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Mexico Travel Diaries - Leg 11, Part II
La Paz, Todos Santos, Cabo San Lucas, Copper Canyon, Chihuahua City
The Copper Canyon & Train Ride
The port city of Los Mochis is in the State of Sinaloa off Mexico’s north-west Pacific coastline. When I arrived there, it immediately reminded me of a smaller version Lazaro Cardenas, the port city further down the Pacific coast. Like Lazaro Cardenas, Los Mochis has little in the way of attractions for tourists, although because of its comprehensive land, sea and airport infrastructure, many travellers end up passing through the city like a ship in the night to connect to their next destination, almost always the Copper Canyon Railway.
The railroad that runs through Mexico’s Copper Canyon was never intended to be a tourist attraction of any sort: the movement of goods and materials was the primary purpose of a railway line that was to create a trading route from the American Mid-west to the Pacific. The line was not completed until 1956 when the Mexican engineers finally managed to overcome the mammoth challenges that involved getting a train line to climb 7,000 feet above sea level and back down again. Only winding and twisting around the mountain edges did they manage to achieve this, and to succeed, they built a total of 28 major bridges and blasted through millions of tonnes of rock to create 73 tunnels. The line cuts through one of the most rugged and beautiful areas of Mexico’s northern territory: the Copper Canyon.
The area known as the Copper Canyon is not one, but eight canyons; the deepest of which is nearly 2Km from top to bottom. In terms of size, the Grand Canyon (or Colorado Canyon as it is also known) is small in comparison, although I have travelled through both and find that each Canyon offers a distinct experience: size isn’t everything.
It’s an early start on Monday morning: my 4:15am wake-up call is delivered as promised. A taxi waits to take me the five minute drive to the train terminal, which opens at 5am and closes and 7am to sell tickets for today’s trains, and then re-opens from 9am – 5pm for advance tickets. There is a first and second class service: the latter leaves an hour later at 7am, costs about half, but offers less room per passenger, has fewer stewards on board and makes more stops, so the journey will take longer.
Passengers begin to board the train as the stewards in their traditional flat-top round hats pile luggage up to the ceiling in one of the compartments between carriages. The train leaves on time at 6am; it’s still dark outside, although there is a feint sign of light on the distant horizon. By 630am, the sun has risen and begins to burn through the thick morning mists in the area; the dew on the train’s windows is gradually evaporating, clearing my view of the world passing by outside. The first couple of hours of the journey are unremarkable; we pass through some settlements, home to working-class Mexicans who probably make their living in agriculture or one the factories in the area; the silhouette from the factories appears in front of the sunrise.
At 7am the on-board restaurant car opens for business and a large group of touring retirees file past my seat towards the front of the train for their first meal of the day. The 13-hour train journey which starts in Los Mochis, will travel across more than 700Km of track, rise to an altitude of around 7,000 feet before descending again to arrive at its destination in the northern city of Chihuahua, capital city of the State with the same name.
By 830am, we arrive at El Fuerte, the first stop for the first-class train, and a popular boarding point with many visitors who have decided to give Los Mochis a miss, stay overnight in this charming colonial town instead with the added advantage of getting to sleep on for an extra hour!
The landscape is still flat, agricultural & unexceptional as we make it to our next stop an hour later: Loreto. At 1015, we enter the longest tunnel; over 1800 metres long, it takes us six minutes to emerge back out into daylight on the other side.
The landscape outside begins to change and starts getting interesting. Suddenly flat land gives way to tall, steep mountains; bare rock-faces stare out propitiously. The tunnels are more frequent now; the train emerges each time to reveal an increasingly impossible looking landscape. It glides across majestic bridges hanging over deep ravines with rivers below; in the rainy season, waters gush fierce and deep through these natural lanes and highways that will eventually lead the monsoon rains back to the seas whence they began.
The track consistently hugs the edge of a sheer rock-face, gradually climbing and twisting back as I see the track we were on a few minutes ago, just a few metres below where we are now. The passage is narrow and dramatic in places; the track and some connecting bridges seemingly welded to the edge of a rock face with a sheer drop of several hundred feet into the ravines below. There are no roads here: if you want to see this with your own eyes, you can ride the train, rent a donkey or you can walk; a combination of the three provides an excellent holiday in its own right: more about that later.
Six and a half hours later we arrive at the fist main stop in the Canyon itself: Bahuichivo – 250Km from Los Mochis and 1600 metres (4900 feet) above sea level. Some of the passengers alight here; a few more get on. The train continues through what seems a never ending complex of bridges, tunnels and archways, all the while taking its passengers and crew deeper into an enchanted world that begins to reveal the immense power and beauty of nature’s untamed wilderness. It all rushes by too quickly for me; the train is the perfect appetizer and it’s also a tease if you have any thirst in you for trekking in the great outdoors.
There has been some rain and snow here recently, so the land around us is green; although not as green as it will be during the rainy season – May to October – which also happens to be the busiest time for the train ride, along with Christmas and Easter week. Some of the rivers are still bone dry but many have at least some water running through them. Late October through February is usually very dry and only the pines stay green. In winter, snow is common on the higher ground; although in the canyon valleys, the climate remains sub-tropical; which is why the resident Tarahumara Indians head for the warmer depths of the canyon during the winter season.
I keep getting up from my seat to take pictures from the area between carriages, where the upper half of the inward-opening doors is left open to allow passengers to take pictures of the passing landscape. I stick my head out and sense the atmosphere outside: the air is very cool and fresh and as we pass through the woodland areas there is a strong fragrance of natural pine in the air. The train continues upwards, so gradually you hardly notice it, but for the temperature of the air, which has been transformed: It’s swelteringly hot at sea level in Los Mochis – especially during the summer months – but at the top of the canyons, it’s cool in the day and chilly at night. I have been noticing that the local communities we have passed that live in the canyons seem to spend a good deal of time gathering firewood; an essential material for warmth.
The train comes to a stop at San Rafael where a plethora of Tarahumara women rush up to the train’s passengers to sell their hand-crafted baskets produced with locally sourced straw to the tourists on the train. There’s plenty of time to step off and meet them; the prices are a give-away in real terms and by buying something from the people here you make a significant contribution to the local communities of indigenous people who live in these remote areas. We wait for about three-quarters of an hour for the copper canyon train that travels from Chihuahua to Los Mochis passes us; a few minutes after that, we are on our way again.
Just 15 minutes along the track is Posadas Barranca; the first of three key stops for visitors to the Copper Canyon area, the other two are Divisadero, just 5 minutes from Posadas and Creel, about 90 minutes after that. The three stops are access points for local hotels and services in the Canyons. All of the hotels have transport waiting for guests arriving at the train stations. Posadas and Divisadero are access points for hotels on the rim and further inside the canyon. Creel is a spit-and-sawdust town which resembles something out of the wild-west and offers low cost accommodation as well some up-scale hospitality, although if you want a nice view of the Canyons – from your room or within a short walk – find a hotel near the first two.
I’m staying for one night at the Mansion Tarahumara hotel which is near the Posadas station. The hotel is just 300 metres up the hill from the train stop and transportation is provided so you don’t have to haul your luggage up the hill. The Tarahumara Mansion has been designed as a kind of medieval “castle” – the design of the principal building looks and feels very Germanic, especially with the red coned towers; a trade-mark of the hotel.
Each of the rooms is an individual hut, constructed in traditional stonework with a wooden roof and some wood panelling inside, giving it a real lodge-like feel. There are 60 huts in total of various types and sizes, spread over the face of the wooded mountain. Huts are designed for 2, 3 or 4 people and there is also a suite with its own Jacuzzi, mini bar and other luxuries added. All rooms have an efficient gas-fired heater, and I found that if you switch on the ceiling fan too, the room warms up more quickly.
Rates usually include three meals a day, served in the main dining hall, which has an upper level featuring soft furnishings and an open fireplace which is lit in the winter and during the chilly evenings. Murals on the front wall depict images and lifestyles of the Tarahumara Indians who still live secluded lives in the canyons around you.
Meal times are clearly stated: if you are lodging here when there are lots of other people (or, more commonly a tour group), then meals will be provided via a buffet selection. It was a quiet day when I arrived, so lunch and dinner were set meals; there is no menu or choice selection. I did ask about special dietary requirements and the manager said that they will cater for these with advance notice. For breakfast there is a choice of eggs to your liking or hot cakes if the buffet is off.
There is a cosy bar with views through the windows out into the valleys below. Through the door is a marvellous terrace which is perfect for relaxing on while taking in the view beyond it. It faces east, so the afternoon sun warms it up and you can watch the sun set behind the hills as you enjoy an evening drink.
The clubhouse was only opened in the last couple of years, and features a café/dining area as well as an indoor heated swimming pool and Jacuzzi. The pool is open to all guests, although it closes at 5pm, which is a shame, as it precludes the possibility of a refreshing night swim after a day walking in the canyon.
Vicente, one of the hotel’s friendly staff, took me on walking tour around the hotel’s vicinity. Directly behind the hotel is the main event: the Copper Canyon itself. Walking around the rim, the view stretched out as far as my eyes would allow: a deep, majestic canyon flanked by a perfectly blue azure sky. As the sun was in the east, the canyon was back-lit by the golden rays of the afternoon sun.
Across the valley, I saw walls of rock formations that looked to me like silhouettes of great ancient cities carved into the face of the canyon; stretches of rock sprung out like mammoth fingers with a valley between each one; I didn’t know what to look at first and then couldn’t decide what to look at next… there was too much detail and vividness here to even begin to comprehend the elegance and serenity of this vast and supernatural landscape – the view and the atmosphere was at once exhilarating and consuming.
We continued our walk down into a small settlement of Tarahumara Indians who had built dwellings under the protection of a rock-cave in the side of the canyon. They sell hand-made crafts to passers by. Although they live off the land, the money they earn selling crafts enables them to buy food and supplies from local traders, especially during the winter. The drum I bought is hand-made and has the most brilliant tone.
Karl and Helga are Germans who live part-time in Canada and part-time in Germany. They have driven down from Toronto in their RV to see the Copper Canyon. Karl found the Mansion Tarahumara Hotel by accident a few years ago when he stopped in on spec – this is his third visit. Although their stay is near an end, they have spent the time exploring the areas around their canyon by driving to various points of interest or taking circular walks into the canyon from there, and also using the hotel as a base for morning or after walks around the hotel’s vicinities.
I spend some time chatting with Vicente the next day, who tells me that lots of people go to the hotel to start week-long hiking and camping trips into the Canyons: the hotel can arrange guides and even ponies to take the equipment if you don’t want to carry it on your back. Adventure tourists hike and camp along the canyon’s floor; often staying overnight by one of the rivers to enjoy the beauty of the canyons’ amazing natural wonders inside their undisturbed wild setting. If you have some spare cash and want to splash out, helicopter rides are also available through the Canyons (weather permitting) and they can also be arranged through the hotel.
The trains that pass through the Copper Canyon stop once daily at the Posadas Barranca station near where the hotel is based. Around 1pm, Vicente takes me and my luggage down the hill to wait for the train; the hotel is also expecting a number of touring guests today. Which train gets to the station first (one goes west to Los Mochis and the other eastwards to Chihuahua) depends on where they cross and which train leaves first. They can cross at Divisadero or San Rafael where my train stopped yesterday waiting for the other one. Today, my train, the one travelling eastwards to Chihuahua arrives at the station first.
While I’m waiting, I meet an Australian couple, Russell and Jenny who are teachers on an exchange programme in the USA. It is spring break and they had some free time, so decided to visit northern Mexico and the Copper Canyon in particular – and were pleased that they did! They had come from Chihuahua City and were waiting for the train heading west, so after exchanging cards and wishing each other well, I found myself back on the train, bags packed on the move again to continue my journey east across the second half of the Canyon.
Divisadero is virtually the half-way point between the two terminals of journey. The train stops here for a 15 minute break, which enables passengers to get out and take a look at the view across the vantage point here. There is a hotel on the rim, as well as other hotels deeper inside the canyon that pick up guests from this station. As I step off the train, I walk past the flurry of people and activity on the platform, and past the gauntlet of market stalls selling local crafts and food. The hive of activity suddenly gives way and opens up and in front to sow off the amazing views of the Copper Canyon below. Time goes past quickly and I have just 4 minutes left to walk back up and board the train. There’s no passenger count or roll-call, so if you don’t make it back, it leaves without you.
There is a well maintained road from here to Chihuahua City; some people choose to take a bus from here if time is at a premium. The only way to see the wilderness before you get to this point, between Divisadero and Los Mochis, is by riding the train; the geography doesn’t allow a feasible paved road to be built, thank goodness.
Although not as dramatic as the first half of the journey, the ride from Divisadero to Creel, and the next stop is charming and very picturesque. The land becomes flatter again with the occasional mountain or rock formation; unlike the latter section of the first half which delivered one dramatic scene after another in quick succession. We arrive at Creel, a local settlement founded on the timber trade although tourism is probably a bigger industry here now. Creel acts as a base from which to explore and hike the surrounding mountains and canyons, and most people who stop here use it as base to explore Cascada de Basaseachi (waterfalls), claimed to be the tallest falls in North America; Recohuata Hot Springs Excursion; and Batopilas - an old silver mining town about 140Km away from Creel. Some back-packers leave the train and some new passengers climb onboard. Stopping only with enough time to swap passengers, we’re on the move again.
The journey continues and I can sense that we have begun our descent from the highest point of 7,500 feet above sea level. The scenery is changing; open landscapes give way to forests as we hug the edge of a river and wind around the hills and mountains on the west side. The scenery is not stunning, but it is interesting and pleasant; it’s also very relaxing to watch. By late afternoon we approach the final stop before the end of the line in Chihuahua City: Cuauhtémoc.
Around 60,000 Mennonites (a Dutch religious sect founded by one Menno Simonis) settled in Cuauhtémoc after being driven from their homeland for refusal to take part in military service and conform to other standards; they finally came to northern Mexico from Canada, where they were allowed to settle and follow their own path. Today, they are best known for the cheese they produce – known in Chihuahua as “Queso Menonite”, and everywhere else in Mexico as “Queso Chihuahua”. It is a white cheese with a soft texture and rich flavour. The Mansion Tarahumara served a delicious soup with this cheese the night before.
By the time we depart from Cuauhtémoc, the sun has set behind the hills to west and the sky is turning dark. For the last three hours of the journey we ride through the night; only when we reach the outskirts of Chihuahua City do the lights proffer a view of the world outside. A few minutes before ten o’clock that night, the train pulls to a stop at the central station about 3km from the city centre. The two-part, thirteen hour train journey has reached its conclusion in one of northern Mexico’s most important and most historical colonial cities: The capital city of the State with the same name: Chihuahua.
Chihuahua City
The State of Chihuahua (pronounced "Chi-Wau-Wah") is Mexico’s largest. With over a quarter of a million square kilometres of territory, the State occupies nearly 13% of Mexico’s total land space.
Although the State capital of Chihuahua City provides the eastern terminus of the Copper Canyon train, it has not really been part of the Mexican tourist trail in the past; shunned by some guidebooks and distanced from the cluster of cities in Mexico’s colonial heartland, Chihuahua has been overlooked by many people who visited Mexico’s other colonial centres. It is nevertheless, a very important city in Mexico: its wealth built on agriculture and industry that still thrives here. It’s also one of Mexico’s most important historical centres.
I arrived at the hotel San Francisco; an elegant property with a real Mexican feel and atmosphere about it. As I walked in, I felt that I was taken back in time, but had taken all of the comforts and amenities of the present day with me. It’s perfectly situated for a visit to Chihuahua City as it’s immediately behind the city’s cathedral and within a short walk of all the main attractions. The next morning after breakfast, I ventured out into this city that I had heard lots about, but had never visited before.
The cathedral is quite stunning; it overlooks the busy Plaza de Armas, where small band-stand like structures host a group of shoe-shiners, busy polishing cowboy boots that can be seen everywhere. After all, this is Mexico's cowboy country. The vehicles of choice in these parts are four-by-four trucks and pick-ups from gleaming new six-liter Fords that swallow gasoline for the fun of it, to old rust bucket work-horses of bygone days. Just like cowboy boots, you see them everywhere in Chihuahua.
After spending some time exploring the historic center, I walk down the pedestrian section of Calle Libertad, past shops, cafes and restaurants. I see a Woolworths store, in England it’s fondly known as “woollies” – the first and only one I know of in Mexico.
Just outside Woolworth is a group of students, lobbying passers-by to donate some small change to help Mexico’s blind and partially sighted children. The latest fashion in street-based fundraising in Mexico is to go downtown and start a “kilometer of coins”; each passer-by is encouraged to increase the line by a centimeter or two with a coin. I put my coin down, smile, and walk on, as others around me do the same.
Two imposing buildings greet me as I reach the end of the pedestrian area: on the right, the Federal Palace; a fine looking building inside and out; today it houses Chihuahua’s main postal and telegraph offices; on the left, the back entrance to the Government Palace. I walk around the corner to Plaza Hidalgo, where a statue commemorating Padre Miguel Hidalgo, one of the founding fathers of Mexico’s independence movement, stands proudly in the center. The main (front) entrance to the Government Palace is found here.
The Palace is built in the traditional style with an impressive courtyard surrounded by a series of passageways and rooms; today they are all official government offices. The tourist information centre is situated immediately on the right as you walk in. All three levels of the building have public access, and there are fine murals on most of the walls which depict Mexico’s struggle for independence. The Palace is one of the finest I have visited in Mexico; it takes a good couple of hours to see the place properly.
Chihuahua has some fine museums, and after lunch, I wander down to the Museo Casa Benito Juarez. Benito Juarez was Mexico’s first president; his home is now a significant museum in the city. It’s small, but has some interesting rooms that give a glimpse into how Juarez lived and worked; many of his famous quotes and sayings are displayed around the museum; he was something of a philosopher as well as a Statesman.
I head for the Museo de la Revolucion Mexicana; (Museum of the Mexican Revolution) and end up walking down Paseo de Simon Bolivar (Simon Bolivar was a Venezuelan who played a key role in Mexico’s history) – a picturesque avenue lined with old colonial villas and mansions and a nice park where families gather to play, eat, drink and relax for a while.
Turning left onto Calle Ocampo, I walk on southwards and soon find myself in the middle of a suburb; the museum is General Francisco (Pancho) Villa’s old home.
In 1982, the building was formally taken over by the State, turned into a museum and inaugurated by the then President Jose Lopez Portillo.
The museum gives a good insight into the life and work of Pancho Villa. Various rooms depict the different eras of Mexico’s history around the time of the revolution with many fine and original examples of tools, machinery, weapons, clothing and technologies of the day. Having arrived about 5:30pm, I thought that I may have been too late to go in, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it stays open until 7pm. I thought that it was a fine museum and an excellent insight into Mexico’s history during its formative revolutionary period.
Another museum which I did not have time to visit, but is important historically, is the Calobozo de Hidalgo; Calobozo means dungeon. Padre Miguel Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende (San Miguel de Allende is named after him) were held here before being executed by the Spanish for treason. Their heads were severed and sent to be hung on the hooks of the Granary in Guanajuato as a warning to others. In the Government Palace downtown, there is a special room that is now a shrine to Miguel Hidalgo with a light representing an eternal flame glowing inside.
I enjoyed Chihuahua City and was impressed by the culture, history and attractions it has to offer. Its distinct feel and atmosphere, truly Mexican and deeply patriotic, add to the sense of history here. Its remoteness from the traditional colonial heartland means that it hosts fewer tourists than its colonial counterparts; although I understand now that a tour of Mexico’s colonial heritage, without including Chihuahua City, would certainly be incomplete.
Here is a city with an authentic Mexican feel, a friendly atmosphere, important historical significance and a selection of fine visitor attractions. My stay here for a day (I could have used at least 2) was rewarded with a discovery of a hidden gem of Mexico’s fine colonial heritage.
All too soon, the penultimate leg of the journey is over. My flight from Chihuahua to Mexico City the next morning delivers me back to my travel hub 1500 km away: in time to write up my notes, revise my pictures and prepare for the final leg of this journey across Mexico.