The highlight of our trip to Mexico was to ride El Chepe, one of the world’s top scenic railway journeys to the Copper Canyon, said to be bigger and deeper than Grand Canyon, so we could hurl ourselves across it at top speed on one of the world’s longest zip lines.

It had been ridiculously hard work to organise but at last we were on the platform and waiting for the train to arrive.  It’s the only remaining long distance passenger train in Mexico and runs 656km from Los Mochis near Mexico’s pacific coast to Chihuahua on the central high plains. It took sixty years to complete and it’s an incredible engineering feat rising 2400m using 37 bridges and 86 tunnels.  Recent rule changes mean that tourists are only allowed to use the luxury & pricey El Chepe Express to get to Creel and are then allowed to use the cheaper Regional if they wish to travel onwards to Chihuahua.

The most scenic stretch runs between El Fuerte and Creel but the train only gets a glimpse of the full canyon splendour at Davisadero where we planned to hop off for 3 nights to enjoy the views and the adventure park before rejoining the train onwards to Creel which at an elevation of 2330m was going to be mighty chilly with temperatures hovering around zero degrees at night.

El Chepe – part 1

Friday morning and the station platform at El Fuerte was pretty chaotic. Crowded with weekender Mexican tourists and cases and no signs on the platform to tell us where Executive Class Car 1 was meant to stop.  El Chepe arrived on time and we queued to talk to the guard who was checking names. We were then told that we weren’t sitting together, in fact, we weren’t even in the same car! We were not happy although he did promise to get us sitting together very soon. Cheryl’s seat was an aisle seat and to add insult to injury, she couldn’t see out of a window at all.  Every other row of seats had a very restricted view with only the window seat able to see out of a tiny slice of window. We felt this was mighty unfair as all seats cost the same. Cheryl was very unhappy as she can suffer from motion sickness which is alleviated by having an open unrestricted view.  Sitting amidst a Mexican tour group on her own with no view at all for a 6 hour journey which would be winding uphill was not a pleasant prospect.

Neil then asked where to put our baggage and he was pointed towards the front of the train. There were porters who we were labelling bags belonging to tour groups and placing them into the baggage wagon. It was labelled up with Divisidaro, our destination, on the shelves so he offered the porter our bags. The porter pointed Neil to the front of the train.

Neil then joined a queue which wasn’t moving very fast and it looked like these people were queuing for 1st Class so he went back to the original baggage wagon. By now the porter was inside and putting labelled bags onto the shelves. Once again Neil said Divisidaro and this time was asked to lift the bags up and was given two numbered tickets as proof that he had our bags.

Neil was then allocated his seat number. Cheryl was waiting at the top of the stairs to hand Neil his passport and he boarded to find that he had been given the same lousy aisle seat as hers with no way to see out of the train. Cheryl was getting very agitated about the whole thing and Neil suggested she should return to her seat and wait and see if what we were offered as a switch once everyone was onboard.

David the English-speaking guard arrived, apologised to Neil for the seating arrangements and promised to do what he could. He also told Neil where the bar was and the restaurant. The train set off and a few minutes later managed to get us two seats together – in one of the restricted view rows. Cheryl could just see out of the window but, only just, and Neil had no view. This was all turning out to be something of a joke and a major disappointment.  Neil wandered back to explore the bar car to find lots of empty high tables with bar stools and a whole bank of soft sofas that had been commandeered by one family who were spreading themselves very thickly. He went back to Cheryl and explained.

We decided to sit tight and see if there were any opportunities to switch out of our bad seats.  Some had bags on them but were not occupied.  We started to talk about possibly just sitting there and seeing what happened as one set had a large window with great views. Then a young girl sitting directly behind us removed her case and sat back down. Her partner then said that we could sit there so we moved.  At last, we had a decent view and could start to enjoy the scenery. David walked past and Neil asked him about a booking for the restaurant. He promised to check and come back which he did a few minutes later. We had been allocated 13.20hrs which was fine. Things were starting to get better.

Feeling hungry and looking forward to a leisurely lunch we headed for a seat in the restaurant. Second major disappointment – it was more like a canteen, no menu, and about three options, a burger, tacos and something else that we couldn’t understand.  Equally, we had no idea of the cost. We went for the tacos which arrived a few minutes later and to be fair it wasn’t bad. When the bill arrived we were pleasantly surprised that at least it wasn’t rip off prices at 120MXN each.  It was just frustrating as we spent a lot of time researching this trip and we had expected a decent restaurant in Executive class.

We made our way back to our seats and continued to enjoy the scenery as the train winded its way upwards through the forest, albeit the best views are on the right side of the train as you face forward. To cheer ourselves up we headed to the bar car and as the sofas were still taken up by the same sprawling family we found a high table with bar stools.  We enjoyed a few drinks, not particularly expensive, cocktails about 170MXN and a beer around 60MXN. We continued to enjoy the scenery which was interesting as the train constantly looped around and crossing bridges as we climbed up through the mountains.

Overall, given the price paid for the train, it was a hugely disappointing experience.  We knew that there wouldn’t be any views of the canyon itself along the way but the impossibility of booking online without a Mexican or US credit card, chaotic boarding, the dismal canteen restaurant and the very real possibility that you couldn’t even see out of a window during a 6 hour journey due to poor design of the cars spoilt what was meant to a really special railway journey, and we love our railway journeys!  We will never know if the First Class option, with it’s included gourmet meals in a separate restaurant, exclusive bar and open sided viewing car and even more inflated price tag would have been worth it (that was the one featured in Bill Nighy’s programme) but Business class clearly was not and we felt the whole El Chepe Express was really just an excuse to rip off tourists wanting to get to the Copper Canyon. 

On arrival in Divisidaro we were told to remain in our seats but with no explanation. Neil got up and was quickly told to sit down again. The station platform was now very busy and we began to get a little concerned that we would not be able to get off before it left and still with no explanation. Neil got up for a second time, as did a number of other people, only to be told again to sit down. Eventually we were allowed to leave the train and the guard pointed us to where we could collect our bags. There were several shuttle vehicles waiting for the various hotels and guest houses.

The Copper Canyon

We had decided to treat ourselves and stay at The Hotel Mirador which was expensive but which had breath taking views from each private balcony as it hugged the side of the canyon. It didn’t disappoint.  The view from our balcony was jaw dropping and we spent a lot of time just gazing at it.  We had booked full board as the hotel is fairly isolated and there were no restaurants nearby.  The food was equally as good as the view and we got to know some of the fellow independent travelling guests as seating was on long tables.  The weather was dry, sunny but below freezing at night.  That didn’t matter, the hotel had a ski chalet vibe with a huge log fire burning in the bar/restaurant and the rooms all had heating.  Things were getting a lot better.

On our first evening we signed up for a wine tasting before dinner.  The Balderrama hotel group also have vineyards and make their own wine. It’s produced in Chihuahua state and it was very good albeit rather pricey.  The tasting included a platter of cheese, olives and bread and we soon got chatting to the friendly couple from Chihuahua as he spoke excellent English.

Barranca del Cobre is a labyrinth of seven main canyons covering an area for times larger than Arizona’s Grand Canyon and in some places the canyons are more than 1800m deeper.  The name copper canyon was coined by the Spanish who mistook the greenish glow of lichen for copper deposits.  We were here for the ultimate buzz of soaring over these death-defying drops on the Ziprider and the next morning after a fabulous breakfast we headed for the park. 

We took the straightforward road option which was quiet, albeit dusty when a vehicle passed by.  Part way there, four aggressive dogs came out of a garden and started snarling but we managed to fend them off.  100m up the road another dog appeared and we had another ‘oh shit’ moment.  However, this time he was very friendly, so friendly he walked all the way to the visitor centre and wandered around with us.  Then he went AWOL for some reason.

The canyon adventure park has a number of activities for adrenaline junkies including abseiling, climbing, and a series of 7 zip wires that go across the canyon and you get to ride back up in a cable car.  We had booked for the single longest ride, 2.5kms, and we estimated that our speed peaked at around 90-100k/hr.  It was superb and over in a flash it seemed, but it was more than 2 minutes of adrenalin as we hurtled high across the canyon.  We had a short hike up to catch the cable car back and by this time it was getting hot so we walked back to the hotel, this time armed with big sticks which of course weren’t needed as the nasty dogs had chosen to snooze in the sun.

During our late lunch we got chatting to a young couple John & Yesenia, who told us lots of things about Mexico.  John is from Denver and Yesenia was born in the US to Mexican parents.  She loves all things Mexican and has been working in Mexico City for the last 2.5 years.  She has been able to extend her visa a couple of times but shortly she will return to the US.  We exchanged contact details and we plan to meet up when we get to Mexico City when Yesenia will take us on a Mexican street food extravaganza to include ant eggs!

Shaggy dog story

On our second day we decided to try to walk the trails along the canyon rim through the pine forests back to the Adventure Park Visitor Centre.  It didn’t matter if we got a little lost as we could easily work out how to get back.  We just wanted to get some exercise and to enjoy the walk through the peaceful forest in warm sunshine.  The hotel has several dogs that hang out outside the hotel mainly as the tourists feed them treats, and as we set off 2 white dogs started to follow us.   We didn’t have anything for them but they just seemed to want to join us for a walk.  One went on ahead and the other stayed close by.  We eventually named them Juan and Dos and they were very entertaining on the 50 min walk, with a couple of detours, until we reached the park boundary. 

We decided to use the toilets and both dogs suffered from separation anxiety when they lost sight of us.  Juan was really agitated as he waited loyally for Neil to reappear.  We took our time wandering around looking at the various stunning view points and watching others taking the ziplines with varied levels of confidence and bravado.  All this time with our trusty companions at our side.  They then walked us home through the forest trails, again with a couple of detours and we have to say they really enhanced our day.

We don’t normally feed street dogs but felt these two deserved a reward so next morning we snaffled a couple of cheesy quesadillas from breakfast before checking out of the room and storing our cases for the late afternoon transfer to the train station.  We also had a half bottle of white wine which we asked the restaurant staff to chill to go with our lunch.   There was time  for a last pleasant walk in the forest and we looked for Juan & Dos but they were nowhere to be seen.

We got back from our walk and still no sign of our chums.  We headed for the restaurant and asked for our wine – there had clearly been a mix up and our friendly waiter arrived with a full bottle and with a polite nod made it clear that this was definitely intended for us – result!  A last excellent meal with a quality wine in one of the best places we have stayed in.

Just before we were due to get on the transfer bus Juan appeared and was given his treat which he scoffed in seconds flat.

El Chepe – part 2

The organisation of El Chepe at Divisidaro on the way to Creel was equally chaotic as the first leg of the journey but by now we were beginning to get the hang of it. The train left around 16.00 and arrived about 90 minutes later. True to form our allocated seats were ones without any view but as this time the train was virtually empty we just moved.

We got chatting to a young Aussie guy, Dan who decided to go travelling just over 4 years ago.  He spent 2 years in Canada on a working visa and when it ran out he decided to hitch hike through the USA making it to Mexico.  He hadn’t intended being away for so long but that pesky Covid meant that as Australia had some of the strictest Covid border controls he couldn’t go home.  He wasn’t bothered!

Dan also told us that he had not been allowed to leave the train in Davisadero to take a quick look at the jaw dropping canyon views.  This was another disappointment about the train as a 20 min stop allowing passengers to enjoy the canyon was clearly something allowed before tourists were prevented from using the cheaper locals Regional train.  Seemed like El Chepe Express was determined to prevent passengers travelling through to Creel from enjoying any views of the canyon at all.

Arriving at Creel and disembarkation was just as messy, but we were in the groove!

It was something of an eye opener after the delights of tiny Divisidaro. Lots of concrete, unfinished building work, dogs everywhere, barking, howling and squabbling, dust swirling and getting in your eyes and people just ‘hanging around’. The sad tribal folk seemed totally disenfranchised, it was depressing until we started to celebrate…… we had only booked a one night stay!

It was one night too long but with train and bus times prevailing we, like most people, have no choice but to stick it out for one night. Some choose to make Creel their base and take tours to the adventure park and surrounds as accommodation and eating options are cheaper but we just found it depressing.  Our room which we thought was a good deal when we booked it, turned out to be way overpriced for what it was like most of Creel. Restaurants were full of kids yelling and screaming so we retreated to the sanctuary of The Lodge Bar for an overpriced Margarita.  Despite our attempts to wear rose tinted glasses Creel continued to disappoint.   We chose not to take the local train to Chihuahua for two reasons. It arrives at 21.30 and it takes about 6.5hrs mostly in the dark. This is the only bit of The Regional Train that as a tourist you are allowed to use. Instead, we took the bus at 11.00 although after a lot of confusion involving what looked like unsuccessful attempts to fix the bus we thought was ours, another arrived and left 30 minutes late.  We had booked it on-line but people were just arriving on the day and buying a ticket.  It took about 4.5hrs and very interesting scenery as it changed from winding roads and pine forests to flat plains and then to 120kph highways. Regular readers will know that Neil doesn’t cope with boredom easily as he has a low attention span but this journey was OK.