2010 April | Hole In The Donut Cultural Travel

Monthly Archives: April 2010

An Adventure In Copper Canyon, Mexico, Chapter Twelve – Using Creel as a Staging Area

Published April 16, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

This entry is part 12 of 15 in the series Copper Canyon, Mexico

The most interesting thing I could find to write about Creel is that it’s home to the worst hostel I’ve ever stayed at. Other than taking a quick stroll through the central plaza, where Tarahumara artisans display and sell their crafts, I found little that interested me in this town. Creel does, however, have one saving grace: it’s a perfect staging area for visits to the many interesting sites located in the eastern half of Copper Canyon and savvy tour operators have developed a number of well-designed trips to these sites.

Tarahumara Indian women sell their crafts in the central plaza in Creel

On my first full day in Creel I opted for a tour that visited six different locales, all well worth a visit. Our first stop was Cascada de Cusarare (Cusarare Waterfall Park), located on Tarahumara native lands a short distance outside of Creel. We paid a modest fee of $15 pesos per person (a little more than a dollar) and bumped along a rough road, churning up the omnipresent chalk-like dust that that defines the Sierra Madre Mountains. A couple of miles up the track our non-English speaking guide stopped and pointed out a path along the river for those of us who wished us to walk the remaining distance to the waterfall.

Dusty, barren landscape at Cusarare Waterfall Park (Cascada de Cusarare)

I followed it up a desolate rock-strewn hillside dotted with gnarled pines, wondering how it was possible to carve out a living on this barren terrain. For nine month each year, barely a drop of rain falls in the Sierra Madres. Trees turn tinder-dry, rivers shrink to rivulets, and everything in sight is coated in a fine layer of dust. When rains do finally arrive in June they come in deluges, flooding rivers and washing out roads. In this land of extremes the Tarahumara eke out a living, selling beadwork, carvings, and assorted other handicrafts, sometimes sitting for hours under a searing sun while awaiting the next tourist bus. Fortunately, Cusarare provides more shelter than most sites. Nearer the waterfall, pine forest thickened and branches intertwined overhead, creating a shade canopy beneath which Tarahumara women had set up their stands.

Tarahumara Indian girls at Cusarare Waterfall Park

Beyond the vendor area, an overlook offered a view of the waterfall, a mere trickle at this time of year. Not content to settle for the topside view, I descended about 300 concrete steps to a canyon floor choked with immense smooth boulders, providing irrefutable proof of summer inundation. Continue reading →

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Posted in Mexico travel |

Tagged adventure, Barranca del Cobre, Barrancas de Cobre, blogsherpa, Copper Canyon, Creel, culture, Cusarare, divisadero, Lake Arareco, Mexico, Mision Cinco Santos, Mission, northwest Mexico, Raramuri Indians, San Ignacio de lo Yola, Tarahumara Indians, Travel, Valle de los Hongos, waterfall |

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An Adventure In Copper Canyon, Mexico, Chapter Eleven – Casa Margarita in Creel is the Worst Hostel Ever

Published April 15, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

This entry is part 11 of 15 in the series Copper Canyon, Mexico

I was so glad to have found a room in Casa Margarita’s Hostel in Creel during Mexico’s Semana Santa holiday that I overlooked the unlit stairway between the second and third floor. In the dark, I nearly tumbled down the stairs when I turned my ankle on the uneven surface of a step that had lost a tile, but I dismissed it as the price of staying in a cheap hostel. Warning bells started to go off when my dorm mates demonstrated how to get into the room with a dinner knife that had been placed on top of the exterior door frame.

Casa Margarita's Hostel in Creel, Mexico

Things went from bad to worse. Though the price of the room included dinner, I was informed that I would have to wait until after 8 p.m. to eat, since the hostel had agreed to feed a group of RV’ers who were given precedence over paying guests. Exhausted from a hard day of travel, I climbed into bed without eating, hoping to get a little writing done. Unfortunately, there was no light on my side of the room, so I decided to call it a night. Despite a non-functioning space heater in the room and mountain temperatures descending into the 40’s, the hostel had seen fit to provide only sheets and one thin blanket for my bed. I burrowed beneath the covers, trying to get warm, but it was no use; I shivered through a mostly sleepless night. Sometime during the middle of the night the water was turned off and in a room inhabited by seven guests of both sexes, the toilet couldn’t be flushed.

Dorm room at Casa Margarita's Hostel

The next morning I was rudely awakened from my fitful sleep by the sounds of pounding hammers and buzz saws; the hostel is adding on a new wing, and construction started at the crack of dawn on the other side of my bedroom wall. I sighed and gave up on sleep, telling myself that I had to get up soon anyway, since I had booked a tour for Continue reading →

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Posted in Mexico travel |

Tagged adventure, Barranca del Cobre, blogsherpa, Casa Margarita's Hostel, Copper Canyon, Creel, culture, hotel, Mexico, northwest Mexico, Travel |

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An Adventure In Copper Canyon, Mexico, Chapter Ten – From Bahuichivo to Creel By Bus

Published April 14, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

This entry is part 10 of 15 in the series Copper Canyon, Mexico

By day nine, I was totally under the spell of Entre Amigos Hostel in Urique. I knew that If I didn’t leave soon I might stay forever, and there was so much more of Mexico’s Copper Canyon to see. Sadly, I packed my bag and hopped aboard the 7:30 a.m. bus to Bahuichivo, where I would catch another bus to Creel, the eastern gateway to the canyon.

I opted for the local bus rather than El Chepe, the famous train that runs through the canyon, for a couple of reasons. First, it was cheap. While the fare on the first class train would have cost in excess of $900 pesos ($75 USD), the bus fare was a mere $140 pesos ($11.50 USD). And since the most spectacular views on the train ride occur on the portion of the route I had traveled nine days earlier, scenery was no reason to splurge. Second, the bus leaves Bahuichivo at 11 a.m. and gets to Creel around 2:30 p.m., well ahead of the train. Since I was traveling without reservations during the popular Semana Santa (Easter Week) holiday, I needed to get to Creel to lock up accommodations before El Chepe spewed its passengers on the town.

Bus stop in Bahuichivo

The bus from Urique deposited me in front of Super Valdez, the largest market in Bahuichivo. Thirty minutes later, an ancient white school bus ground to a halt and the driver hopped out to load our luggage. As he heaved open the heavy rear door a cloud of putty-colored dust billowed out. Choking, he disgustedly swept one hand through the mountain of dust until, realizing the futility of his action, he shrugged and loaded our luggage on top of the remaining dust.

After making sure that my bag was loaded I hurried on board. All of the windows were cracked open at the top, having long ago lost the ability to close entirely, and dust had pervaded every centimeter of the interior, coating the green vinyl seats and black floors. Near the back of the bus I grabbed a seat next to a window that seemed a bit less dusty than the rest and shoved my backpack on the floor between my legs.

Gears ground as we descended the hill, crossed the railroad tracks, and headed into the canyon. Our hot shot driver sped around blind curves on a washboard dirt track barely wide enough for one vehicle, slamming on the brakes and creeping to the edge whenever oncoming traffic appeared. The road wound back and forth over a boulder-strewn stream, crossing dozens of rickety one-lane bridges. Clouds of suffocating dust infiltrated every crack. Floorboards rattled. Windows rattled. My teeth rattled. Larger bumps in the road sent me flying out of my seat and crashing back down again. Alarmed, I picked up my backpack and set it on my lap, hoping that the rough ride hadn’t damaged my laptop.

El Chepe train trestle in background, as seen from the the dust-caked windows of the bus as it passed through one of several tiny towns on the way to Creel

Two hours later, as the road widened and began a gradual climb out of the canyon, the driver pulled to the side of the road and stopped in the middle of nowhere to collect the fare. Little old ladies plucked whole rolls of toilet paper from their purses and Continue reading →

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Posted in Mexico travel |

Tagged adventure, Bahuichivo, Barranca del Cobre, blogsherpa, bus, Copper Canyon, Creel, culture, Entre Amigos, Hostel, hotel, Mexico, northwest Mexico, Travel, Urique |

An Adventure In Copper Canyon, Mexico, Chapter Nine – Hiking to Guadalupe Coronado

Published April 13, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

This entry is part 9 of 15 in the series Copper Canyon, Mexico

Before I knew it, I had been at Entre Amigos Hostel in Urique for an entire week and had done little but walk to town a couple of times and cook delicious meals from ingredients plucked from their organic garden. I also realized that the local Tarahumara (Raramuri) Indians were rarely seen in Urique; if I expected to experience their culture I would need to visit the smaller villages in the area. Of the two Tarahumara villages within hiking distance, I chose to visit Guadelupe Coronado because I was told the seven kilometer walk was level, which would be better for my still recovering hip and knee.

I set out in the early afternoon on the dirt road that follows the Urique River upstream, hoping to escape the worst of the midday heat and still arrive in time to shoot photos of the towns historic mission church in the golden afternoon light that precedes sunset. Though it is possible to drive to Guadalupe vehicles must ford the river at one point, making 4-wheel drive an absolute necessity, but since I was hiking I could simply cross on the swinging bridge. At the ford, I headed up the hill and stepped carefully over the gap between the first metal tread and the rocky lip to which the suspension bridge was attached. Holding onto the thin metal wire handrail and mesh netting that make up the sides of the bridge, I picked my way to the middle of the river and stopped to watch tractors and heavy dump trucks crawl around the river bed, working around the clock to construct a new concrete bridge.

Swinging bridge over the Urique River on the way to Guadalupe del Coronado

I was sadly considering that the old swinging bridge will soon be abandoned when I reached the last third of the span. Here, the platform changed from metal steps to rough wooden planks; many were severely split and wobbly, while others were missing entirely, leaving dizzying gaps to the shallow waters a hundred feet beneath my feet. Gingerly, I tested each plank before applying my full body weight, gripping the metal cables in the event that one gave way. As I hopped over a missing plank that had been stuffed with a tree log I admitted that a new concrete bridge wasn’t such a bad idea. Finally stepping onto terra firma on the other side, I shuddered and looked back across the canyon. Two Tarahumara women were setting down their 50-pound sacks of groceries to rest before crossing the bridge; thank God I made it across before they added their weight to the flimsy span.

Wooden portion of the swinging bridge has rotten boards, gaps, and some areas plugged with tree branches

Tarahumara women carrying a heavy load rest before crossing the swinging bridge

Just beyond the suspension bridge, the road to Guadalupe del Coronado diverts into a side canyon

On the other side the road diverted into a side canyon and began a gradual climb. The terrain was greener here, with blooming trees and a forest of giant cactus with upthrust limbs. A smaller stream ran below the road, pooling turquoise beneath enormous pink boulders. In some areas, the path turned to fine white sand, an indication of the floods that inundate these valleys every summer when the rains come. After two hours of walking it seemed like I had Continue reading →

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Posted in Mexico travel |

Tagged adventure, Barranca del Cobre, blogsherpa, Copper Canyon, culture, Entre Amigos, Guadalupe Coronado, hiking, Hostel, Mexico, northwest Mexico, Raramuri Indians, Tarahumara Indians, Travel, Urique |

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Blogging Boomers Carnival #157 at So Baby Boomer

Published April 12, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

It’s time for another roundup of baby boomer topics at this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival, hosted by John Agno at So Baby Boomer. John’s provided a one-stop place to check out what’s being discussed by our eclectic group of boomers, so why not cruise on over and check it out.