Sunrise Over Copper Canyon

The sun started rising at 6:30 a.m. over Copper Canyon.

Sunrise Over Copper Canyon

More of the sunrise.

Sunrise Over Copper Canyon

More of the sunrise.

Sunrise Over Copper Canyon

And more of the sunrise.

Tarahumara Cave House

We had an optional trip from our hotel in Copper Canyon to visit a Tarahumara family’s cave house in the canyon. I wasn’t planning on going to it as I was told about the steep, rocky, and uneven pathway down to the cave house. I was perfectly happy just sitting in the hotel’s lounge with wifi and trying to figure out why one of the photo apps on my iPad was not working right, but Charly, our tour director, came into the lounge and told me that I should come along. But I made him promise to hold my hand walking down that path, which he did. This photo of the path down to the cave house was taken by my tour mate, Linda Okimura.

Tarahumara Cave House

Inside the cave house. A wooden structure was added onto the sides of the cave.

Tarahumara Family

A family portrait of the Tarahumara family whose cave house it was.

I have put my (and Linda’s) photos of the Tarahumara cave house on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/copper–canyon–cave–house/ (Slide Shows, Central America, Mexico, Copper Canyon Tour, “Copper Canyon Cave House”).

Cheese Enchiladas

Almost all our meals on our tour were included, but we didn’t have too many Mexican–style foods, but today, at our hotel, we were served very good cheese enchiladas.

Chihuahua al Pacifico Railway

After lunch, we were taken to the Posadas Barrancas train station to catch the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railway line (El Chepe) that would leave us off at our next destination: El Fuerte. The entire once–a–day route is from the city of Chihuahua to Los Mochis, a 16–hour journey. The full journey is for 400 miles (643.7 km) and climbs to 8,000 feet (2438 m) and travels over 36 bridges and 87 tunnels through both deserts and forests. Our shorter route took us 5 hours.

El Chepe Train

The Chihuahua al Pacifico Railway (El Chepe) train.

Scenery Along the Route

Scenery along the train route.

Wildflowers

We passed many beautiful fields of wildflowers.

Tarahumara Vendors

At one of the stops, Tarahumara women vendors came to the sides of the train to sell their wares. Purchases were made through open windows as we were not allowed off the train.

Waterfall

A waterfall off the train route.

A Farm

A farm seen from the train.

Wildflowers

More beautiful wildflowers along the route.

Bridge

A bridge and dramatic scenery seen from the train.

Lake

A beautiful lake was seen on the route.

Dinner on the Train

We ate dinner on the train. I had a very tasty chicken quesadilla.

Nightfall

It soon became night after we ate our dinner and we arrived at our overnight spot: El Fuerte in the state of Sinaloa. Arturo, our bus driver, picked us up from the station. He had left us two days ago in Copper Canyon in order to drive our big bus from the canyon to El Fuerte––a 20–hour drive. At Copper Canyon, we had a smaller bus and also vans to transport us.

I have put my photos of our train trip on a slideshow. Go to
http://www.peggysphotos.com/chihuahua–al–pacifico–railway/ (Slide Shows, Central America, Mexico, Copper Canyon Tour, “Chihuahua al Pacifico Railway”).

El Fuerte

Our overnight spot, El Fuerte, was founded by the Spanish conquistador Francisco de Ibarra. Its major industry is tourism and is also a gateway to Copper Canyon. We saw some of its Spanish colonial buildings the next day.

Hotel Torres del Fuerte

We stayed at the very nice Hotel del Fuerte in El Fuerte. My room had a religious Mexican decor. Photo: a painting and rosary beads.

Hotel Torres del Fuerte

A gold cross was on a table.

Hotel Torres del Fuerte

A wall of crosses. What was very odd was that other tour mates had rooms with a Chinese decor or with an Indian decor.

Straw Cross

One of the crosses on the wall of my room was a cross made of straw. On my Mexico Colonial Tour, I had seen where these were made––in the town of Tzintzuntzan.

Shower

I think all the rooms had showers like this one in my room––the walls of the showers were made of rocks.

Cacti

Our hotel had very nice grounds with many cacti.

Cacti

One of the cacti in the last photo in bloom.

The Grounds

More of the hotel’s grounds.

Sculpture

A Mexican sculpture on the end of the column.