Denver, on the rocks
DENVER, Colorado — “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you.” The late Anthony Bourdain said that. Late — how strange. He visited Denver once upon a time and he’d have been happy to know there’s been a lot of development. During my visit to the city for the 50th International Pow Wow (IPW 2018), I found myself well fed, sufficiently buzzed, and highly entertained. Denver wasn’t always known for its food or entertainment, but locals say it has become quite the destination. Everyone on my Instagram thought so, too. Here is a city that anyone from a well-traveled celebrity chef from America, to a humble journalist from the tropics would appreciate. Denver, served straight, is inherently rock ‘n’ roll, with a quiet kind of cool that’s hard to miss.
Team Philippines at IPW 2018: The author, Chonx Tibajia, Donna Perez of Adventure International Tours, Inc., Nitoy Gabrinao of Tradewings Tours & Travel Corp., Annette Martinez-Mejia of Budget Travel & Tours, Inc., and Gina Campos, general manager of Delta Air Lines Inc.
Yoga on high
So how has traveling to Denver changed me? I can now do the crow pose.
What’s it like to try not to faceplant 6,435 feet above sea level at a legendary concert venue with a 200 million-year natural history? Pretty freaking great. “Yoga on the Rocks” actually gave us a choice between yoga and CrossFit — Rich, our guide from Aspire Tours, was concerned about altitude sickness, the cold, and that day’s unusually overcast Denver sky. “Denver gets 300 days of sunshine a year,” he said. It was my third day of having locals apologize to me for the weather, a charming habit that manifests itself 65 days a year. Of course, I picked yoga, which agrees more with the vibe of Red Rocks Amphitheater, where bands like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Radiohead and U2 played their most memorable shows. CrossFit on the Rocks? Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
An estimated 750,000 non-concertgoers visit Red Rocks Park every year, and a good chunk of them do yoga at 6,000-plus feet. The view, the quiet and the mountain air certainly contributes to the practice. Namaste, Red Rocks, for having us.
Red Rocks Amphitheater, located in Morrison, Colorado, is owned by the City of Denver, the host city for the this year’s IPW, U.S. Travel Association’s annual international travel trade show. Delta Airlines invited the Philippine STAR to participate in the week-long conference, and this was among the tours offered. It was also the tour that had the least number of participants, compared to the busloads that went on the microbrewery tour. Denver has a burgeoning craft beer culture, which I was at first reluctant to try. I’ve been warned about how high altitude, if you’re not used to it, makes alcohol hit you harder; I’ve also been warned that the effects of exercise are the same. But I ignored the latter (hashtag: born to be mild).
One Republic's Ryan Tedder says Denver has been a great supporter of the local music scene.
Our small group arrived at the Red Rocks after a short drive from Denver Convention Center, already divided in two. The CrossFit gang went down the amphitheater seats while we stayed on the top row, exactly 100 feet from the stage where local folk rock band Elephant Revival were tuning their banjos. The sound was solid all the way to the top, after all, the venue is known for having the best natural acoustics in the world. Our instructor, Jen Hicks, told us to pick a mat and a spot. Did I mention it was freezing? It was difficult enough to bend our bodies to pick up a mat, so I decided I was going to do vinyasa wearing several layers of clothing.
The opening press brunch at Larimer Square featured booths from Denver restaurants, craft beer, street art and live music.
Let me tell you, bulky yoga is a challenge. There’s a lot of fabric bunching, a lot of adjustments and uncomfortable limb shifting involved. But Jen gave us particularly warming poses — planks, side planks, lunges — against a backdrop overlooking Colorado’s landscape. Who could complain? The big finish was the crow. I’ve never successfully done it before. How exhilarating it was to be able to finally do it after years of practice, and not tumble down the Red Rocks steps. A teacher once told me that the crow pose is less about skill and more about letting go. That makes for a good travel mantra, too. Mind your balance, open your heart, and for heaven’s sake relax your neck.
Highway to the sky
Denver on the city: "Everything here is new — except the Rocky Mountains." Still, one can't afford to skip this view.
The day after our yoga session at Red Rocks, I booked another tour with Aspire, to Rocky Mountain National Park, which is about two hours, with stops, from Denver. From Rainbow Curve Overlook at 10,829 feet, we hiked up Trail Ridge Road, flanked by views of subalpine fir and spruce, treading a path that the Native American people have used for thousands of years. Nicknamed “Highway to the Sky,” the 48-mile long road crosses the Continental Divide and soars to an elevation of 12,183 feet. It’s typically open from May to October, but because of the weather, the road was closed for the day.
Mile High Stadium was closed for IPW delegates for one cool Denver night. In our case, the view was better from the cheap seats.
I was traveling alone, but was lucky to be in the company of equally giddy tourists (who thought I was their age and accepted me as their own) and our guide, Andrew, who brought us together with free cookies. On the way back to Denver, we stopped by Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, the infamous destination that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining, and had a cup of Redrum Cherry Latte. The pit stop was welcome — we had just been drenched in the rain after chasing a waterfall. Stick to the rivers and lakes that you’re used to, they said. It looks like hail today, they said. But we didn’t listen.
My usual “Mountain” playlist was on shuffle as we headed back down. I go through all this before you wake up, Bjork sang. Nature makes me emo. I was ready to drink.
Counting stars
During Visit Orlando's lunch presentation, Rob Thomas introduced himself as Kanye West and the crowd went wild. It was awesome.
Anyone who’s been on an IPW trip will tell you about the parties and after parties. Partaking in the festivities was a rite of passage, administered by my travel buddies Donna Perez of Adventure International Tours, Inc., Annette Martinez-Mejia of Budget Travel & Tours, Inc., Nitoy Gabrinao of Tradewings Tours & Travel Corp., and Gina Campos, general manager of Delta Air Lines Inc. “You’re such an old lady!” Annette joked, not knowing that I had glasses of Aperol spritz and a bottle of beer for breakfast at Larimer Square. Pat, a fellow journalist from Uruguay, had much better luck getting me to drink — because what else are you to do when the band is playing I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll while a bunch of people are line dancing and others are getting tossed around by a mechanical bull?
U.S. Travel photos by Brian Walski Photography
While the nights are definitely an experience, the days are chill. When we weren’t on tours, I walked around the city. A total of 74,718 steps in five days, according to my pedometer. The weather allows for it. Cold but sunny: paradise on Earth for us children of the equator. Breakfasts and lunches were leisurely spent in Downtown Denver, while afternoons were for exploring.
On our last night, IPW treated delegates and journalists to a concert at the Red Rocks featuring Colorado Springs’ One Republic. That place is pure sorcery. The light, the air, the enveloping boom-clap-tss-brrum….
IPW 2019
At the Visit Anaheim press conference, U.S. Travel revealed that next year’s IPW will be held in Anaheim, California and hosted by Disneyland Resort, from June 1 to 5, in time for the opening of “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” in summer 2019.
U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow
“We have achieved some impressive numbers at this year’s IPW — over 6,000 delegates from 70 countries, including 500 media. The work we’re doing here together to connect U.S. attractions and destinations to international markets is more important than ever,” said U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow. “The goal of Visit U.S. is to work with the White House to promote a simple and achievable idea: the U.S. should be the most secure and the most-visited country in the world.”
He added, “This isn’t the first time IPW has taken place in The Mile High City. I know some of you were here when John Denver took the stage in 1991. And I love the line used by my friends from Visit Denver: ‘Everything here is new — except the Rocky Mountains.’ We’ve all seen how true that is. This event has been phenomenal.”
First time visitors from the Philippines (like myself) will appreciate the change of scenery, the proximity to mountains, and the idea of not sweating, but that’s just the tip of the rocky mountain.
The Denver Blue Bear watches over Denver Convention Center and IPW delegates during the three-day marketplace exchange.
* * *
IPW drives $4.7 billion in future travel to the United States. It is a national showcase of America, where U.S. travel exhibitors connect with buyers and media from more than 70 countries. For information, visit www.ipw.com or www.ustravel.org/events/ipw.
