Copper Canyon Train Trip



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Leif discussing life with his new friends.




Hand-made baskets, should have bought more of them!




Copper Canyon Tram




Scarves, pot holders and more baskets...




The locals bus station




Posada del Hidalgo, lovely pool, cool welcoming rooms and gracious hosts .



Beautiful canyons and scenery along the train trip



Hotel Mirador hanging off the cliff

 Copper Canyon is regarded as mas grande than our Grand Canyon, and we had to go and decide for ourselves if this was entirely true, being biased Americans.  Our home is currently in Marina Mazatlan, a fairly quiet marina with a few nice restaurants and lots of blowing dust and iguanas.  Tuesday morning we hiked up to the road, hopped in a pulmonia (like a VW thing sort of) taxi to the bus station in the center of town.  From there, we found a first class bus, Elite, and headed to Los Mochis, our first stop.  The bus was fine, t.v. and movies in Spanish with subtitles or vice verse.  It took around 7 hours with stops for the driver to get snacks at an Oxxo, pick up friends, and drop them off, and then a lunch stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere.  At the lunch stop we hiked around the corner to a beer store, where they sell beer from behind barred windows.  At this point, we needed some relief from the tedium.  We arrived safely after travelling through Culiacan, Sinaloa, the home of the Sinaloa drug cartel.  The check points had sand bags, as did the police station, and a couple of banks. 
   Our hotel was really nice, and had a restaurant inside, so we didn't have to venture out.  This town isn't the safest after dark.  Up early the next day for another bus trip to El Fuerte where we'll meet the train.  This bus was more of a local bus, although it was supposed to be a direct 2 hour drive, we stopped many, many times to pick up school children, drop them off, as well as locals at their homes.  Not exactly direct. El Fuerte is a small working town, with a fort from the 1500's which isn't there, but... they built a new one 20 years ago to honor the old one!  It was rather amusing.  Our hotel was truly fantastic.  The Posada de Hidalgo was supposedly the home of Zorro, and the buildings and courtyards were of old stone, brick, adobe and tile.  It was beautiful and welcoming.  Lots of lush trees, bougainvillea, and palms everywhere.  Our room was extremely high class for Mexico, let alone a small town in the middle of nowhere. 
   The train was a short drive away, and we boarded early for our trip into the canyon region.  The train, called Chepe is owned by a hotelier who purchased the train, several hotels and has created a small monopoly of the experience.  On the train, there were comfy seats, a restaurant car and a bar car.  We chose to stand in between the cars for a long time and take photos with no windows. It clung to the sides of the canyon walls in several areas and made my knees go weak.  The hotels are all inclusive for meals, since there really are not other options close by in most of these towns.  As time wore on, we figured out that the menus are all the same as well!  They called things by different names, but corn soup is corn soup even if they called it vegetable soup.  Not complaining, it was very good food, just rather humorous after a couple of meals. 
  Our first stop was Bahuichivo, where we got a ride into Cerocahui which had a very lovely church from the 1500's, and not much else.  We took a van ride to the canyon rim here, and it was very steep and amazing to see.  The local people were very well dressed, and their homes varied from huts to houses with tile roofs and tidy yards.  The men here work in the silver, gold and copper mines locally.  I forgot to mention that the poverty level along the way has been extreme.  There have been literally tin shacks along the train tracks, with no electricity, water or much else.  Dirt is the name of the game here.  No grass, cement or gravel.  Dirt roads, yards, sidewalks.  And it's windy... so dust everywhere.  There hasn't been much rain in months, and the trees are covered in white dust from the roads.  Not really very engaging landscape, and quite depressing to see the poverty. 
   Next stop, El Mirador.  Now this is why we came.  The El Mirador is perched on the canyon side, kind of creepy, I am hoping for no earthquakes.  It is in the southwest tradition, with adobe, bare wood rails, tile floors, woven bed spreads, absolutely beautiful.  In the states it would be a 5 star, and out of our expense league.  Here, it was 2500 pesos per night, or around $200. which is still a lot, but included all food, taxi's and baggage service.  They have the 2nd or 3rd longest aerial tram in the world, and a zip line across the canyons.  Had we known this earlier, we would have stayed an extra night.  The tram was fantastic, only cables, no towers, and it landed on a pinnacle across the canyon.  There are also hiking trails which travel near the Tarahumara native villages.  These folks have retained their culture to some degree, still wear their original costumes and make baskets from pine needles and other plants nearby.  They escaped from Pancho Villa by running into the canyons and hiding in the caves in the walls.  From the tram you can see their burial grounds in several caves and some homes with corrals down below. 
   Of course, we met some great people, one couple from London, or actually Surrey.  Some others from Chapala, transplanted American and Canadian, who decided Mexico was a great place to retire.  Then there were the many, many workers at the places where we stayed, and on the train.  We asked them how they liked their town and what they thought of the future of Mexico.  Most were optimistic about Mexico, and most said times are currently hard.  The narcos are not regarded as troublesome except that they stir up trouble and cause poor relations with their fighting between cartels.  It is obvious that the current government has stepped in to help create many new schools and technological institutes to train their people and help them rise above their current level.  Mexico seems on the rise in many ways, and in most areas it is evident.  One area in particular, the dollar is losing value to the peso! 
   Our trip back was much quicker, train to Los Mochis, then bus (different company, TAP, better bus) to Mazatlan and our little barco.


Tarahumara mother.



Chepe train headed into the canyon.

El Mirador hotel.



The view from the aerial tram, notice the small landing on the peak.




Tarahumara making a basket.

   A quick note on weather, it was very hot for the first two stops, and at El Mirador, it was chilly and very windy.  Our return to the boat found us being blown away with up to 40 kt. winds.  We'll stay here to provision for a few days and wait for calmer winds to sail northward.