Jungle Pyramids | Pacific
chillout | Mexico City | Peyote
in the desert | Waterfalls | Copper
Canyon | Crossing the border
This page is dedicated to my travels around Mexico. I ditched my
job, said farewell to my friends, and got on the plane to Cancun,
Mexico.
| Cancun |
| This place is a holdiay destination for US tourists (Gringos),
where the beach is lined with flash hotels.
|
| I flew into Cancun in the evening, found a hotel, which was way
too expensive, and got outta there on the bus the next morning.
I'd heard Cancun was a tourist trap but wasn't expecting it would
be so much of a tourist trap.
|
| If you're an holiday maker who wants to have a luxury week or
two in the sun and where money is not the biggest concern, then
this is this place is alright.
|
| If you're a typical backpacker, travelling on a budget, hoping
to meet other backpackers and experience a bit of Mexican culture,
this is definately not the place |
| Playa
Del Carmen |
| About an hour on a school bus South of Cancun brings you to a
kind of mini Cancun called Playa Del Carmen. It has the same nice
beaches, which are a lot more accessible. Everything is a bit more
centralised here, so I found it easier to meet people. However the
place was still a tourist trap, and is full of gringos on 1-2 week
vacations. |
| I finally stumbled across some backpackers when I checked into
a place called Cabanas Las Ruinas, which is a pleasant spot situated
right on the beach. They have a posada where you can hang a hammock
for about 50 pesos a night. |
| I then proceeded to get a touch of the shits for a few days, which
slowed me down a bit. I think this is quite common for a lot of
travellers around Mexico. Once my system had adapted to the climate
and the food I was ok, and started off on my travels. |
| Chichen
Itza |
 |
After a fairly nightmarish second class bus journey, I arrived
in Chichen Itza - Some of the best preserved Mayan ruins in
Mexico. After 5 hours on a bus, the Belgium guy I was travelling
with was desperate for a piss, so he ran off the bus and proceeded
to piss against a tree on the edge of the car park. shortly
after he had completed his urination, a local coppa came over
to him and decided to arrest him for pissing in a public place. |
| The coppa was threatening to lock him up for 3 days
unless he paid him 300 pesos. Luckily a Mexican chap who had been
watching the incident stepped in and sorted the situation out. A
close shave for my Belgian friend. In general, the police in Mexico
are totally corrupt, and one should never give them an excuse to
get on your case. |
| After this we headed to a nearby hotel called the Piramide
Inn, where I was allowed to pitch my hammock for 40 pesos a night.
They had a nice swimming pool which gave me the opportunity to cool
down (coz it was fucking hot). |
| The following day, we set off early to check out the
ruins (thus avoiding the midday sun). I thought the place was amazing,
much better than I´d expected. Quite a few of the more interesting
buildings had been fenced off from the general public due to restoration
work. I made a couple of attempts to hop the fence and sneak in
unnoticed, and proceeded to get a bollocking from one of the security
guards. |
| Merida
|
| A quick stop over in the crowded city of Merida was enough to
clock the place. I Strolled around for a bit sorted out a pukka
pizza and then got on to the night bus for Palenque.
|
| Palenque
|
| This place is an absolute must see for anyone travelling around
Mexico. Some beautiful Mayan ruins set in the middle of some dense
jungle. We checked into a place called Camping Mayabell right next
to the ruins where I could hang my hammock for 20 pesos a night.
It was a well nice place, where I could have chilled for a while,
but I only managed a couple of nights coz I was getting serioulsy
munched by a whole variety of bugs. |
 |
| The ruins at Palenque are just as impressive as Chichen
Itza but in a completely different way. |
| San
Christobal
|
| After Palenque the Belgian chap I was travelling with decided
to go on some jungle mission, through some random villages,
down a river and over the border to Guatemala to check out some
ruins called Tikal. These are supposed to be some of the best
ruins going. I decided to opt out of this coz it was in the
opposite direction to where I was heading. Plus I'd had enough
of getting munched by bugs and a river mission would be the
last thing I needed.
|
| Due to my complete lack of ability to speak any Spanish whatsoever,
I welcomed the company of an American holiday maker from LA on my
journey to San Christobal, who had a limited ability to communicate
with the locals. However, this character turned out to be one of
the most annoying people I've ever met. He can be summed up by a
few simple phrases:
|
| Occupation - Supply teacher. Speaks in a monotone drone, has 3-4
topics of conversation which he would repeat continously. Table
manners which were enough to put me off my food. Every time I would
try to read my book or play my guitar, he would come and interrupt
me with some crap travel advice which I´d already heard and
was completely irrelevant to my cause.
|
| It took approximately 2 days for my patience to run out. My attempts
to lose him proved fruitless. I changed my travel plans to go to
Zipolete then Oaxaca instead of Oaxaca Zipolete, and he changed
his plans accordingly. I figured if I got to Zipolete, then I would
meet loads of other travellers and could ignore him. After sitting
next to this obscene creature for 10 hours on a bus to Zipolete
I was just about ready to do the man some damage. Luckily, my plan
worked - I arrived in Zipolete, met some cool travellers, gave it
the large and he was outta there the next day - phew!!
|
| Anyway, San Christobal is a beautiful colonial town, with some
good restaurants.
|
| Chamula
|
| This place has got to be seen to be believed. Probably one of
the most random places I've ever been to. A village about 20 minutes
bus ride from San Christobal, where the locals practice a strange
hybrid religion of Catholicism and their ancient Mayan beliefs.
The village is occupied by pure Mayan Indians (most of Mexico is
mixed race).
|
| Upon entering the church the first thing I noticed was that
the floor was covered with pine needles. Placed on the floor
throughout the church were clusters of candles. In front of
each group of candles was an Indian family of between 3-6 people,
they were praying. Between them and the candles were full Pepsi
or Coca Cola bottles with their tops still sealed. About half
way through their ceremony, the father of the family stood up,
with his arms raised in the air, a Coke bottle in one hand,
a Pepsi bottle in the other. He was uttering various religious
chants throughout. He then nodded to his wife, who produced
a bottle opener from her bag. He then proceeded to open the
Pepsi bottle, pour some in a small glass and down the fizzy
brown beverage. Shortly after this he started to belch. He then
refilled the glass and passed it to each member of his family
who also drank and belched loudly.
|
| Some families also had a plastic bag full of chicken eggs next
to their bottles, although I never witnessed the purpose of these.
When a group had finished preying, the head of the family would
clear all the flem from his throat, and then lay a greeny on the
floor where he had been preying before walking out.
|
| Tuxtla
Gutierrez |
| I just spent the day here on the way to Zipolete from San Christobal.
A fairly crap, crowded place with nothing very interesting to see.
There is however a very nice Canyon nearby. We got bout trip through
the heart of the Canyon which was pretty cool. |
| Zipolite |
|
| This place is paradise. Here I completely unwound and chilled
to the max. After a couple of days in Zipolite I was more relaxed
than I'd been in well over a year. The weather was perfect every
day, I found a really cheap spot to hang my hammock in a place
called Shambhala run my some hippy called Gloria on the rocks
overlooking the whole beach. It also had a beautiful meditation
spot on top of the cliff where my and my buddies would visit
religiously every day for a morning meditation spliff. I managed
to lay my hands on an Oz of bud for about $5, although a packet
of large Smoking skins cost me $2 (because of this, I had no
choice but to load my spliffs to the max.). You could get massive
bottles of Corona from the stores pretty cheap as well, plus
there were some really nice restuarants along the beach. |
The morning meditation spot
|
|
The sea is really rough around here, You can go swimming
and body surfing, but if you go out far enough so your feet
don't touch the bottom, you could be sucked out by the rip
currents. I spent many an hour off-my-head staring out at
the ocean, mesmorised by the crazy currents. Every so often,
if the conditions are safe some of the locals go surfing.
1/2 hour drive up the coast is a place called Puerto Escondido
which some people rate amongst the top 5 surfing spots in
the world - guaranteed barrel after barrel.
I could easily have stayed here for month, but after about
a week and a half, the people I was hanging out with decided
to move on, so I left for Oaxaca City. (Plus I was mildly
concerned that if I stayed any longer, I would chill so much
that my brain would cease to function and I would never leave).
|
|
| Oaxaca
City |
| After a fairly unpleasant 8 hour second class bus
journey along dodgy mountain roads on a bomb of a bus packed full
of locals, I arrived in Oaxaca City. I then proceeded to check into
a place called the Magic Hostel, a popular spot with backpackers.
Here I chilled for about a week, and met loads of sound people.
This place is probably the best spot I came across for meeting other
travellers, with lots of people either coming down from Mexico City,
up from Zipolete or across from Chiapas. |
| Oaxaca is one of the few places in Mexico with lively
backpacker hostels of the kind you find in Australia or Europe. |
| One of my days in Oaxaca was spent checking out Monte Alban, another
pukka Mayan ruin. It is set on top of a mountain, and is more symmetrical
than any of the others I've seen. Which probably means it was built
in one go, but I aint no anthropologist. |
 |
| We also sorted out a trip to a place called Hierve
El Agua, which is basically a bunch of natural springs. The springs
are set in the mountains with some fantastic scenery. There was
some Columbian marching powder present on the occasion, which resulted
in myself bigging up the scenery to the max. (If you know what I
mean). |
El Tokero
|
|
| Another ruin we checked out was a place called
Mitla, East of Oaxaca City. This site is an Aztec ruin and therefore
a lot newer than the Mayan ones. It was still in pretty good
shape when the Spanish came in the 1500's. It is pretty obvious
where the Spanish completely obliterated part of it and built
a catholic church directly on top. The church foundations are
the old aztec structure and you can still make out the carvings
in the stone. Walking around the main ruins, I was reminded
of the video game "Doom". The most memorable moment of the day
was when I came across the best taco place in all Mexico. They
were not the cheapest, but fuck they were good! It was in a
place in a small shopping arcade in the market. Although in
retrospect, we had smoked a couple of cheecky spliffs before-hand,
and having the munchies at the time may have added to the experience. |
|
| Eating
in Mexico |
| The best way I found to eat in Mexico was the same way the locals
do, off the street. Everywhere you go in Mexico you will find people
selling stuff from simple but efficient street outlets. The food
is good, it is cheap, they prepare it right in front of you, so
you can tell if it is going to be clean or not. I never got ill
from eating from street vendors. |
| The main items on sale are tacos and tortas, but you can find
loads of other stuff. I forget how many different taco stands I
ate at, but each one was slightly different. In the larger cities,
you get more variety. I had the best hamburger I think I've ever
had for 1 dollar from some bloke on the street in San Louis Potosi.
In Zipolete, there is a constant flow of old women kids walking
up and down along the beach selling food, and most of it is pukka.
I remember several days spent chilling on the beach drinking and
toking, whilst keeping lookout for a particular old lady with a
bucket of tacos on her head. |
| Mexico
City |
| Before going to Mexico City I had heard loads
of horror stories about the place, and was fairly apprehensive
about going there. Shortly after arriving in Mexico City, I
learnt that these rumours were all a load of complete bollocks.
You have to take the same precautions you would in any large
city. |
| A friend recommended to me a place called Home
Hostel on Tabasco Street near the Zona Rosa. Upon locating and
checking into the place, the friendly manager of the hostel
explained that, because it was his birthday and he would be
inviting all his mates around that evening for a party, my accomodation
would be free for the first night. Result! |
| I then proceeded to stock up on some beverages
and join in the party. They had a phat sound system, and the
dj's were churning out some drum n bass and a few indie classics.
Very refreshing after a month of mariarchi music. |
| Being the largest city in the world, mexico city
is pretty fucking big, and has some pretty dodgy areas, which
I didn't bother to check out. The centre of town, which is where
I did most of my hanging out was pretty nice, I checked out
a few good bars etc. |
| I sorted out a day trip to the Mayan ruin Teotihuacan,
about an hour outside the city. To look at it was not as pleasing
as Palenque, Chichen Itza or Monte Alban, but the sheer size
of the site is enough to blow anyone's mind. |
| Without a doubt, the most impressive thing I saw
in Mexico city was the Anthropology Museum. Having already been
around the major Mayan ruins before hand helped me to visualise
everything that was on display there. I only allocated 2 hours
to check the place out and was completely gutted when the museum
started to close and I was only half-way around the place. To
see the place properly I would recommend at least 4 hours. |
 |
This was Presidential election candidate for the same
party which had been in power for the last 50 years. Everywhere
I went in Mexico - This guys name was plastered everywhere.
Even in small Mayan villages. I'm sure the money used
for this extravagent campaign could have been put to better
use.
Not suprisingly, this guy didn't get in. I mean who is
going to vote for someone who calls himself "The Bastard"!!
|
| Queretaro |
 |
On my way up to San Louis Potosi, I stopped in Queretaro for a
night, to hook up with a friend called Katy from Oregon, whom I
met in Oaxaca. She was doing voluntary work in a centre which looks
after Mexican women from the street and their children. She was
responsible for looking after the kids during the day, whilst their
mothers get trained on basic skills such as needlework etc, which
will enable them to work and support themselves. It was a very interesting
place to be. It was a nice collection of buildings based around
several courtyards, with lots of lively kids running around. I wouldn't
have minded staying their some more time, but I had an appointment
to get mashed up in San Louis. |
 |
| The city itself is full of flash churches, and is definately
the cleanest place I visited in Mexico, although it seemed to lack
the character of other places I visited. |
| San
Louis |
| I arrived in San Louis Potosi and hooked up with
my mate Don (North Carolina bloke from Zipolete) who was teaching
English at the technical college there. He proceeded to throw
some weed at me and insist I skin-up an "English spliff". So
I did, and we got baked. |
| Shortly after this, some friends of his turned up,
we packed some camping gear into the back of their car, and
drove to some farm in a remote town called Corn City.
The place is known as the town of 2 lies, because it isn't a
city and it doesn't have any corn. Anyway, we were well stocked
on Cervezas etc and proceeded to get mashed up, and talk some
serious bollocks. I also took the opportunity to knock out a
few tunes on my guitar. |
| The next day we went for breakfast in some dodgy local joint.
I was sold that we were going to have some nice soup that would
sort out my hangover. I was not prepared for the dish that was
laid out before me. It appeared to be some kind of greasy soup
containing every part of the pig you would not normally consume
(need I go into this any further?). I was hungry and it was
the only thing on the menu, so I closed my eyes and managed
to work my way through about 2/3rds of it, I was quite suprised
that it didn't make me ill. We then drove to some cool looking
ranch by the river with an annoying cockeral that wouldn't shut
up and a pig that would munch anything you threw at it. From
there, we drove to a beautiful waterfall, which was made even
better by the fact that we were the only people there. After
a quick swim, we set up camp and got a sesh on. |
 |
| The following morning we sorted out a few waterfall jumps before
heading back to San Louis |
 |
| Real
De Catorce
|
 |
This is definately the coolest place I visited in Mexico.
An old silver mining town set in mountainous desert, it was
an abandoned ghost town, and has recently been repopulated by
various arty people, simply because it is a cool place to live. |
| I had to get a few buses and it took me a while
to get there. To get to the actual town you had to go through
a tunnel about 1km long through a mountain, just about wide
enough for the small bus which took us through (which was scraping
along the sides on the way). Then you come out into this beautiful
town, made completely of rocks. When I got there, the place
was crawling with Hollywood scum - They were making a movie
called the Mexican starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. As
a result of this all the accomodation was taken up, meaning
I was stitched. After a bit of strolling around aimlessly trying
to find somewhere to sleep, I managed to do a deal with some
local bloke to sleep on the floor in an empty stone room at
the back of his house. The bloke was charging me $2 for the
priveledge (the alternative was $20 for a room with a bed).
I had no intention of sleeping on the floor, I clocked the wooden
beams on the ceiling were hammock worthy, and was quickly comfortable. |
| My time here was spent just strolling around the
landscape and checking the place out, whilst blagging free food
and tea from the hollywood supply vans. The movie makers had
taken it upon themselves to flatten a nearby hilltop and build
a fake San Miguel (blazing saddles style), which from one side
looks like a town, and from the other - a bunch of large wooden
fences. However, coz everyone was preoccupied in their movie
making antics, I was one of the few tourists and had the surrounding
area all to myself. |
| Peyote
in the desert |
| This was probably the most significant experience of my trip.
My friend Don had been persuading my to do some Peyote ever since
I met him in Zipolete, he sold it to me as a harsh, unpleasant,
but fucking interesting experience. He knew a good spot a couple
of hours drive from his city San Louis Potosi. We didn't have a
car, so it was a bit of a mission getting there.
|  |
| First we had to get a bus through a small town,
and about 20 minutes out the other side of the town was a dip
in the road. This dip marked our stop, we tapped the bus driver
on the shoulder and he got off. A short walk after the dip,
thre was a dirt track leading off to the left. We then had to
hike down this track with loaded backpacks (packed with 8 litres
of water each) for about 2 hours taking us right into the middle
of nowhere. Eventually we reached a dried up river bed. We then
hiked up the river bed for about some more until we reached
the spot where my friend and Guide, Don had camped when he last
did some Peyote. It was a 'relatively' green spot by the riverside,
next to an area of desert abundant with Peyote.
|
| A storm had been chasing us for the last hour, and
was just about on us when we arrived at our destination. There
were some local Mexican mash-heads at the same spot who had
also set up camp. We had literally got the tent out and almost
had it up hen it started hailing hard, and then raining hard.
We dove into the tent and sat out the storm for the next half
hour. Once the storm had passed, I went and introduced myself
to our neighbours. Fortunately they spoke English so I didn't
have to use sign language. They were busy rebuilding the fire,
once this was done we all stood around the fire to dry off.
Then a European-looking Mexican called Manuel strolled up accompanied
by a dog, both of them dry as a bone. This impressed me as he
didn't even have a tent. It turned out that they had been sheltering
in small cave on the other side of the river watching us lot
getting soaked.
|
|
Manuel feeding the dog that "hung out" with
him.
|
| The locals then handed me a load of Peyote which I promptly
ate. It tasted really really bad, plus you've gotta eat quite a
bit of it to get high. The picture above shows a Peyote head, which
you find poking out of the ground around the bases of trees. You
need to eat about 5 or 6 to get a decent trip.
|
| After a while we strolled across to the other side
of the dried-up river and up to the bank where the Peyote field
was, and did some harvesting. The technique to harvesting was
to take the head of the Peyote (which gets you mashed) whilst
leaving the rest of the cacti alive so that it can regenerate.
This can be done by either removing the furry spikes and sticking
them into the base of the plant before covering it up, or by
leaving the middle of the head intact and only taking the green
bits around the edge. By the time I had finished gathering the
Peyote heads, I could feel the drug kick in. I felt full of
energy and had a massive desire to just wander around the desert
checking out all the different types of cacti that were around.
I went back to the camp, cleaned the Peyote I had just picked,
munched some more and went for a wander. |
It seems strange writing about it, but the whole
Peyote experience felt like I was being given a guided tour
of the desert. I just had the urge to keep wondering, and it
felt as though no harm would come to me, along my path I had
collected a small stick for my left hand and a long thick cactus
needle for my right. These items somehow remained in my hands
for the next 12 hours. I was using them to prod my way around
in the dark, thus avoiding stumbling into any of the abundant
and wildly varying cacti that was surrounding me. I was getting
some great visuals, very subtle, but highlighting the beauty
of the desert nicely. Eventually I decided that I was lost and
spent the next 1/2 hour following voices and the odd glimpse
of the fire, returning to the camp. On my return, I witnessed
one of the Mexicans (whom we nicknamed chef) sacrificing a fish
in the middle of the river (He was actually gutting it so he
could cook it, but it looked more like a Mayan sacrificial act
to me). |
| I sat around the fire listening to all the Mexicans
speak for so long that after a while I was convinced I could
understand what they were talking about, I even found myself
laughing at their jokes. Obviously I didn't understand them
coz I can't speak Spanish for shite. Then the Mexican Manuel
gave me a little tour of the area, showing me a natural spring
coming out of the rocks nearby, some of the best water I'd tasted
for ages. I was mildly gutted that Don and I had busted our
backs lugging loads of water into the middle of the desert when
there was a natural spring right next to where we were camping.
Manuel was seriously into his Peyote, and explained to me about
how Peyote was his God, and how it was related to all the elements
and the pyramids. It actually all made sense to me at the time.
He even had a shrine which he had placed in a tree on the edge
of our camp, decorated with all the Peyote he was going to do
throughout the night, and his favourite stones. |
| Ironically, the next morning when the sun rose, I had
just about stopped tripping and was wandering around in the daylight
collecting firewood, and I walked straight into a cactus and got
spikes all up my leg. I had been wandering around guided by Peyote
all night in the pitch black without a single incident. |
| The next day we brewed up some Chocoyote, one of Chef's
inventions consisting of hot chocolate, sugar, cinamon, Peyote and
some other magic ingredients which I can't remember. Consuming Peyote
in this fashion actually makes it edible (secret is to try and hide
the disgusting flavour of the stuff). We also knocked up some Peyo-tea,
consisting of tea, apple, cinamon, sugar and Peyote. We then took
the dogs for a walk up the river bed and around the desert. At one
point we reached a dam in the river which had a farm next to it.
It was quite bizarre to see cows grazing in a green field in the
middle of the desert. Some of the Mexicans we were with attempted
to milk one of the cows and were quickly chased off by the bull.
They were also doing a spot of fishing in the river using a stick
with a three-pronged cactus spike attached to the end. Most cactus
spikes are slightly hooked at the end. They managed to catch some
fish which Chef prepared for lunch. |
|
After the whole experience, we had to face the 3 hour hike
back to the road, which was a pain in the ass, especially
as I had trodden on a cactus spike with bare feet earlier
on, plus I hadn't slept for 36 hours. When we finally reached
the road, we were trying to hitch a ride back to San Louis
and not having much success. Eventually a white pickup truck
travelling the other way pulled over and two men with guns
tucked into their trousers stepped out. They claimed they
were the law, although they produced no identification. They
then interrogated us as to what we were doing by the side
of the road in the middle of nowhere, searching our bags,
asking if we had been smoking crack etc etc. These 2 guys
were grade "A" wankers. One of them spoke a little
English, none of it pleasant, and straight out of the last
Die Hard movie he'd watched:
"Don't fuck with me mother fucker, I am the LAW!!"
We had to endure this abuse for about 10 minutes before they
left us in peace. Like most corrupt Mexican authorities, they
were fishing for bribes. We didn't have anything on us, and were
doing nothing illegal, so they couldn't do shit. Just in case,
when the asshole was looking the other way, I took all my cash
from my wallet and shoved it in my sock. Shortly after this he
asked for my ID and grabbed my wallet, and was rather gutted to
find it empty. He then trod on my shades and buggered off, but
I managed to bend them back into shape.
Shortly after this, a very nice couple turned up and gave us
a lift to the nearest town, where a bus was conveniently waiting
for us.
|
| La
Huasteca |
| La Huasteca is a low lying and very green region East of San Louis
State. It is not even mentioned in any of the travel guides but
has some of the most beautiful spots in Mexico I visited. |
|
In particular .. the waterfalls
|
|
|
| All the waterfalls we visited were accessible from a large farming
town called Cuidad Valles. Not a particularly significant
place but for some reason it was full of beautiful women, and the
food is superb. A quick bus ride from the town is a selection of
waterfalls called Micos. We hiked up the river until we got
to the top of the waterfall above, where we set up camp. The only
spot available to hang my hammock was actually over the water. It
was wierd having to wade out to my hammock at night with my sleeping
bag wrapped around my shoulders, and carefully climb in. I was a
bit worried that my rope might become untied from the tree while
I was sleeping, thus resulting in a "wet dream", but that
short spell I spent in the Boy Scouts paid off and my knots held. |
| I slept well and what better a way to wake up in the morning than
to fall out of my hammock into the water, swim round to the waterfall,
and jump off it. Then climb back up to our camp and roll up a fat
spliff. Nice. further upstream there was a large tree completely
submerged in the water which had begun to fossilize. It looked like
a dinosaur skeleton, and was surrounded by some strange currents
which sucked you under the water and then spat you back out again |
|
A climb up the river cliff, a journey through
the jungle, a hitched lift, a bus, and a hike later, we arrived
at Puente De Dios (bridge of God). We were the only people
camping here, and it was dark when we arrived, so pitching a camp
was a bit of a pain (especially finding firewood). We also had
a mare finding any trees strong enough to support our hammocks.
|
| The next day we checked the place out. It is basically a strange
arrangement of waterfalls. The centre-piece being a large waterhole
surrounded by waterfalls, with and underwater tunnel leading through
a cave and then into the river. There are some great places for
jumping off rocks into the crystal clear water which is also good
for scuba diving. After some serious chillin', we strolled back
to the nearest town and hopped on a bus back to San Louis. |
| Chihuahua
and Copper Canyon |
| Chihuahua, located in Chihuahua state in the north of Mexico is
not a particularly interesting city, I stayed there one night in
order to catch the early morning train in the the Barranca Del Cobra
(Copper Canyon). The train journey was fairly pleasant, with all
the sociable people hanging out at the back of the train. |
| After a fair amount of time, we arrived in Creel, a high altitude
town set just north of the canyon, surrounded by some beautiful
scenery with lakes, rivers and pine forests. Myself and a French
chap hired a couple of bikes and spent the day checking out
some of the country side. That evening we sat around the dinner
table of the hostel with travellers from various parts of the
world and mode plans for a trip into the canyon the following
day. |
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| Batopilas |
|
| This is a small town lying at the foot of the canyon. It is
fucking hot. It took us 5-6 hours to get here from Creel, travelling
along some seriously dodgy roads through the heart of Copper
Canyon. Not surisingly, the scenery was well impressive. A few
of us had decided to camp out by the river for the night, we'd
heard of a random church about 1 1/2 hours walk from Batopilas.
Just 10 minutes into this walk it was turning out to be a mission
(simply becuase it was so fucking hot). Luckily we managed to
hitch a ride on the back of a pickup truck (see photo below).
After a quick swim we settled down with a fire, some beers,
some mescal, some food and some guitar music. I couldn't find
anywhere to hang my hammock, so I had to sleep on the sand.
It was still fucking hot, I was dehydrated and I had bugs crawling
all over me. Not suprisingly, I didn't get any kip. I awoke
the next day to find a scorpion crawling around exactly where
I had been sleeping. |
The scorpion that shared my sand bed
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| Crossing
the Mexico - USA border |
| After Copper Canyon, I'd decided it was time to head north to
check out the work situation in the states. Myself, and a French
chap headed on the train to Los Mochis, where some cowboy taxis
drivers were trying to rip us off on the fair to the bus station,
so we blagged a ride from some locals. We then got on the bus to
Guaymas where we hoped to pick up the morning ferry to Baja California.
The bus was stopped and all our stuff was searched about 4/5 times
for no apparent reason whatsoever, turning a 4 hour journey into
a 7 hour one. We arrived in Guaymas just in perfect time for the
ferry. Unfortunately, my Lonely planet Guide was about a year out
of date and the ferry no longer ran on that day any more. The taxi
driver pretended he didn't know this and drove us the the ferry
terminal and then back to to town, and then tried to charge us 2
fairs. At this point, I almost twatted him. |
| Just up the road from Guaymas is a US tourist resort called San
Carlos. On visiting this place, my French friend and I bought some
beers from the bottle shop and sat around getting pissed, and talking
bollocks. At one point, the French fella got arrested for pissing
around the back of a public store. The police must have been watching
and waiting for the opportunity, coz when he got back from taking
his piss, they were waiting to wisk him off to the police station.
When they realised he wasn't a gringo, they let him off with a 50
peso fine. |
|
After Guaymas, we hitched a ride in the back of a pick up truck,
driven by the Mexican equivalent of Mr T to a border town called
Nogales. This place is well dodgy, with people hassling you everywhere
you go. During the day the place is full of US tourists picking
up cheap booze and fags, at night they all leave and the place
is just full of dodgy local characters. We checked out a local
strip joint, coz it was free to get in and they had 2 beers for
the price of one. Can't complain really.
The following day we crossed the border.
Obese US citizens on day trips to Mexico
to pick up cheap cigarettes and Alcohol. Note the sign with
an arrow pointing "TO U.S.A."
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