I arranged, with the RV park owners help, a taxi to take me out to the train station. It’s about 3-4 miles from El Fuerte. Had an overnight bag all ready since I planned on spending the night (or three) up there. Had a couple leads on hotels and the one I’d chosen lists WiFi, had a nice view and a restaurant. But it was kind of spendy. So I was going to be looking around when I arrived at Divisadero. The ticket was purchased on the train, amounted to around $60USD and takes ~6 hours. Here’s an on-line map that shows the trip and the gained elevation: Copper Canyon Train.
At the station, checking out the map.
Waited around an hour for the train, and around 8:30am it finally arrived.
Whoppie, trains a’comin’.
Nice looking train.
The train wasn’t full, the seats are comfortable and the scenery starts in the low lands and rapidly changes as the train climbs 2200 meters up to Divisadero.
All aboard!
The passengers were mostly Mexican, but they were tourists like myself. And of course, there were many locals just heading home. I was in the first class section near the back of the train of about 15 cars. Behind my car was the security car. Uniformed guards, armed with automatic weapons, if you’re the worried type this might set you at ease.
The first hour of the trip we passed a few typical Mexican villages with 6-7 buildings, dirt roads, farms, etc. We did pass one large village, way out in the country side. Must have been an old mining center. One thing I thought was interesting was when we passed a herd of cows, outside the fence was a calf, bleating. Apparently, it had gotten through the fence but couldn’t get back inside. The herd was snuggled up against the fence, I suppose to give it moral support. Thirty minutes later, saw the same thing, only this time is was a kid outside the fence, and a herd of goats watching over it. Funny.
One of the smaller villages we passed.
Off in the distance is a fairly large village.
The local river.
Note the unfenced cows having a drink. Didn’t see any cowboys anywhere. The weather was a little warm when we left El Fuerte, but the breeze and the gain in altitude helped with that over the trip.
There were several tunnels to go though.
The security guard made a trip up to the front of the train so I wandered back to the caboose and get this shot. When he came back he made me go back to my car. Darnit.
The bridge.
This was an interesting section of the trip. The train makes a huge sweeping turn here and gains like 1000 meters in elevation. Sort of travels around this huge valley as it’s climbing.
Note our elevation now…
Since trains are so big, and only take grades of 3-4% it was hardly noticeable how fast we were climbing.
After a couple hours of sight seeing, I wandered into the bar car for some coffee and there were two gurls setting up a karaoke machine. A few minutes later they were belting out some tunes. Got to be annoying after a while, but, they were there to earn a few bucks…can’t fault them for that.
Singers!
You can see from the above shot how nice the train is. Very comfy, AC (though it wasn’t needed most of the trip), finely appointed, nice bar. Compared to American trains, very economical too.
After 6 hours of travel, we arrive in Divisadero. There are many stalls there at the station, sort of blocking the view. I knew that Hotel Divisadero was around somewhere but I couldn’t spot any signs that would lead me there. Hung around the station a bit and took some shots as the train pulled away for Chihuahua.
At Divisadero station.
All those stalls are selling food. Behind them are more stalls with trinkets.
Off in the distance, Copper Canyon.
The first problem I had was that I couldn’t seem to find the hotel. Wandered around this small village but didn’t see it. But I was distracted by the canyon. Even missed the low sign for the hotel. You can actually see one of the hotels buildings in the above shot. But, for whatever reason, I couldn’t seem to find it. So I asked at one of the stalls and the gal had her son guide me over there. After handing me a flyer for her own motel. Her husband also ferried people over to the gondola in his truck. Like a gypsy cab driver. The kid guided me to the hotel, and on the way, I noticed that low sitting sign for it that I’d missed my first walk-around. When I first saw the building, I thought it was the local city government building. Dummy. Anyway, looked around inside. What a view they have. But I’d read the reviews about the place, which were kind of not-so-good, and didn’t make a reservation. When I checked, they did have rooms available. What I did do was accept the taxi ride up to the gondola.
First picture of Copper Canyon.
As you can see, this canyon is far different then Grand Canyon. It might be deeper and wider, and extends over a much larger area, but it doesn’t have the geologic oomph that GC has. Still interesting though.
Hotel Divisadero, hanging onto that cliff.
And a shot looking back towards the village and train platform area.
The village.
It’s so small here that I circumnavigated the entire village in around 15 minutes.
It was still early in the day and I still had time to decide about a hotel. I find the taxi/truck guy parked alongside the road and climb into his rig and off we went. I’d worry about the hotel later. Besides, their motel was at least half the price as the big hotel, so I decided to consider their offer while I enjoyed the gondola ride. I asked if his motel had WiFi…he says, Si! I asked if they had a canyon view, again, Si!
When we got up to the gondola, it was surprising how modern it all was. Big beautiful buildings, modern bathrooms, powerfully built gondola set up, and wow, the gondola trip was long…also dropping around 400 meters down into the canyon. It must have been 2 miles long.
On the way to the gondola, there’s a piece of private land you have to cross. Really. With a toll gate. Had to pay to get to a giant public area. Bad roads with lots of pot holes. Funny stuff here in Mexico. The gondola ride setup is fairly new, there’s still some construction going on for two more lines. At least that’s what it looked like. Very modern setup. If I’m going to be riding inside a tiny box with 20 other people, hanging by a thread 400 meters above a canyon, I’d like to feel secure. And this setup does that.
Looks fairly stout.
Off we go. Looking off to the west you’ll see many more canyons. There’s a tribe of people who lived here for centuries. They’re famous for being able to run up and down these canyons for hours. The Spanish discovered silver on the peoples land, enslaved most of them, and forced their families out of the canyons. A gentle people, the few times they revolted were not that successful. After the Spanish left, they drifted back down into the canyons. You can now schedule excursions down to their main village and spend the night. I did spot their local village down there. Many of them are up on the rims selling their hand made trinkets. Then they get to walk down into the canyon after a days work. Yikes.
That’s a long way down.
There’s a road way down there, and a foot trail on that rock wall.
Here’s a short movie of the trip in the gondola. It’s taken in a small space so you might turn down your volume. It’s only 22 seconds long though. Click your back arrow when finished to return here:
After playing with my camera’s movie function, took these shots. The sun was behind me but it’s angle and the glass of the gondola conspire to reduce clarity a bit.
Off in the distance, a large river.
The gondola ride takes around 10 minutes and ends up on a mesa with steep cliffs all around. Must have been another 5-600 feet down to the canyon floor. But there are so many canyons. Wow.
Approaching the mesa.
After arriving, found that the mesa is quite large. Several trails to explore and areas to wander around giving differing views of Copper Canyon so I missed the next 3-4 gondolas heading back to the rim. Interesting. Several Tarahumara families up there selling their trinkets.
The mesa area.
Looks like a building over there but it’s just a rock.
Some of the trinkets available.
One of the locals.
After spending around an hour enjoying the view, back we went to the rim. Interesting trip. Having been to the GC though, I’d have to say that Copper Canyon is a little of a let down. I’ve been reading for years how it’s deeper and wider the the GC, but no one mentioned that it’s dull in comparison. To each his own I suppose. I do love trains though. So that was nice. And the gondola ride will get your heart pumping too.
A look around the mesa.
After the walk around, reached a catwalk that takes you out over the canyon. Took another video of the area, again, use your back arrow to return here:
It’s a long way down.
More mountains.
You can see the gondola cables in the above shot, but it’s hard to pick out the buildings where they end up on top of the rim. But they’re there.
The station.
All in all, pretty cool place. Don’t know if I’d want to live here though.
Here’s my ride.
I suppose it’s natural, I kept thinking that those cables were pretty skinny.
After the gondola ride, I met my taxi driver and told him, sure, I’d stay at his motel. So he drives me around 5 miles to his place. Nice comfy country inn. Except for the bathroom. The thing was so small, I could hardly turn around in it. Later, I wandered over for dinner and asked about the WiFi. Their kid says sure, we got it. But he didn’t know what WiFi is I guess as they have no internet connection. Their WiFi is local only so he can play PS2 or some such game through their main computer. Disappointed. Oh, and their canyon view is NOT the Copper Canyon. It’s just a 100 foot deep canyon tributary. By the time I figured all this out, it was dark, I was hungry and more in the mood to relax with a cerveza then force the guy to take me back to town. And, I was saving lots of money too. Sometime later, an older guy and his grandson showed up so I got to visit with them. Kinda fun. They both spoke a little English, the grandfather more then the grandson and it was funny sometimes as the kid struggled with it.
The motel.
Built back in the 50’s or the ’30’s, can’t remember. Still in fairly good shape. My room was right there on the right. The big building is the kitchen, dinning room, and restaurant, such as it is. Kind of rustic. While I was there, relaxing on the couch, there were some locals that came in for dinner. I ate later after they’d cleared out. Played with my tablet for a while trying to figure out their WiFi. The kid did let me investigate their setup up…which is when I discovered they aren’t even connected to the internet. Still not sure if this was an honest mistake, or just a mistake to keep gringos there thinking they might get wifi and not leaving. Guess I should start asking if they have INTERNET not just WiFi.
Out back of the motel.
Still air drying their clothes.
Sort of a canyon, but not THE canyon.
Still using their old wood stove daily. All their meals and the restaurants meals are cooked on this.
They do have the electric next to the wood stove but she (the woman I met up at the train station who gave me the flyer for their motel) told me they only use it when they’re really busy or for larger items. Turkeys, roasts, etc. And for warming up stuff quickly.
Enjoyed the family atmosphere here at their motel so I can forgive what appeared to be outright lies to get me there, but like I said, I saved more than half what the other hotel would have cost me, so, I’ll let it go. If you are looking for something less expensive, note that there are several of these small motels around Divisadero and you can find info about them at the train station. There are 3 large expensive hotels. Those are built right on the edge of the canyon so you’d have a much nicer view. But probably would miss the authentic Mexican family experience that I enjoyed. The owners, their children, and some of the locals who wandered in all spoke at least some English so I felt right at home here. We all had dinner together that mom and daughter cooked.
After paying for the taxi ride, motel, the meal, and the 3 cerveza I had here, I noticed I was getting low on pesos. I’d have to take care of that the next day in town…or so I thought.