7 HIGHLY SPECIFIC DO’S AND DON’TS OF A COPPER CANYON TRAIN ADVENTURE
El Chepe is the last passenger train in all of Mexico. It runs from Chihuahua to Los Mochis, through the Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre mountains. It’s home to the Tarahumara, a native Mexican tribe, renowned for their long-distance running ability, sometimes going 200 miles per session with only thin sandals to protect their feet.
It’s a place I read about years ago, and my interest was reignited being here in Mexico.
Planning the trip proved to be a bit of a pain. Which should have been a hint as to how smoothly the trip would play out :)
So, here are 7 highly specific do’s and don’t of a Copper Canyon Adventure in Mexico.
1. DO TAKE THE TRIP WITH YOUR FAVORITE TRAVEL COMPANION YOU WAITED OVER A YEAR TO REUNITE WITH.
Since I wasn’t able to make it to Argentina last year, I was lucky enough that Argentina came to me. Well, a very special piece of Argentina anyways.
Blas and I met in Vietnam in 2019 and had a ridiculously good time traveling together in Asia. I had plans to go see him in Argentina in March 2020, but covid, of course, put a stop to that.
So when he was able to come to Mexico instead, I was elated, to say the least.
So much of a “successful” trip comes from who you’re with or who you meet along the way. So I’d argue this is my most important “do” of all. When you’re in good company, even not-so-great situations are tolerable and, many times, really freaking fun.
2. DON’T BOOK YOUR FLIGHT LANDING AND BUS DEPARTURE ONE HOUR APART.
I think this is pretty self-explanatory and obvious to most travelers, but it was, for whatever reason, overlooked in our planning. And with a two-hour delayed flight, we missed our bus from the Chihuahua airport to the small town of Creel, 5 hours away, where we were to board El Chepe at 8am the next morning. Finding an alternative at 7pm was not an easy task.
We tried another bus line. No more buses until the next day.
We called taxi companies. No answers.
We stopped to eat chicken. Good choice.
Then we called Ubers, fingers crossed someone would be willing to drive us 5 hours. That wasn’t going to happen.
But word travels fast in small towns, and one of the Uber drivers put out a note that two foreigners were looking for a ride. Twenty minutes later, Jesus pulls up and tells us he’ll take us to Creel. After a little price negotiation, we picked up Nancy, Jesus’s wife, stopped for snacks, and off we went. I guess Jesus really does save.
Heading out of Chihuahua, en route to Creel
3. DO ORDER HUEVOS DIVORCIADOS AND BARBACOA TACOS IN A TRAIN CAR.
The next morning we woke up in Creel and got to the train station early, tired and slightly astonished we made it at all. We took our seats as the train started crawling out of town and into the canyon.
After we settled in and started picking up momentum, the train attendant told our car we could go to the dining cart. I think we were the first ones there.
We ordered huevos divorciados (like huevos rancheros, but with both a red and green salsa) and huevos con machaca (a dried and salted, shredded beef).
A mood-changing meal. We went from rushed and anxious to satisfied and excited. And for whatever reason, food eaten on a train or plane just tastes better.
On a later stretch of the trip we ate again in the dining cart, this time, juicy, satly barbacoa tacos. Again, a total mood booster.
4. DO BEFRIEND THE LOCAL DOGS WHEN YOU ARRIVE IN A ROUGH AND TUMBLE RURAL MEXICAN TOWN.
We got off the train in Bahuichivo, a tiny little town in the middle of the Copper Canyon, and were picked up by our hotel hosts to bring us to nearby Cerocahui, an equally small, more remote village. When we arrived, Blas said something like, “if there was one place I wouldn’t want to get in a fight, it would be here.”
Old men sat outside the general store with their cowboy hats, smoking cigarettes and staring.
We ate tacos at the one restaurant in town and inside was a group of 16-something-year-old boys sitting around a table, smoking cigarette after cigarette, drinking beer after beer, and behaving in a way you’d expect 60-year-old men to behave.
It seems Cerocahui is a place where you must grow up fast.
But for a rough and tumble little town, it has the world’s friendliest dogs! Everywhere we walked, we were escorted by a pack of pups, excited to show us around their turf.
We explored the little town, sometimes gaining a dog as we turned a corner.
We met some cows.
And another dog.
And wandered into the church in the center of town. With our new friends, of course.
5. DO HITCHHIKE TO GET PICKED UP BY AN OLD COWBOY THAT DRIVES YOU DOWN INTO A CANYON.
Although this “do” is very circumstantial and I can’t say I’d recommend hitchhiking in Mexico in general, the ride we took in the back of this truck was the highlight of the trip.
We wanted to explore Uriche, another small town at the base of the canyon with a river running through it. An hour plus by car away from the place we were staying, walking wasn’t really an option. A few locals recommended we hitchhike, so we gave it a try.
As we started our walk out of town, the road turned into a steep incline and the sun got higher in the sky. A few work trucks passed and ignored our raised thumbs. We kept walking, sweating. We stopped in the shade to drink water. And started to contemplate a plan b.
But not too long after, we could hear a truck rumbling up the road and got our thumbs ready. A black pickup truck turned the corner fast and stopped for us. The old cowboy driver told us he was headed to Uriche. Amazing. So we joined two others already in the back of the truck and settled in.
The driver drove with aggressive speed. If I wasn’t so happy to be picked up, I would have been terrified. But beggars can’t be choosers.
We jostled around with the hay and cans and coolers in the truck bed as we streaked(!) around each corner. For the first 30 minutes of the trip the dirt road was lined with shadowed, dry forest. But as we turned one particular corner, you could feel the heat start to thicken and the canyon opened up wide.
We were making our way down into the canyon, on a rough, thin, winding dirt road.
I was trying to enjoy the moment while simultaneously hanging on for dear life.
When we got to the base we headed for the river. We took a swim with the mountains surrounding us.
We had lunch in a little restaurant. Beef burritos and chicken fajitas.
And we met Norma, a sweet shop owner who liked her music played at a deafening volume. She invited us into her home for a cup of instant coffee. And would later become a real asset to our Copper Canyon adventure.
6. DON’T COUNT ON GETTING A RIDE BACK UP SAID CANYON.
If getting a ride down into the canyon was a 7 on the difficulty scale, we’ll say getting a ride back up was an 11.
We waited on the only road in and out of town, across from the colorful cemetery, for four hours.
As we sat and waited, we met more friendly dogs.
A sweet old woman walked by and gave us four mangos from her purse.
And we played bocci ball with roadside rocks.
But as the sun started setting, so did our hope of getting back to Cerocahui that night.
It’s not so much that people weren’t willing to give us a ride. There just wasn’t any traffic.
In those four hours, we saw a total of one car leave town. It was a TelMex cable company truck and the two men inside did in fact stop and offer us a lift. But the ride would have been in a closed bed cab with no windows, in 90+ degree weather, up a canyon, for over an hour. So we had to decline, hopeful we’d have another opportunity. Which we did not.
So eventually we left our post and headed back to smiley, sweet, loud-music Norma’s house. This time for a place to sleep instead of coffee. Up the stairs of her shop, Norma ran a little hostel of sorts. She’s an angel for letting us stay on such short notice, so being critical of her quarters feels very wrong. So let’s just say it wasn’t exactly a Hilton.
But again, beggars can’t be choosers.
We “slept” at Norma’s that night and were able to take the “bus” to Cerocauhi the next morning. With a few minutes to spare, we made it to the train station, and were on our way to Los Mochis, the last El Chepe stop.
7. DO RIDE EL CHEPE IF YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, BUT PLAN BETTER THAN WE DID.
With missed busses, tough Mexican cowboys, and less-than-ideal sleeping conditions, you’d think the final do/don’t would advise against such a trip. But even with all the mishaps (and likely even because of them) this trip left me with positive memories.
We got to see parts of this beautiful country many will never have the opportunity to explore.
It wasn’t an epic or legendary adventure. But it was challenging and honest and raw. A slice of life in the Mexican countryside.
And that was well worth the trip.
