Copper Canyon

Here is Felipe at the 200 year old hacienda we stayed overnight in El Fuerte.
We got on the train in Cuahtemoc and took it through the canyon for 11 hours to El Fuerte. We met lots of really nice people. Mainly Americans in their 60s and 70s on tour groups.


Here is the view at Divisadero. This is the only train stop on the track. We got to get off for 15 minutes.
Overall the trainride was very, very scenic. It went through a lot of very little towns and farm fields. There are tons of apple orchards around Cuahtemoc but most of them have these black fences that unroll over the top of them to prevent them from being scorched from the sun. We saw barely any clouds the entire time. The first stop of the train where a lot of people get on is this town called Creel. It turns out we could have driven there if we wanted to because the road is very good. That is where we got off on the way back through. That is the town were all the backpackers get off and you can hire guides and go on treks in the canyon or take a little bus down 4500 feet to this little mining town called Batopilas
at the bottom of the canyon that is on a river. There are quite a
few hostel type hotels and all the "young" people seemed to congregate here. On the second day on our way back through the canyon we did get off here and went into the canyon to a hotel called the Copper Canyon Sierra Lodge in Cusasare. It had no electricity and was lit by Kerosine lamps and heated by a little woodstove which was definitely not powerful enough. Luckily the bed had about 10 blankets. All our meals were included and since the train was late we did not get down in the canyon until about 6 and 6:30 was "margarita time." There was a group of mountain biker guys there who unfortunately had gotten some local moonshine from down in the canyon that they shared with us. They were super friendly and fun to chat with. Needless to say, a little moonshine and a few margaritas later I had my head in the toilet for about 3 hours. We were at about 7000 feet and I guess I miscalculated the elevation. Although Felipe had almost as much as me and felt nothing so it may have been the beef I ate that he skipped. It was very sad because that meant I felt like crap the next morning when we had a chance to hike to the nearby waterfall. Felipe was very wonderful and not upset at all. He did get to try out some of the bikers multi thousand dollar bikes which he had fun doing. We then got back up to Creel about 2 and ended up taking the bus back to Cuahutemoc because it was earlier than the train.


In Divisadero we grabbed some food from one of the vendors. It was so very good! They cook it on this oil drum stoves and it is hot and yummy (and very greasy). Neither one of us seemed to get sick from this but who knows. It could be the start of why my stomach has been a little off since the train ride. There were also many, many Tarahumara indian women selling beautiful baskets. You can see a little example of the women and baskets if you watch the movie on our web album (the picture link at the side). I must say they were not too pushy and none of them just begged. They were always offering baskets which truly are beautiful. We bought a hand made tortilla basket and wish we could have found more of them.

Here is a picture of the train going over one of the many bridges. I think it goes over 80 some bridges and almost 40 tunnels. It really is an amazing train ride. The first class train is very nice with a lot of room and there is the spot in between cars where you can take pictures through open windows (although you have to fight for a spot at the best parts). There are many tour packages that leave from the US or that you can fly in to Chihuahua City and leave from there. We would definitely recommend it and advise stopping in the canyon at least one day. Early March was a nice time to go for the weather. They say the summer is really, really hot in the canyon. Another time that is supposed to be nice is in October or November because it is after the rainy season and there is a little more greenery and wild flowers. I took lots of notes on where the best scenery is and asked people about their hotels so if you every want any tips let us know!


TO SEE ALL THE PICTURES CLICK ON THE NEW LINK ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE BLOG SITE (ABOVE THE LIST OF BLOG ENTRIES)