An Update & the Game Plan

The Game Plan
The original game plan was to sail around the world. After much debate, and no joy with the boat buying, we decided to switch up our game plan and just hitch hike (boat rides). If we find a boat to buy in our travels, then great, if not, then travel on! We are not going to let a little thing like a boat stop us now!

Fresh off our Copper Canyon trip, we sat in San Carlos, Mexico posting our crew listings, touting our swashbuckling, stellar sailing, and crew skills. Bored to death waiting for return e-mails, we get word that my 2nd cousin eloped in Vegas and their wedding reception was to be at a Rodeo bar north of Phoenix, Az. Perfect, since now crewing, we needed to store the van and all the boat gear back in the US somewhere. Thanks Aunt Lue! This time we were going to do it right and travel light. Remember, the first rule of crewing is you have no personal belongs. Well, very few.

Excited about having somewhere to go, we had one more thing to do! Hike Nacapule Canyon. It is this beautiful, lush, tropical raven, 1/2 hour outside of downtown. It is suppose to be a fairly easy hike and really neat since SC is located in the high desert. It was. Check out the pictures on our Flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/katnbrian/sets/)!

So, off to Arizona we went. On the way up we went through many military and customs check points, all friendly but time consuming. We stayed the first night in a hotel that had a bed like a cloud!. The next day Brian and I went to the SF Giants vs Oak A's spring training baseball game and ate Portabello mushroom burgers. (Not available in MX!) Right after the game we headed to Cave Creek, AZ for the reception. We changed clothes in the parking lot and headed into the Buffalo Chip Bar and Saloon for the evening. The bar has a live bull riding ring out back and we enjoyed a great BBQ dinner, sitting on picnic tables and warmed by camp fires. Great time, great couple.

It was fun to be in the states and to see all my family, but as we already knew, it was so much cheaper to live in Mexico! As we scoured the web for crew positions and opportunities, my friend Niki, whom we met on the Ha Ha, emailed me. She was in Mahahual, Mexico helping out Capt. Gary with his 55’ catamaran excursions. After a couple of email conversations, we were invited to come help do tours on the sailboat. Schweet, sweet. It wasn’t exactly what we had in mind, as we would be located in one spot, however, we would be back on the water, sailing, on a huge boat, and in a beautiful Caribbean location. Remaining flexible is key and you never know what can happen. So, off we went (Mar 24th)……

Creel

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katnbrian/sets/72157615746773278/

This picture postcard little logging town was to be our final destination. It was located near the canyon but not on the rim like Divisdero. Doing the budget thing (did I mention the 1st class train was expensive?), we decided to take our new friend Stephanie's recommendation for a place to stay. We took several wrong turns trying to find the place named Luly's.

Luly's was a bit scary, our room was sort of a cave with no heat, the bunk bed dormrooms for singles I think were a bit nicer, but the price for the private room was in our wheelhouse - $200 pesos (like $14 bucks) and we had full run of the place. We found out later that the heater had been disconnected due to 2 German travelers having died just days before of carbon monoxide poisoning at a nearby hostel. Our host, Luly, was very sweet but the next day we took the guide books recommendation! For $350 pesos, we stayed at the cutest and oldest hotel in the town - Posada de Creel, and even got 2 free beer vouchers! Not only was this nicer, but it had a heater! Night was cold in Creel, but the daytime was beautiful. And the smell, oh, the smell of pine trees was fantastic!

After settling in, we decide to take in the sites via bicycles. Armed with a crude photocopied, hand drawn map, we head off on our self guided tour of the Valley of the Mushrooms, Frogs and Monjes (Penis in Spanish). Oh yeah, and some pretty lake. It wasn't that far out of town before we hit the first of 3 entrances to the park(s). We knew we had arrived at the correct spot, when the vendors had all their baskets and goods laid out in front of the Mushroom rocks, awaiting the tour buses. However, we were on super cool and very modern Trek mountain bikes, which definitely was the way to go.

After a couple of pictures, we were off to the next spot, the Valley of the Frogs. We didn't have to go far as they were practically in the same place, and yeah, they sort of looked like frogs, from the right angle. The Valley of the Monjes, our next site, was quite a bit further, and the crude map was something like a puzzle. we got there just about the same time our bums started to give out. Another park gate (this is Mexican for entrance fee, where someone materializes from nowhere to collect), and a short ride around the corner, and wow! We decide to stop and eat lunch.

Hoping back on our bikes, ouch, is really the thing that comes to mind. Wow, I haven't been on a bike, or shall I say bike seat that hard, in a long time. As we head towards the lake, the ride is becoming less fun on the bumpy trails. We are at least half way so no point in riding back the way we came, plus I'm not wussing out. We get to the lake, and it nice. You could rent a boat and fishing gear. What ended up being more fun was haggling with a bracelet vendor. She sent her tiny little girl over to sell us stuff so of course I had to buy something. So Cute!

On our way, and finally we hit pavement! We were both so glad to be on a smooth surface but we still had 6 km to go (out of the 21km total ride). Our bums were on fire and we rode the almost 5 miles in 20 minutes. We wanted off the bikes.

Friday was our day to leave. We had a little time so we decided to go to the museum in the morning. It was way cool. However, every sound sent us running out the door. As we stood on the train platform we were informed that the economical train doesn't run on Fridays anymore. It was suppose to run M, W, F and Wed it was broken (well, there was a freight train derailment) so no trains ran after that. No replacement train ran and the schedule changed the day before (Thurs.) to M, W, Sat. Back to the hotel we trekked. Well, it could have been worst, at least it wasn't expensive in Creel.

Posada Barrancas

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.

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katnbrian/sets/72157615745097936/

El Chepe - the Train

The Plan:
I love train travel so I was totally looking forward to this part of the trip. On the way up the canyon (sea level to 7,000 + feet), we were going 1st class. No really, we planned to take the Premier train. It was more expensive, but fit into our time line better and would get us to our 1st stop faster. Did I also mention, it has a bar car & dinning car in it? After all, we were traveling on Fat Tuesday! Not knowing what we would encounter and not having a hotel reservation, we felt this school of thought would boded well for us.

After review of the guide book and advice from others, we decided we would first stop in Posada Barrancas. The next day we would hike down to the bottom of the canyon and back up in time to catch the economical train. This train, which all the locals take, lags at least 2 hours behind the 1st class train and makes more stops. This would put us at our 2nd & final stop, Creel, around 6pm or so we thought. We would stay there for 2 nights and return on Friday. To return we would take the economical train all the way back to El Fuerte. As we would later find out, it was half the price of the 1st class train and not that much different. Well, no bar car! So that was the plan.

The Reality:
The train was amazing, not only because of the scenic beauty but also the engineering feat of how/where they laid the track. It had to maintain a 2.5% grade and go through 89 or so tunnels and 30 or so bridges. The train track even makes a 360 degree turn, crazy, I know!

So the 1st class train was much more expensive (50%) than we thought it was going to be, and boy was it slow. I guess it was that way to let all the people take in the scenery. We could walk anywhere on the train and even stand outside between cars for some great photos. Oh, did I mention the train is always notoriously late? No worries, at 9:10am we were on our way!

At 10am we were sitting in the bar car drinking our 2$, Fat Tuesday, or how I like to say it "Feliz Gordo Martis", Margaritas. As we started climbing up the canyon, the black oak trees started disappearing, replaced by pines. We even saw some aspens. The weather was great and instead of cooling down substantially, like we thought it would, it was very warm.

Around 2pm, we arrive at our first destination, Posada Barrancas. We exit the train, with what must of been 3 or 4 tour groups . It was a bit chaotic so Brian & I just push through the crowd and walk past the buses before we questioned, where the heck are we, and where are we suppose to be going? And the adventure continues.......

Pictures can be found: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katnbrian/sets/72157615388815190/

We found a boat!

We found this gem on the river on our way to El Fuertes. Its got a hot tub and everything Sleep 6. 4 inside and 2 on hammocks outside. The sundeck is the best part.