Copper Canyon, Creel, Chihuahua, Zacatecas

Did you know that Zacatecas is home to Corona? My favorite beer and I understand it´s the second largest brewery in the world. I would´ve loved to have gone on a tour but not this time around. Tomorrow I leave for Guanajuato. I´ve been here now 4 days and have really enjoyed it. The weather is fabulous, the city charming, the people kind and helpful. It´s done wonders for my spirit which needed lifting after my time in Creel.
To bring everyone up to speed quickly, Sharon and I are no longer traveling together. We both realized we operate very differently and decided to part ways back in El Fuerte. I´ve realized on this trip that traveling solo is the only way I can do it. Now and in the future. It´s such a personal thing that to do it any other way I would just short change myself. So, with this change, most of the plans have gone out the window and am starting new. I have some ideas of where I´m going but not for how long. I´ll make it up as I go along. One thing I know for sure: I won´t be traveling to Gautemala or Belize. I will save Guatemala for another time when I´m fresh and I can devote proper time to it. I will spend the remainder of my time in Mexico seeing and learning as much as possible.

Copper Canyon & Creel

The train ride from El Fuerte to Creel was absolutely jaw dropping. Gorgeous. Beautiful. Amazing. It was easily all of that, no exaggeration. I´ve posted some pictures, but I´m sure it can only be really appreciated in person. The ride was quite a high to say the least. The best $30 bucks I´ve spent for sure!

When I arrived in Creel just as the sun went down and arrived at the hostal in Creel, that ´high´ turned to ´where the hell am i´´ ?? Creel and especially the hostal was not for me! A moment of panic set in as well as laughter because I thought for sure I can´t really be spending the night here?? I suppose for $8 bucks I shouldn´t complain. You get what you pay for, right? The lack of reliable water, electricity, toilet paper, no heat didn´t make for a happy camper. (The rate also included breakfast and dinner which there was no way I was indulging. In my opinion there was no good food to be had in Creel.) I have my limits. For all the lack of conviences, I might as well have been camping which would´ve been better. I was fortunate to have met retirees Elaine & Mel from British Columbia, Canada. I saw them on the train and officially met them the following day on a tour. They took me under their wing while I made fast plans to move on. Elaine sensing that I wasn´t happy literally let me cry on her shoulder. What a baby! I know. They had a private room that was night and day to my mixed dorm and from the get go invited me to come up and use their shower and later when I broke down crying, she offered me their spare bed in their modern and heated room with a real bathroom! She has no idea what she did for me that night. The next morning I was on a bus for Chihuahua which for me was mostly unremarkable. I probably stayed in one of nicest hotels in town and enjoyed every moment of the luxury. I left my room only to get a sandwich at Subway of all places. I caught another intestinal bug in Creel and wanted to be safe. I had a flight early the next morning at 7am for Zacatecas. I couldn´t leave the area fast enough. Though this isn´t to say the Copper Canyon isn´t spectacular, it is. I would´ve loved to have seen more. Gone to Batopilas, but I couldn´t take the chance of going there and not liking it and being stuck even longer. I´m sure done in another way it would´ve been great.

Zacatecas
And luckily now, I find myself here trying to gather my thoughts and assemble new plans. When I got off the plane I had a feeling immediately that this place would be good and it has. It definitely appeals to me more then the charmless town of Creel. I´ve enjoyed wandering the very confusing streets, taking in the sites, visiting museums with great collections of prehispanic art. Absolutely love it. Yesterday, I took the cable car that runs across the city for some really awesome views. On the other side, while resting on some steps, I met a guy name Jesus who used to be a tourist guide and who spoke very little english. He offered to take me further on to the very top of La Bufa. It was a great little hike which took us to the highest point in Zac and also to a lighted cross that can be seen at night from all over the city. He told me to climb a ways up and he´d take a picture. I thought it was pretty funny climbing up a cross and later even more so when I thought about me being on a cross having my picture taken by a guy named Jesus. How weird is that??

Tomorrow I go to Guanajuato by bus which is only 5 hours. Six is my limit. More then that, I fly! I will spend at least a few days there. Other places most likely on the itinarary are San Miguel de Allende, Mexico City, Taxco and Oaxaca and anything else that comes highly recommended. And no matter where, how or when, I will finish my travels parked on a lovely beach.

Hasta luego amigos!