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		El Paso Fascinated by the outlaw Billy the Kid, the gunfight at OK Coral and the heroism of the Apache tribe, I extended my journey after Comdex 98 at Las Vegas to visit the Southwestern United States and was met by my friend at the newly refurbished airport of El Paso. I was the house guest of my friend and his family and was shown around in the next few days, the township, New Mexico and the border Mexican town called Ciudad Juarez. In San Francisco, I saw a city which is not much different from Sydney, There is no Castle to rival the one overlooking at the Princess Street of Edinburgh. In the end when I left, I did not lose my heart in San Francisco. El Paso is the first true American city or township that I enjoy visiting. I came to El Paso to ponder the bygone days when the cowboys came with heavy boots, drank in the pubs and drew their fire arms. The grandest pub is still at the town centre, nicely refurbished, has a very beautiful and imposing dome, original and made of fine lead glasses. The settings of the entrance hall where the cowboys drank may be the same as before, but where are the cowboys? Sad... The are many large pawn shops nearby and are reasonably good for shopping. It was a late November morning with the weather being as warm as the Indian Summer of Sydney, my friend drove me in his car to New Mexico. On the way, we saw El Paso surrounded by a magnificent mountain range, gray in colour and with no trees. I was pondering the days when the heroic Apache fighters were roaming along stretches and stretches of the mountain range.  Soon we reached New Mexico which is a stronghold of Apache tribe. My friend told me that the Apache chief is doing well. How wonderful that he is able to rob the descendents of formal enemies legally by operating casinos and tourist resorts in New Mexico. We arrived at Ruidoso about 200KM away from El Paso and felt a lot cooler. I was told that the temperature difference between here and El Paso could be up to 20 degree F. After seeing his condominium, my friend parked his car next to a shop and we walked along the main street of 2KM stretch with many fine shop doing tourist business. I bought a fine Apache warrior about 9 inches tall with an animal mask which can be taken off. This cute little souvenir would remind me of my visit to New Mexico. The next day, my friend and his wife took me across the border to the Mexican town, Ciudad Juarez for shopping. It was a great shopping adventure and I did most of my shopping of this US trip in Mexico, silver, blanket, Mexican clock, rug, hanging rug, leather bag, belts etc. On our way back, we saw a sign of Cuban Cigar from our car windows. In the evening in El Paso, we visited a fine restaurant to have an authentic Mexican dinner. Before leaving El Paso the next morning, I spent some times at the airport. This is one of the finest airport I have seen in terms of architecture and settings. El Paso, I shall miss you and shall be back. Contributed by Ven Yee Foo, 19/01//99 Return to Home