Hey hey USA - 21st October - the two things about Albuquerque and here is the first

 


Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and also one of the highest in the United States. It lies in a plain which rises on the eastern side up to the Sandia Mountains. The Rio Grande runs through the centre of the city. Down by the Rio Grande the elevation is only 1490m but in the part of the city on the flanks of the Sandia Mountains, the elevation is 2,000m. The airport is at 1631m giving the planes a head start.
One of the main tourist attractions is the Sandia Peak Tramway which takes you up to the top of the Sandia Peak at 3,164m. The other is the hot air Balloon Festival which takes place at the beginning of every October. and is the largest balloon festival in the world. with 750 balloons flying. We spent the morning ascending on the tramway and the afternoon at the Balloon Museum (how many cities have one of those?) as we had missed the festival.

It was warm in Albuquerque but we needed all our hats and coats to go up on the cable car. On the way up the  guide kindly points out the site of TWA Flight 260 which crashed into the side of the mountain in 1955 with the loss of 16 passengers and crew. Although most of the wreckage has been removed some can still be spotted. It only takes around 15 minutes to get to the top of the tramway where there is a restaurant and the start of the ski runs. In that 15 minutes you certainly feel the difference in elevation especially with the wind chill.



























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