while Rich ordered quail asado; stopped at Landmark (Rich bought belt); changed at hotel then ride with Joey to San Sebastian College for Alumni Homecoming; met John, Ogie, Byabya, Mitch, Val, Miss Permejo, Ms. Aliwalas (current principal), Dandoy, Franklin Manila, Peter Cuntapay, atbp.; Mass then beer then dinner of lengua, pancit, lumpia, atbp. and dessert of buko pandan salad; more beer; speeches and presentations; entertainment; chitchat; kodakan; rode in Mitch’s car with John, Byabya, Ludie (John’s alalay), and other guy; inuman and Chinese New Year kakanin at Dandoy’s house in Makati; back at hotel at 3:30; John and Ludie stayed over.

Feb. 18 – Kung hei fat choi! – Checked out of hotel; Starbucks and McDo rice burger with beef patty on the way to Tagaytay; kodakan at Taal Vista Hotel (formerly Taal Vista Lodge); lunch at Leslie’s of sizzling bulalo, prawns in aligi, spicy mussels with shrimp; bistek tagalog; hearty beef soup; watermelon shake (refreshing considering the heat in the bulwagan); kodakan at the lookover but Taal Lake was hazy; stopver at chapel and Calaruega; spectacular botanical garden and view of valley overlooking Batangas (ganda); senyorita bananas and espasol for merienda; picked up laundry and checked in at Rothman Hotel in Adriatico st.; dinner of sweet-and-sour lapu-lapu and pancit canton at Seafood Hot Pot on Mabini to the sound of firecrackers as the dragon stopped in front of the restaurant; 2-mile walk to Roxas Blvd. and Padre Faura then back to hotel.

Feb. 19 – Breakfast of coffee and Spanish torta at Figaro on MH Del Pilar; visited UST; signed up at Alumni Office in Main Bldg. and had special tour of the tower with views of the big metropolis with a skyline that I did not recognize (and the view was exceptionally clear that we could see the mountains of Rizal province); lunch of menudo, spaghetti, and rice at the Medicine Bldg. cafeteria before the tour; SM Mall of Asia and merienda of halu-halo at Tropical Hut in the Food Court; met John Ferrer; walked around the mall and looked at the bay after sunset; stopped at Books for Less; at Gerry’s Grill, dinner of sizzling sisig, sugba kilawin (grilled pork and raw fish ceviche), and grilled chicken on skewers, along with delicious crab fried rice, all washed down with green mango shake; viewed part of SSC video at hotel; to Big Papa in Pasay (the three of us).

Feb. 20 – Breakfast at Mocha Blends on Adriatico (corned beef and eggs, and coffee); for lunch it was Manager’s Special pizza for the two of us and a pitcher of lemon iced tea at Shakey’s, plus a garden salad for me, which was smothered in thousand island dressing; napped at hotel; Manila Bay sunset and chat with freshly arrived expat from Alameda, CA; met with Rai and Alan at Cafe Havana (their calamansi juice was excellent so I ordered two!); left our large luggage in the storage room of Rothman Hotel; sumptuous dinner at The Aristocrat, my choice being their classic barbecue chicken with java rice and achara plus a side order of dinuguan, all washed down with Sarsi Light (I could not tell any difference from regular Sarsi), while Rich ordered boneless bangus daing style with tortang talong; Rai and Alan made good dining company.

Feb. 21 – Cathy Cruz-Borja’s birthday – See ya Manila and hello Visayas! My first time to this region of the Philippines. Our island-hopping begins today. Early bkfst of siopao pork meatball with egg and coffee at Domestic Airport while waiting for our flight to Tagbilaran on Cebu Pacific airlines; mango juice drink served aboard; checked in at Hotel La Roca; tricycle to town then small bus to Panglao Island for Alona Beach; lunch of shrimp sinigang (made with kamias!), plain rice, and Coke Light at Trudi’s; photo ops at beach; merienda of banana split with choc, vanilla, and mango ice cream (Rich ordered mango daiquiri) at Lost Horizon; boat ride to and from Balicasag Island; tricycle back to Tagbilaran; dinner of pancit palabok and Sarsi at Jollibee’s; coffee and strawberry-filled donut at Dunkin Donuts.

Feb. 22 – Breakfast of longanisa, garlic rice, and two eggs and instant coffee at the poolside of Hotel La Roca; guided tricycle tour by our gracious friend Emily to Bo-ol, Baclayon, Alburquerque, Luboc (boat trip on the Luboc River to Tontonan Falls (or Pusay Falls), and Corelia (Tarsier Visitor Center); nice buffet lunch at riverside restaurant, highlights being escabeche tanigue and inihaw na pusit and luscious mango with bagoong; merienda of single-scoop ube ice cream halu-halo and ube buchi-buchi at Chow King in Island City Mall (also bought regular polvoron at Goldilocks); after shower in hotel, walked to Cainget Grilled Fish restaurant at waterfront; had kampayan of balahina (coconut liquor) mixed with Coke with locals; then Rich and I had wonderful dinner of grilled marlin steak with teriyaki sauce and chopsuey vegetables in oyster sauce and regular rice, all washed down with Coke at Cainget.

Feb. 23 – Breakfast of longanisa, garlic rice, and two eggs and instant coffee at same poolside as 2/22, but had mango, which I bought on Wed night in Tagbilaran, sliced by staff; Emil gave us ride to Dao Bus Terminal; took bus to Carmen; bought puto at Bilar poblacion; got off at Batuan for 1 km walk to Chocolate Hills overlook; light lunch (or snack) of tuna sandwich and Cali pineapple soda with Ramon and daddy (originally from Indiana) from Cebu; dozed off several times on bus ride back to Tagbilaran; second lunch of KFC chicken and spaghetti combination with Pepsi (good spaghetti!); got one-way tickets from Oceanjet for Cebu City for tomorrow; watched “Curse of the Golden Flower” (starring Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat and directed by Zhang Yimou) by myself at the mall; cupacoffee at Bo’s also in mall; by tricycle picked up Rich at hotel and went to JJ Dimsum in CP Garcia Blvd. in Tagbilaran and had dinner of batchoy with noodles and fish filet in creamy corn sauce with rice washed down with iced tea.

Feb. 24 – Emil picked us up in his tricycle at 7 and made it to our OceanJet departure at 7:30 from Tagbilaran pier en route to Cebu City (had coffee in pier); hot instant noodle soup aboard ship; upon arrival in Cebu City, took taxi to Jasmine Pension House near Puente Osmena Circle; walked to Robinson’s then took jeepney to downtown to see Magellan’s Cross and Santo Nino Cathedral; snack of otap; lunch of kangkong with garlic sauce (like kangkong belachan) and yang chow fried rice at Chow King; stopped again at Robinson’s and did a little grocery shopping; bought lanzones at sidewalk; nap in hotel; snack of mahareal; took jeep to Taoist Temple in Beverly Hills; took jeep back to Osmena Blvd.; good cupacoffee at Bo’s along with strawberry muffin; took a little walk, then had buffet dinner at Joven’s Grill one block from Jasmine Pension House (dinner included fish, menudo, seaweed salad, lechon manok and fresh fruit); watched “Troika (Threesome)” at cinema in downtown and met Rio Abelanosa.

Feb. 25 – Breakfast of two cups of coffee and ensaymada at Bo’s (Rich had mango cake); left some of our stuff in pension house and brought the rest on our bus trip by Ceres (airconditioned) to Dumaguete; snack of chicharon and otap and bottled water in bus; kamikaze bus driver driving us crazy but the road was undoubtedly scenic between Argao and Bato; had paksiw with rice in carinderia at wharf; took 40-minute barge to Tampi, Negros Oriental, snacking on sweet oranges; walked from Ceres terminal to C&L Inn on Perdices st.; pampalamig of buko juice (sarap) during our walk; shower and nap; walked to Riza Blvd., a beautiful waterfront promenade facing Tanon Strait and Bohol Sea; snack of fishballs and fish tempura on a stick by the water; more walk, then dinner at Foon Loen (Chinese-Filipino) restaurant, consisting of shrimp ampalaya and sweet-sour fish filet and rice washed down with iced tea.

Feb. 26 – Breakfast of dried fish and egg with garlic rice and coffee at roof deck of C&L Inn; consulted with travel agency on Real St., had second cup of coffee and pork asado siopao at Goldilocks; jeepney to point between Sibulan and San Jose to hire hubel-hubel (our driver was Noel) to Twin Lakes National Park; boat ride with Gilbert on beautiful Lake Balisansayao and had snack near hut overlooking this lake and Lake Danao (snack consisted of pan de coco bought at small store off highway, Oishi shrimp crackers, hopia baboy from Goldilocks and bottled water); chat with Noel; more relaxing ride on hubel-hubel downhill; jeepney back to Dumaguete City; late lunch of spaghetti and plain hamburger washed down with Sarsi at Jollibee; long nap in hotel; walk through market and Negros Oriental State Univ. and Silliman Univ.; had merienda of cheese ice drop; hanged around at promenade; dinner of chicken inasal with achara and rice, and iced tea, at Jo’s Chicken Inato (Rich ordered chicken adobo and San Mig).

Feb. 27 – Breakfast of bansilog and instant coffee at roof deck of C&L House Inn; moved our stuff to Bethel House, where we left a couple of items; at the waterfront, Rich tried to change his return trip to U.S. on United Airlines; hailed a bus bound for Bacolod City (we were going to Bais City); snack of cheap (2 pesos each!) pastries and Royal Tru-Orange at Julie’s Bakeshop; asked help from tourism office in Bais; had lunch at market carinderia, consisting of beef with sabaw, pusit, and fried fish, with rice, of course; no available boats for whale-watching or sandbar-touring at the Barangay Kapinyahan wharf; took bus back to Dumaguete City; checked in at Bethel House; took slow and noisy and fully packed jeepney to Valencia; hubel-hubel to Casaroro Falls via Tejeros and Banica resort; accidentally touched the hot muffler with my right calf, burning my skin (ouch); descended the steps to the falls–this was one of the most beautiful falls I have ever seen, bar none; applied medicated cream on my injury courtesy of the fee collector and table placemat embroiderer; hanged out at store snacking on Julie’s Bakeshop pastries and Coke and talked to a German expat who has lived in the area for three years now and loves it; pedicab back to Dumaguete (jeepneys do not run at night); dinner at Coco Grande’s (we ordered Mexican dishes but with Filipino touch–I ordered beef picadillo and Mexican rice, along with mango daiquiri and calamansi juice; walked around downtown looking for pharmacy (nothing open at 9 pm), and our last evening walk at promenade.

Feb. 28 – Rich and I did approximately 1.7 mile run on Rizal Blvd. promenade (it was fun!); breakfast of tortang talong and fried rice with brewed and instant coffee and luscious mango at Cafe Philomena at Bethel House Inn; checked out; tricycle to Ceres Bus Terminal; regular Ceres bus back to Cebu; choppy Tanon Strait; lunch at carinderia at Bato port (isdang sinabaw, not quite paksiw or sinigang, and delicious fried chicken, with rice, and Sparkle soda) while chatting with Medical Mission Fil-Am doctors from San Diego; bus ride was uneventful, except for the usual kamikaze driver, the crowdedness, the open windows and constant cyclone of wind, and the urban pollution and grit of Cebu City (which would have been less felt in an airconditioned bus); cab back to Jasmine Pension House; Rich got some ointment cream for my burn injury and gauze pads; coffee at Bo’s; walked to Fuente Osmena; shopped at Robinson’s (travel bag and shirts, including Obra ni Juan [Rich really liked the shirt that Byabya Lim was wearing during our hs homecoming on 2/17}); spaghetti and chicken dinner at McDo; close-to-midnight snack of penoy and balot from the mambabalut at Jasmine Pension House.

Mar. 1 – Breakfast of brewed coffee and ensaymada (Rich had strawberry muffin) at Bo’s Coffee; checked out of Jasmine Pension House; taxi to Cebu/Mactan Airport; SEAir to Caticlan; snacked on tuna skin chicarron and Mountain Dew before taking tricycle, ferry to Boracay Island, and tricycle to Orchid’s Resort with help of two staff; lunch of inihaw sugpo and sea bass with rice washed down with papaya shake and mineral water; walked lazily on the beach; boat ride with Bong and another guy around Boracay Island, which took about 90 minutes; snack of ampaw in hotel; took shower; beachside buffet dinner, which included bbq chicken, mussels, lumpia shanghai, spaghetti, and chicken pineapple rice, and dessert of senorita banana and pineapple slices; walked along beach and checked out the entertainment and looked for ATMs; had mango slush; later had cocktail of vodka and pineapple juice at Nigi Nigi Noos bar.

Mar. 2 – Breakfast of longganisa, eggs, and fried rice at courtyard of Orchids Resort with members and chapter leader of Rotary Club; walk on beach heading south and ran into gay, mixed-race couple from Seattle (Filipino-American was raised Mormon in Manila then Salt Lake City); checked out of resort; had strawberry shake/slush in Awarma Hotel cafe while waiting for boatmen to return my sunglasses; had “special” boat ride from Boracay to Panay Island, courtesy of boaters Mark, Bong, Nonoy, and 17y.o. dude (all cousins) who also helped carry and load our luggage; tricycle ride to Caticlan airport; lunch at carinderia of embotido and batchoy with noodles and raw egg over rice; took earlier flight to Manila on SEAir; snack of Oishi multigrain crackers and water; arrived at domestic airport at 4:15 p.m.; Bien picked us up; sumptuous merienda at Greenheights (bread with balsamic vinegar, pastry from Julie’s Bakeshop, dates with cumin; slices of queso de bola; luscious kaimito (starapple) and mango, all washed down with iced Coke); Bien drove Rich and me to Malate via Macapagal and Roxas Blvd.; checked in at Malate Pensionne; hanged out at Cafe Havana over San Mig, grilled squid “stuffed” with salsa and achara on the side, chorizo pizza, calamansi juice, while listening to live Latin music; got luggage at Rothman Hotel lobby; said gbye to Bien; good night sleep despite all-night music from the street.

Mar. 3 – Sorted stuff to prepare luggage for my trip tomorrow; bkfst of French mushroom omelette and three cups of good coffee at Figaro; last-chance pasalubong shopping at wholesale handicraft store on Mabini at Malvar; lunch of dinuguan and plain rice with (over-sweet) sago’t gulaman at Aristocrat (where Dedeth and Bien joined us later); trip to Fair Valley subdivision where Bess lives (and now Papa, who is renting a unit two doors away from Bess); merienda of saging sabah and mango; Bebeth called from San Fernando, Pampanga; took pics with Bey and Papa; bittersweet goodbye to Papa; it rained for the first time since we arrived in Metro Manila; Eric gave Rich and me a ride to Mall of Asia; Rich and I bought barong talalog at Shoemart; dinner with Ogie and Byabya Lim at Gerry’s Grill, consisting of beef casserole, sugba kinilaw, sisig, baked scallops, tinomok, crispy tadyang, and kare-kare (daming pagkain!), needless to say, we did not finish our food, which was enough to feed twice the number in our group; Ogie gave me keepsake souvenirs; shared taxi with them, with Ogie getting off last.

Mar. 4 – My departure was not until 2:55, so I had the entire morning feeling quite relaxed; bkfst of asado roll (heated) and two cups of brewed coffee at Figaro; took taxi to Greenbelt; Bess was shopping for me at Rustan’s, the three of us had brunch at Via Mare (where Rich and I had our first dinner!), where I ordered pancit luglug and mais con hielo, followed by puto-bungbong, while Rich had bangus with rice (a large bangus that is) and Bess had tuyo flakes with egg and rice; John was late in joining us; said gbye to Bess; John joined Rich and me to new PAL terminal; Rich and I said goodbye alone (John took off earlier); after getting my return ticket reissued at PAL office; initial security; check-in; lining at the immigration department; second security; and enough time for buying a few more souvenirs and padalas, I was whisked off my native land on PAL bound for Hongkong, with tears in my eyes while eating merienda-cena (especially thinking of Papa) and gratefulness that I had a wonderful time, and, with the exception of my burn on my right leg from the hubel-hubel in Valencia, Negros Oriental (a small price for adventure), an absolutely safe balikbayan trip to the Land Where Asia Wears A Smile (All The Time)!

The valley of San Luis in south-central Colorado ranks as one of the most beautiful valleys in the American West. Classic in breadth of sky and earth, and almost ever-present is the quintessential Western light, the valley meets the visitor from northern New Mexico with surprising tenor. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains culminate in height around this valley (some peaks are more than 14,000 feet high), fringing it to the north and east, while the San Juan Mountains to the west impacts on the visitor with their majestic beginnings. This is where the Rio Grande, after running its initial course at the Rocky Mountains, meets the drier tablelands before its gradual but long descent along the north-south axis of New Mexico and its eventual, serpentine course on the Texas-Mexico border.

California Scene

Driving up the valley from Taos, I was caught by the splendor of seemingly endless mountains and wide-open spaces bathed in midwinter light. In many a dreary, cold day in New England, I thought, I had dreamed of landscapes and distant places like this one that I was seeing now. At the juncture of Sierra Blanca, one of the towering giants of Sangre de Cristo, with the more northern peaks, we find the most curious geographical feature—an accumulation of sand over thousands of years at the foot of the mountains. The sand stretches over ten miles and at certain points is up to 700 feet high above the valley. Southwesterly winds from the valley blow the sand against the mountains, while northeasterly winds over the mountains keep the sand at bay. Tributaries of the Rio Grande and springs from the mountains seep beneath the sand and form a stable substrate flanking the eastern side of the dunes. The timing was perfect for exploring the Great Sand Dunes, not only because the day was about to be done, but also because the time of year probably saw the fewest of visitors.

Camp Site

Where else could we find, in the dead of winter, such a peculiar and breathtaking canvas of sand, scattered snow on sand, snowcapped peaks, a soft azure sky, and the warm consolation of many a Western twilight? This was no ordinary valley, and like Owens Valley in eastern California, I immediately became captive of its spell. I am bound to visit it again at some point, and I know that I will never tire of the valley’s endless possibilities for exploring and appreciating.