Dressed in jeans and a tank top, with a jacket around my waist, (and prepared for cooler weather) we stepped off the train to very hot day. Walking down the street toting our gear, and might I say a bit unprepared to go backpacking since we are minus the backpacks, we were sweating to death. As we look around, there is not much here, or shall I say not much that meets the eye. We hail down a truck and in our best Spanish, ask "Donte es Cabanas Aeropo de Barrancas?" Yes, yes, go up this big mo fo hill, yes, that it the way. Great, as we walk, 3 tour buses spewing black clouds pass us. As we get to the top, and ask a tour bus driver (he has to know, right?), we get different directions, but these are in English. So much for our Spanish!Okay, so it's only 1 kilometer away and back down this enormous hill we just climbed. With Brian giving me the evil eye for making him walk up it with all our luggage, away we go. How bad could it be.? Well, I was hot, sweaty (from Brian's hard pace), and needing to use the bathroom. That 1 km felt like 3 miles on the road to no where fast!
It is just amazing what you can find out in the middle of nowhere, Mexico. We came upon our destination for the night, this roadside hotel called Cabanas Aeropo de Barrancas. After negotiating a price ($350 pesos, which included breakfast), we were shown a room. I am not sure if anyone had stayed there yet as the Cabanas were recently completed and brand new. It was charming with a rustic/wood theme. After a brief break and a re-read of the guide book, we decide to go hike back up to that first hotel on the hill, minus the bags. According to the book, the best views of the canyons are there, which we couldn't see from the train, plus happy hour!
We were not disappointed and it was well worth the hike which was only about 2 kilometers total. However, keep in mind, it was vertical - lots and lots of steps to climb. There were actually 2 hotels at the top. The first one we accidentally walked to and a second, one located more on the edge of the canyon. Both very expensive ($2100 pesos/night) places.
The view was just incredible but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We decided to have cocktails at the hotel on the edge, the Mirador! So cool. As we made our way down to the main building, all the Tamahumaran indigenous people had their vending tables set up outside. The crafts (baskets, blankets, etc.) and copper goods (bracelets, dishes, etc.) were just amazing.
As we drank our two for one margaritas, we enjoyed the sunset out on the balcony overlooking the Copper Canyon. There were 20-30 hummingbirds feeding. All very romantic indeed. The walk back to our Cabanas was a leisurely stroll on a beautiful night.
We had made arrangements with our broken Spanish to eat dinner at our hotel when we had arrived. Upon entering the dinner room, we were surprised to find more boarders, two of which spoke English and one girl who was a American graduate from UC Berkeley, named Stephanie. She helped translate so I could get something vegetarian to eat - CHILIES RELLENOS! With my expectations low, this turned out to be one of the best meals I have had in Mexico. It was delicious, and the lady of the house, Maria, was a fabulous cook.
That night we made are plans for the next day. We would learn that everyone in each little town did tours in addition to what ever else they did. We also realized that we couldn't possibly make it down the canyon and back up in 1 day, especially in time to catch the train. After some debate and negotiating the delivery of our luggage, we decided to hike along the rim of the canyon to the next town - Divisadero. It was only 5km away (if we went on the street, longer on the trail) and would fit better into the schedule. We would find our way to Divisadero, see the sights, shop and then meet Maria at her gorditos stand to gather our luggage. At that point, instead of the train, we hopped on the local bus to Creel. Faster and cheaper.
