Riding the Rails

We were moving a little slowly on this morning, with both of us feeling the impact of hikes from the previous day.  We had to keep reminding ourselves, however, that we were the youngest on the tour, so we technically had no right to complain.

This morning we had a scheduled visit to a boarding school run by the Chihuahuan Government for Tarahumara Indians.  As I noted earlier, they live in and along the valleys, making the installation of any infrastructure, such as roads or schools, impossible.  To address this challenge, the government set up dozens of K-12 boarding schools in locations surrounding the canyons.  Students of all ages walk to school on Monday morning, and then walk home on Friday afternoon.  No school is supposed to be more than an hour-and-a-half walk from any child's home.  Our tour company, Gate 1, partners with one of the schools and provides regular support.  They donate funds and built, among other things, new bathrooms and water cisterns. 

Our group split into two vans (as a bus of any size would never make it on the road to the school), and drove about 10 minutes to a turnoff on the road.  From here, we had to drive pretty much straight up what was called a road, but in reality, it was just an assembly of boulders and rocks.  At one point, we went down, drove along the rocky bottom of a low-running creek, and then started to climb up the other side.  We were only able to drive a few miles an hour, at best, so it took another 10 minutes of driving just to reach the school, which was located on a flat outcrop at a very high elevation.  The hillsides around the area were riddled with well-worn footpaths in multiple directions, and these are the ones used by the kids when they walk to and from school.

The "Road" to the Tarahumarah Boarding School

The place was tidy, but far from fancy.  There was a large dormitory building, split between girls and boys.  Children of every age shared the dorms; we visited the girls' side.  We also toured the kitchen facility and then went into two of the classrooms to meet with some of the children.  They are taught in both Spanish and Tarahumaran.  We had already been told, and had seen the day earlier, that Tarahumaran culture is very different from Mexican or Spanish.  They try to avoid eye contact and look down when speaking.  They have an interesting hand shake, too.  They do not grasp, but rather you run your fingers along theirs.  It was all very interesting.  We then went outside to watch a demonstration of a foot game the Tarahumarans have played for over 500 years.  It is played with a ball carved out of solid wood, almost the exact size of a softball.  Two team of two players each get a ball, and the teammates take turns kicking the ball from a starting point to an end point, and then they return.  The two teams ran one another, and they played barefoot.  It was wild to watch.  It tied in, too, with their reputation as producing the best long-distance runners in the world.  They are famous for their three day, non-stop race through the canyons, and multiple Tarahumarans have evidently represented Mexico in track-and-field events in the Olympics.

One of the Boarding School Buildings

Tarahumarah Language, Called "Raramuri"

20181108_101129 from Allen Steele on Vimeo.


We returned to the hotel for lunch, and to do a final check on all of our bags.  As soon as lunch was finished, we loaded up and they drove us to the foot of the hotel drive (which is a generous term), where there was a very small train station.  This is where we would board the famous Copper Canyon train.  It is, by the way, the only remaining passenger train in all of Mexico, which I found fascinating.  Katherine had heard of the train, I had not, but in reading before we left, I see it is ranked as one of the 10-best train rides in the world.  That had me excited.

Our group was there with one other -- Mexicans, who were staying at the hotel with us.  We all lined up on the small platform...and waited.  On-time trains are not exactly synonymous with Mexico.  After about 25 minutes, which in hindsight wasn't too bad, the train slowly came around the corner, an we all piled on.  The train was nice, though not luxurious.  Still, in comparison to the train we took in Egypt earlier this year, this was the Ritz on steroids. 

Train Approaches Our Platform

Selling Apples and Baskets

The ride from this point to the end station, at El Fuerte, would take about six hours.  We would travel more than 400 miles, descend more than 8,000 feet, and cross 37 bridges and go through 86 tunnels.  The railway itself took more than 60 years to construct.  It is truly an engineering marvel.  The train had to do several switchbacks along the way, which was a sight to behold.  We were able to stand on small open-air platforms between each of the railcars, from which we could take better pictures than through the tinted train windows.  As we approached notable places, with renowned views, Raul would give us a heads up.  Otherwise, we were more than content to marvel at the dramatic scenery of the next few hours.

As the sun began to lower in the sky, we hit a clear demarcation point between the conifer forests and tropical jungle.  In the course of one or two tunnels, we went from huge pines to mango trees and banana plants.  In the coming 30 minutes or so, we'd reach essentially sea level.  The views were gone, but so was the daylight.  We went down to the dining car for a surprisingly tasty dinner, and got back to our seats just in time to collect our things and disembark in the town of El Fuerte.

Arturo was waiting for us, with the new bus.  It was pitch black by now, and the train station was located about 10 minutes from town, so there was literally nothing to see until we eventually hit the town itself, which is small, but also was the seat of former Mexican royalty, so there were multiple large mansions and palaces ringing the main city square.  Our hotel was absolutely stunning, and comprised a block-size palace, riddled with multiple courtyards throughout.  It had been a royal residence, with each corner (with it's own unique courtyard) set aside for a different family.  It is also the reported (by probably not actual) building where the author of the "Zorro" books was born.  Despite evidence that he was born elsewhere, the hotel nonetheless plays up the connection, and they run a nightly Zorro play, which was going on when we arrived.  All of our rooms were centered on a stunning little courtyard, complete with a Zorro statue in the middle.

Train Station in El Fuerte

Zorro Statue in Our Courtyard

Raul had warned us to have bug repellent ready when we reached El Fuerte.  Bugs had been a nonexistent nuisance to this point, but he said El Fuerte was notorious for mosquitoes.  We brought our own, but he was prepared and willing to spray any/all of us when we arrived.  We did inoculate ourselves and took a short walk through the town square, which was lovely, but all but deserted at that hour.  We never did see a single mosquito, and no one reported getting a bite, which was a nice surprise.  It was already after 9:00pm at this point, so we called it a night.

Town's Main Square

El Fuerte City Hall