¡muy caliente!

Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting an awesome spa/resort called Ojo Caliente. Ojo is about an hour north of Santa Fe (almost 2 hours north of Albuquerque) tucked away in the rocky, mountainous terrain of northern New Mexico. The earth here is quite geologically active, and we have a large number of volcanos (dormant, thankfully), mineral deposits, and natural hot springs. I am really into spas, baths, massages, and the like, so I was eager to pay this place a visit.

The baths are situated in a rocky cove, and each one is a little different. A couple have naturally occurring iron, some have arsenic (don’t drink the water), and another has soda. There’s also a mud pool, where you coat yourself in mud, dry in the sun, and then soak it off to reveal some seriously soft and radiant skin. It was not nearly as gross as I’d feared! All but one of the baths are open air, which was lovely. As the weather cools off, I can imagine that it would be exhilarating to soak in a hot spring (ranging from 101-109 F) on a chilly autumn night.

I spent about 4 hours there switching between the pools and visiting the sauna and steam rooms, too. The massages were not in my budget for this trip, but were so tempting. The on-site restaurant was surprisingly decent and not too pricey.

All in all, it was a great way to spend a sunny Friday. I can’t make it a regular treat because of the cost and distance, but if I want to get away for a day now and again, I think Ojo will be my place.