BajaBlanca - 8-22-2010 at 08:31 PM
PART I COPPER CANYON
Link to pictures:
http://s848.photobucket.com/albums/ab45/BajaBlanca/?action=v...
ONCE IN LA PAZ: First thing we did was go to the ferry ticket office (Pinchilingue) on Thursday morning, had breakfast at a neat hotel/restaurant
right on the water across the street til the office opened at 9 or 10 (don’t remember exactly). Then, we bought our tickets for a Friday night 11:30
PM cabin cruise scheduled to arrive at 6 a.m.in Topolobambo and in time to catch the train. None of this can be done online, unfortunately.
BACK TO La Paz to great meals and spending time with our good friend who lives there. We arrived at the port at 9 PM (2 hrs prior to departure) as
requested by the ferry company. We left our car at the ferry parking lot and boarded the ferry within 15 minutes after a bit of a hassle cause we
were not allowed to take the food/drinks on board (no one informed us). They kept it til we arrived at Topolabambo port.
Once settled in, we went exploring and found that dinner is included in the fare. It was OK, nothing to write home about. Our cabin was excellent -
clean and not huge but spacious enough .... I had taken an anti seasickness pill and was out like a light - Les cruised around and visited the bar and
then settled in for the night as well. Many Mexicans take a blanket and pillow and sleep on the extensive couches lining the ferry.
You get a courtesy knock in the morning, we were up at at 'em pretty quick ...You can buy coffee and a danish in the restaurant while you wait in line
for the ferryboat to dock. It was an hour late and we were in a hurry to get off, we were the first in line !
So, we jumped in the first cab we saw and went to the train station – adventure shock # 1: the train had already left !! So, the taxi driver put us on
a bus to El Fuerte (train takes 2.5 hrs and bus 1 hr). Once in El Fuerte, we jumped on another bus which takes you to the El Fuerte train station -
about 30 minutes outside of town. When we arrived, we waited for the train about 30 minutes. Slow train is a good thing !! Now, I don’t remember if
we could have booked this ticket in advance, we bought it at the station. If my memory serves me right – you can NOT buy it online …
Once on the train, be sure to sit on the right side, we sat on the left until we realized we were missing the show !! Our train was economy class, it
was almost empty and quite comfortable. We had brought our own sodas and snacks.
www.chepe.com.mx = train information
TRAIN FROM EL FUERTE TO CREEL:The views are outstanding - no picture can capture the essence of the canyons - you gotta see it to believe it !!
There is a stop in a town called Divisadero. The train stops there for 30 minutes. Get off and go BEHIND the stalls where they are selling all sorts
of stuff - all these crafts can be bought in Creel, don't waste a second looking - head straight back for one of the highlights of the trip, a view
that will take your breath away. Some people get off here and go to the bottom of the canyon. We did not but I saw pics that an American kid took –
he did go down and this part is the URIQUE CANYON. Spectacular does not even come close to how gorgeous and steep and huge it is.
Ready to go on? We got back on the train and got off in Creel. A couple stations before it, we saw Indians selling baskets and we bought 10 of them
!!! Turns out, you can get these same pine woven baskets in Creel for the exact same price .... but we didn’t know and I loved the intricate colors
and designs. I looked like a madwoman, they do not speak Spanish, they were far down and I on the train pointing and pointing and pointing and buying
and buying and buying. That is the system: One points and they give and then you pay. But I would not do this again – much better to buy up close and
personal in a store in Creel or any other town !!
Once in Creel, as we got off the train, we were greeted by some young kids and a tour guide who offered to give us a ride to a good and inexpensive
hotel. So, we got in the van and after going around the block got to Margarita’s Hotel. We could have walked faster, it was that close. It is
reasonably priced, centrally located, it was clean, we had our own bathroom in the room and breakfast was included for about 350 pesos for the 2 of
us. Pretty good in our book !! Breakfast was pretty rinky dink, a bowl of porridge and scrambled eggs and coffee. The hotel also offer many tours and
they try to hook you up with other tourists right then and there, this part was a little pushy aggressive and our first reaction was no say NO. There
is another hotel owned by the same owners down the street, which was a bit more posh for those who want more than a sparse room, but we were quite
happy.
THE TOWN: Creel is great. It is a one main drag town with a huge variety of stores offering arts and crafts that are unique to this area. Everything
has a meaning, the baskets (20 pesos each on average) are used by the Tarahumara to house their spices when they cook, the little drums represent the
big drums they use at their religious ceremonies. Art imitating life = , there are snakes carved out of wood that are NOT painted but cleverly use the
natural color of the wood to show the patterns of various snakes (20 pesos each), there is pottery from Mata Ortiz - a famous town further down on the
train trip which we did NOT go to - so we bought the pottery here. This pottery is definitely more expensive but oh so so so beautiful. I liked the
black pottery and we bought about 7 pieces (one large and 6 small). I could go on and on about the arts and crafts, go there instead and see for
yourself !! I went by myself to a museum right across the park from the hotel and their specialty is everything Indian – history – legends – religion
– customs …. It was quite comprehensive. And not what I expected to read, at all.
Stay tuned for PART II We shall go to Batopilas (bottom of the Copper Canyon via 2 other canyons) -----------------
--------------------- I CANT FIGURE OUT HOW TO SLOW DOWN THE SLIDE SHOW BUT IF YOU CLICK THE STOP BUTTON, THEN YOU CAN PROGRESS ONE BY ONE. For more
details, scroll down to the album, each picture has more info attached.
windgrrl - 8-22-2010 at 08:58 PM
Thank you - wonderful pix and looking forward to seeing the rest of your adventure!
Natalie Ann - 8-23-2010 at 08:06 AM
Excellent post and pix, Blanca.
Thank you for taking the time to do this trip report. I've been hoping for it ever since you returned.
Very much looking forward to the rest of this report.
nena
desertcpl - 8-23-2010 at 09:08 AM
how do you view the pixs, I went to photo bucket , then what
BajaBlanca - 8-23-2010 at 09:31 AM
CLICK ON PHOTOBUCKETS
CLICK ON BAJABLANCA - IN DARK BLUE ARE - ON THE RIGHT, TOP
SCROLL DOWN TO RECENT ALBUMS
CHOOSE
COPPER CANYON
I hope this is right, this is the first time I am using it myself !!
David K - 8-23-2010 at 09:47 AM
Copper Canyon Part 1
The link at the top of this thread is a tad too long to all be in blue (hyper-link) for Nomad... So either copy and paste it into your browser... Or
click on the link right above 'Copper Canyon Part 1' to go right to Blanca's slide show!
[Edited on 8-23-2010 by David K]
desertcpl - 8-23-2010 at 09:52 AM
thanks David
Blanca still would not work for me,, but was able to with Davids help
David K - 8-23-2010 at 09:58 AM
I am happy to assist!