AWEsome train trip to the Copper Canyon

El Fuerte, Sinaloa - Creel, Chihuahua

Woken up by the alarm (I hate that!) we cleared out of La Choza Hotel and piled in to the cab that had been ordered by the afternoon desk clerk. We were bedecked with the the various packs, drawstring bags and other items that constitute our luggage for this short journey away from the van. The "cab" appeared to be some sort of independent tour company vehicle, not a regular taxi, and we could not negotiate a fare nearer the 55 peso fee we had been told to expect than the 100 peso fare the driver insisted upon. He explained that it had been thus for at least the last five years, but I am still not sure.

We arrived at the train station, which for some reason lies seven km outside of town, and set our bags down on the platform. We had a choice between "clase primero", which left an hour earlier, made fewer stops en route, and included a bar and restaurant cars, for 980 pesos($95.00 cdn) per adult and half that per child, or the pokier "clase economico" for 360 pesos(34.00) per adult, without the benefit of the aforementioned amenities. We attended the ticket wicket but no one was present to sell us our tickets and knowledgeable people in the crowd assured us that we could purchase our tickets on board. We opted for the earlier primero train, and hopped on when it arrived.

Priding ourselves somewhat as world travelers embarking on another adventure, we were full of confidence as the train started to roll. The conductor quickly deflated that confidence when he stopped by to collect for our tickets. We discovered that our usual strategy in dealing with the language barrier- smiling and responding, "Ah, si!" when confronted with an unintelligible stream of conversation- had been turned against us. Liz had enquired of one of the train staff when it stopped if it was possible to pay with Visa and had been told,"Ah, si." The conductor, who was remarkably handsome and spoke excellent English, disabused us of this belief and informed us that ticket purchase was on a cash-only basis. We conducted a panicked survey of the cash we had on hand, which included pilfering both boys' wallets, and scraped together enough to purchase two adult and one child's tickets. The conductor faced us down, asking how we were going to solve this problem. He didn't know who he was dealing with, though, and we turned our biggest sets of puppy dog eyes on him after exhausting all possibility of ducking off the train to access a bank machine during a stop (not enough time and no machines). Finally, he sold us the three tickets and told us it would be on us if an inspection showed that one of our children was an "illegal". In hindsight, it appears that he knew full well that the prospect of an inspection was unlikely. However, we had a skimpy bag of food and only 40 pesos to last us for the 7 hour trip.

The trip itself was incredible. The line runs from sea level at the west end through some passes that are 8000 ft above sea level. The mountains that it passes through are immense and covered initially in cactus and palo verde, which changes to evergreens and oak at the higher elevations. 37 bridges andover 85 tunnels span the mountains and chasms, and immense switchbacks gain the elevation required. Often you can see the line you have just travelled above or below you on the opposite face of a valley. It is a remarkable feat of engineering which makes the CP line through the Rockies look like child's play. This was by far one of the more scenic journeys we have ever taken.

We had met an English couple on the train who spend a month every year traveling to some exotic locale around the world. They knew of our status as passengers, as well as our current financial situation. When the train stopped in San Rafael and met our first Tarahumari Indians selling  freshly woven baskets. Thye were slightly dam and smeeled of a very parculiar pine like scent. The woman (Jenny) lent Liz 100 pesos ($ 10.00cdn) to purchase a couple right from the doors of the train. That left us enough to purchase gorditas at the stop in Divisadero- delicious! We were so enthralled with the food and the Indians that we completely failed to get any decent photos of the Copper Canyon, even though it is the best location to do so.

We finally reached Creel, the regional center for the Copper Canyon area. After 7 hours of torpor, it was a panicked exit from the train as we gathered up our stuff and rushed off at what turns out is little more than a whistle stop. In the rush, Bowen left his high-tech stainless steel water bottle on the train. We were immediately assailed by the usual hustlers on the platform, all of whom wanted to take us to their hotel. We checked out a couple of seedier establishments (to satisfy Remy's cheapskate tendencies) before settling in at the Best Western Mountain Lodge( Liz's idea). It is much like what one could expect in the Rockies. It is surprising how similar mountain culture is around the world- the architecture et al. The lodge is full of skins, antlers and horns belonging to the various large mammals that inhabit this part of the world, and the atmosphere is quite cold and dry. We have discovered that we did not pack enough clothing! This is not what we had in mind when we pictured Mexico in our plans for this trip. That's a good thing! We feel like we are getting to know many different facets of this country.

Oh, and we did pay Jenny back.

-Remy