The flight to Mexico City was an hour late but, all in all, for a low-cost airline Volaris did us well.  Fed up with the overpriced pre-paid taxi counters we decided to follow the advice from the couple we met at Copper Canyon and used Uber.  We’ve never had much need for, or experience of, Uber as it doesn’t operate in our home town.  The ride was very cheap and no sooner had we arrived at the rendezvous the guy was there…..perfect.  20 minutes later we were checking into our hotel in the centre of town and we had a great view across an attractive park.  This was a pleasant upmarket area within 20 minute walk of the Zocalo and the wide street in front of us had several street performers including two full bands.  

It was getting late so we set off in pursuit of an eatery.  The first attempt looked ok but was some kind of chain that turned out to have, and yes you’ve guessed it, loud music, annoying video screens plus we hadn’t noticed the grumpy baby on the next table when we ordered our drinks.  It didn’t take long to decide to just finish the drinks and move on.  The waiter demanded a tip just for delivering 2 drinks.  Needless to say, he got a tip but it wasn’t money.  Eventually we stumbled upon a tiny Italian in a quiet back street.  It was actually pretty good if a tad pricey but by then we didn’t care.

Next morning we set off fairly early to go to The Pyramids at Teotihuacan.  It’s about an hour by car or, supposedly, just over an hour by bus from one of the main stations.  Maybe we are getting lazy, but when we added on the time to get to the metro, worked out how to use it, got to the bus station and then spent, supposedly, just over an hour on the bus we decided it we would just take the advice from our friends was take an Uber again and we didn’t regret it.  Our suspicions were that the driver would at some point in the journey suggest that he could wait for us and bring us back for a cash sum.  Sure enough he did and we got a comfortable return ride for an acceptable sum to us and a good days work for him.

Teotihuacan was Mexico’s biggest ancient city covering more than 20sqkm.  The remains cover approx. 2km and were pretty spectacular.  The Piramide del Sol is the world’s third largest and was completed in 150AD.  The smaller Piramide de la Luna was completed around 300AD.  We spent 3 hours walking around the entire site and we didn’t see it all.

Next day was spent exploring the parks, museums, beautiful old buildings and the Zocalo.  We quickly decided that we really liked Mexico City.  It had a laid back ambience, polite people and lots of simple things that we either take as granted in the UK or think we should be able to.  Smoking for instance.  Very few people in Mexico smoke and the main pedestrianised shopping street is even a smoke free zone. 

People throughout Mexico have been very well behaved. Wearing of anti-Covid masks is required and almost 100% adhered to.  We’ve been temperature scanned pretty much everywhere we’ve had gallons of sanitiser squirted into our hands. The standard of driving is very good and very tolerant.  In the UK we have just changed The Highway Code to make pedestrians King.  In Mexico it’s clearly been that way for some time, not necessarily by law but possibly just out of respect.   Wi-Fi is readily available in most public spaces for free.  The parks are beautifully kept, there’s very little litter and the people seem to be happy and content. 

That evening we met with John and Yesenia who we previously met in The Copper Canyon.  She is an American Citizen, born of Mexican parents in the US, but temporarily working in Mexico City and the country that she loved.  They had promised to take us out for some street food and drinks and to show us a bit of Mexico City.  We started off with some tacos at a famous street eatery and then headed off to Plaza Garibaldi which is famous for Mariachi Bands. 

It was buzzing with beautifully dressed bands everywhere who give performances to whoever wants to pay for a song but everyone around is welcome to listen and enjoy.  We walked through to a smaller plaza and found a place she had been meaning to visit for some time.  The show was about to start and there was no cover charge for the table.  Perfect, a couple of drinks and some cabaret……how Benidorm can it get! 

It was excellent, showcasing traditional songs and dances as well as the Mariachi Band.  Once the show finished a live band kicked off and the stage became a dance floor which quickly filled by people of all ages eager to dance.  Not just Mexicans but visiting Columbians, Puerto Ricans and a couple of hapless Brits without a single Latin Rhythm in their bones.  Nobody gave a s**t, it was time to party and have fun. 

Our last surprise was the order of Mescal, a version of Tequila, and Neil’s glass contained the worm. We had a superb night and laughed at the entire evening as we walked back to the hotel.

On our last full day we set off for our first trip on the metro.  Less than 10peso, about 36p, gets you anywhere in the vast city of over 20m people.  It was quick, clean and comfortable although we did notice one difference in the normally Mexican psyche of politeness.  When it comes to getting on/off the metro and getting a seat it’s the quickest, biggest and the pushiest that win the day.  Neil just about came off best against a small woman almost half his height! 

Anyway, back to the trip to the canals at Xochimilco.  Mexico City was built on a lake which explains why a lot of the older buildings are twisted and lean in different directions like the Tower of Pisa.  In pre-Hispanic days the inhabitants created raised fertile land, or floating gardens, to grow food and this resulted in a canal network, a small part of which still exists on the Southern edge of the city.  Today it’s main focus, apart from a few garden centres is to provide leisure with colourful boats carrying families and groups who want to party.  There are small boats who sell drinks & snacks as well as music from Mariachi bands and other musicians.  At the weekend it has a fiesta atmosphere so we decided to go on Saturday.  The boats can seat up to twelve so we hovered at the dock waiting for other small groups of foreigners or couples to join with but after 20 minutes we realised it wasn’t going to happen so we chartered our own boat and set of for one and a half hours.  It was fun, and we got a good contrast of peaceful smaller channels alongside absolute grid locked full on party chaos!

We got back to Mexico City late afternoon and headed to the Zocalo to watch the flag lowering ceremony.  The Zocalo is an immense open square and was recently used as a location in the James Bond Spectre film.  There is a central flagpole and an absolutely huge Mexican flag which flies during the day.  We watched as a team of military personnel expertly lowered the flag, carefully catching the edge so as not to let it touch the ground and then start spinning and wrapping the fabric so it could be carried away.  It was so big it took 15 people spaced about a metre apart stretched along its length to handle it.  The crowds didn’t need safety barriers to keep the required distance away – they just politely stayed put as directed by the soldier clearing sufficient space for the ceremony.  What a contrast to India where we know that no one would resist pushing forward to get a better look!

As the flag was carried away there was a patriotic round of applause from the crowds and we felt moved by the spectacle.  A fitting end to our stay in Mexico.

Is it safe?

A few people were concerned about Mexico as a destination as it suffers from serious drug gang warfare. Mexicans we spoke to admitted that it is a problem but rarely affects ordinary citizens or tourists.  We never felt threatened or intimidated anywhere we went, not even a raised voice or argument.  We were aware of a lot of police presence, tourist police (in very cute tiny smartcars) National Guard, State Police, Local Police and almost anyone with a uniform that can carry a semi-automatic rifle.  In Acapulco there were a lot of pick-up trucks fitted with steel bars on the back to allow military personnel to stand and keep their balance whilst they tote their hardware.  We were there during the Mexico Open Tennis Tournament which may have been the reason for so many.  We felt their presence was to make the public feel safe.

The day we left the hotel in Acapulco there were three of these trucks and dozens of menacing looking guys armed to the teeth.  We asked if anything was happening and were told it was because the Governor had come to the hotel for a meeting.  The guys looked serious but were actually very friendly, and Neil asked one them ‘aren’t you hot’?  It was 33C, humid and he was wearing full battle dress, helmet and mask so all you could see was his eyes.  A heavy nod of the head and a squint of his eyes said it all, ‘yes I’m hot, bloody hot and I could murder a cold beer’!  We also thought at one point as we waited for the taxi to the airport that it was all going to kick off.  There were some guys working on a neighbouring building and one started to use a nail gun.  ‘Bang’ went the nail gun, ‘f’’k, what was that’? we said.  The guards didn’t flinch.  All in a days work.

Another thing we haven’t mentioned is Mexico’s love of the old VW Beetle car.  They were everywhere, in various states of repair, and in Acapulco they are even used as taxis.  We have no idea why they are so popular.

The next day it was time to fly home but not till 9pm.  Neil blagged a very late checkout so we had a lazy morning, did most of the packing, caught up with emails and wrote some of the blog.  We did have a very frustrating time trying to comply with the Covid entry requirements even though we thought these had all been dropped.  BA wouldn’t let us check in a and choose seats until we had loaded the information required, Covid Vaccination Pass from the NHS app and Passenger Locator Form from Gov.uk onto another app called Verifly. At least we didn’t need to take a test, but bloody hell, what a pain in the bum!

Finally, after lots expletives we got it done and set off for a long lunch, including the odd beverage (well we did have a little Mexican money to use up), in the park before taking an Uber to the airport.   Once at the airport we found the lounge which sadly was a very lacklustre American Airlines establishment.  Time for a last Margarita but the barman was lousy, not even bothering to the shake the cocktail and the result was so awful we couldn’t drink it.  We snacked on blue cheese and Palma ham (yummy) and Neil washed it down with a few glasses of mediocre red wine. 

The plane took off bang on time and once we were given the all clear to flatten our beds  Neil was gone, away with the birds fast asleep.  Cheryl wasn’t sleepy and waited for the meal which wasn’t great.  Never mind, she thought I’ll just have a big glass of red wine and hopefully I’ll be ready to sleep by the time the really bad film finishes.  She hadn’t realised just how much her table sloped until the glass landed in her lap, all over the napkin, the blanket, her trousers and the edge of the seat – oops!  Luckily most was absorbed by the napkin and blanket.  Neil slept for almost the entire journey, waking up in time for breakfast, blissfully unaware of Cheryl’s drama. 

We landed 30 minutes early, breezed through immigration and baggage reclaim, boarded the tube and were in Islington in exactly 2.5hrs from the wheels hitting the tarmac.  It was a quiet evening in with Alex and Freddy with Cheryl keeling over at 10pm and Neil lasting until 11pm.

We fitted in a lunch in Richmond with Bill and Sue and finally our Mexican sojourn was to come to an end with the train journey from Waterloo to Axminster.  It should all have been easy but quite a lot of stuff on this trip has not been and why should that stop now?  The last leg of the journey home had a sting, a stressful sting.  London Underground had a strike on Tuesday which had an ongoing effect on Wednesday, our journey home.  We planned to get a taxi to Waterloo rather than risk the underground.  Alex and Freddy tried to book a taxi and we had one more of those ‘oh shit’ moments….they were pretty much booked. 

We jumped into Alex’s car and he drove us into really bad traffic and eventually got just about as far as he could before he incurred the wrath of London’s Congestion Charge.  Just before we got to the limit Neil noticed a black cab with his light on.  ‘Taxi’! he shouted.  Alex stopped and Neil jumped out to hail the cab and grab the cases out of the boot.  We jumped in, ‘Waterloo Station please’.  It was now touch and go as we crept slowly through more grid locked traffic.  It was going to be close we thought and then the traffic stopped again.  We’re stuffed we thought.  Then the traffic moved, we might just make it we thought.  The taxi driver knew a few short cuts which helped a little as we watched google maps countdown our ETA which was only just before the train left.  The stress was immense but we made it, found platform 8 and hopped aboard with less than 5 minutes to spare into First Class at the rear of the train.

Then after the train set off we heard an announcement that sounded like the train was to split at some point.  Now we started to try and find out if we were in the right half of the train.  Cheryl found another first class compartment at the end of the train.  Eventually Neil found the guard at the very front of the train after passing through two more First Class carriages.  The guard confirmed we were definitely at the wrong end of the train so at the next station we jumped out of the back of the train and hurtled to the front before it took off again.  At last we could settle down and enjoy the journey. 

Arriving at Axminster our friend Glyn was waiting to welcome us back and drive us home.  We’ve had a great trip but it’s good to be back in the grey, cold drizzle again! 

The bus dropped us near to the centre of Chihuahua and we picked up a taxi for 50 MXN for the short ride to the Quality Inn which was just behind the Cathedral and main plaza.  30 minutes later we were in our room having rejected the first which only had internal windows onto a corridor.  The new one was spacious, well furnished and had a fine view across the rooftops of a hill outside of town.

It was time to explore and get our bearings and some food.  Chihuahua has a compact centre, with pedestrianised shopping streets a few old but mostly new buildings so it lacks the full-on charm of a lot of other places we have visited.  Despite the sunshine it was also chilly and some days a cutting wind blew through the town which made walking around unpleasant.  We struggled to find a restaurant that wasn’t playing loud music making a relaxing dinner impossible.  We don’t always follow the guidebook recommendations but even these were closed and looked like they had been for some time.   Despite our initial impressions of a modern and upmarket place in reality it was beginning to feel like a ghost town that had seen better days. 

On the way out we noticed the hotel restaurant was quite busy.  Add the fact that there was no pumping music and we agreed to give it a go.  The food and drinks turned out to be pretty good but unfortunately the ‘good breakfast included’ on our booking turned out to ‘very poor continental breakfast included’.  We skipped breakfast and resorted to having an early lunch in the hotel instead.  We quickly worked out that this restaurant was used by well off middle aged locals as a drop in for coffee, meet friends, chat and some stayed for lunch or dinner. Each day it was the same characters. 

Our 3 night stay was again down to logistics of the Canyon trip and the cost of onward flights which for some strange reason on Thursdays were penal.  Whilst the town isn’t horrific it isn’t too exciting either.  We tried to go into the top attraction, Museo Casa de Villa, the over the top mansion of Pancho Villa, but that was closed due to Covid.  We then tried Quinta Gameros, which was a quirky house built in 1907 by an extremely wealthy man to impress his much younger fiancé and yet again were faced by padlocked gates.  As we stood debating what to do next a guy came up behind us, gesticulated something that we couldn’t make out, and he proceeded to unravel the chain on the gates and wander in.  We waited, and a few minutes later another guy came out and in pretty good English proceeded to tell us that the house was officially closed due to Covid but we could have a look around and make a ‘contribution’ at the end.  So, in we went.

The house was an ostentatious display of the outrageous wealth held by the elite at the time and took utilised the latest fashionable trend to build a Parisian Belle Epoque style mansion.  The result was over the top bad taste akin to a modern footballers’ wives bling palace.  The building is now owned by the university and as well as preserving the interior it has spaces to showcase artworks.  The story goes that the much younger bride to be died before the house was completed but there is a strong rumour that she actually ran off with the architect responsible for the build.  It didn’t matter to us, the building was a superb distraction, we enjoyed our private tour and we were more than happy to hand our 100peso contribution to one of the ladies waiting at the exit.

We managed to easily use up our two full days looking at the town, the zocalo and the cathedral plus the myriad of shops.  Chihuahua is the centre of the universe for buying cowboy boots and Stetsons.  Shop, after shop after shop.  Neil resisted although he was tempted.  We also declined buying any of the cute cowboy and mariachi inspired suits for small boys as we really didn’t think they would cut it for our grandson against his favourite pirate and spiderman outfits.

We checked out what a reasonable price for the 30 minute trip to the airport and the first taxi driver we spoke to gave us exactly that.  It seems that Mexican taxi drivers will always up the price a little because you’re foreign but never to extremes.  That’s one up for Mexico.

Be careful what you wish for……

Our onward flight was to Acapulco via a hop to Mexico City.  The flight time was a civilised 11am departure with an hour and a half to change planes. Another pleasant small airport and after a swift bag drop we decided to walk up and down the check in area to get a bit of exercise.  Then Neil noticed the arrivals board.  The Volaris flight from Mexico City due in at 10.00am, probably ours to go out at 11.00am, was cancelled.  ‘Oh shit’!  We found the departure board and sure enough our flight was cancelled too.   More expletives followed.  ‘Why had we been allowed to check in and how on earth are we going to make the connection to Acapulco?’

We started to talk to the Volaris guy assisting at the check in queue, who didn’t speak English.  He kind of understood what we were saying and said all was OK and nodded us to proceed through to security and the gates. 

At the gate the board showed flight details and ‘cancelled’ in red, but there were a lot of people waiting. By now we were totally confused and wondering what the hell we were going to do.  Another young lady came past with a clip board wearing a Volaris logo on her top.  We stopped her, she spoke some English, checked on her phone and said it was all OK.  Neil pointed to the gate sign that said cancelled and she reassured us it was the airport systems that were wrong and that it would be put right soon.  So, we sat and waited and sure enough the gate sign changed and then the incoming flight arrived a little late.  We eventually took off about 45 minutes late.

The connecting flight to Acapulco was going to be tantalisingly tight to catch.  We alerted one of the cabin crew and he seemed very confident all was going to be fine.  We might catch it, we might not, but there wouldn’t be much chance of our luggage transferring from plane to plane.  On landing we had just under an hour, but the plane seemed to spend an eternity taxiing then stopping whiles we crossed the take off runway and then again as we made it towards the terminal.   ‘We’re stuffed’ we thought. 

We finally got off the plane and there were clearly several other anxious people with connecting flights.  Cheryl queued to find out which gate and sods law told us it was at the other end of the terminal, number 3.  This was Mexico International Airport, it’s bloody huge and we had about 40 minutes to get to the gate before departure time, never mind when the gate would actually close which is usually 20 minutes before departure.  We legged it along with other people going to different gates.  It was a long, long way along the endless corridors counting down from gate 29.  When we finally got to gate 3 it was full of people – phew, the gate was still open……everyone was queuing……it too was delayed! Hurrah! we might even get our luggage. 

An hour later and we took off for Acapulco. The Pacific Ocean and 5 nights of chilling were on the horizon.  Ticketed taxi system again and we soon checked into an expensive hotel, floor 5 was allocated, so Cheryl asked if we could go to a higher floor and a guy intervened as our check in girl didn’t speak much English.  After playing with his console, he said ‘floor 21 ok’?  Perfect we said and 2128 was to be our room.  The view we had hoped for was absolutely stunning gazing across Acapulco Bay.  The room was big with a sofa, desk, 3 balconies and a huge bed facing a wall of glass…..we had landed!! The view down to the pool area was vertigo inducing but looked lovely and the beach had several groups of happy families enjoying playing in the sea.  The wide sweep of horseshoe shaped bay was pretty, albeit very built up with hotels and buildings creeping all the way along the bay and up into the hills.

We chose Acapulco for several reasons.  Neil wanted to see The Pacific.  We both wanted beach time.  Logistically, it was easy to fly in and easy to fly out to Mexico City for our final stay.  It was also to see The Clavidistas, those famous and magnificent men who dive 35m into the sea from the cliff top.

We always do plenty of research on hotels with Cheryl doing the lion’s share of this.  We both check out reviews.  Places to visit, things to do is down to Cheryl.  Neil tends to do logistics, climate and anything practical.  Once we’re all done and we’ve double checked each other we make our decision.  We probably overdo it but when you are staying 5 nights it’s a lot of £’s and you pay in full on arrival, you want to get it right.  We knew Acapulco was big, it’s nickname is Mexico City by the Sea, but we also read it had a faded 1950’s charm from when the Hollywood Stars used it as their playground.  We prefer sleepy beachside but these involve very long and difficult journeys so, as ever, compromises have to be made. We learned from other cities that it was good to be within walking distance of the old town & zocalo, plus our top priority was a room with a proper sea view. 

We did think it was all good until it got dark and we headed out for dinner.  Oh my god…what have we done? By night the place had transformed.  We had made sure that the hotel was direct to the beach as some were across the road which runs all the way along the bay.  But by night the traffic on the 6 lane highway behind the hotel was horrific, the street was lined with garish tacky bars and restaurants with most places playing music loud enough to be heard on the international space station.  This was like Benidorm but on acid.  The expletives were endless as we desperately tried to find a quiet place to eat.  The nightmare continued as the cacophony was added to by brightly lit mickey mouse & looney tunes fairy light decorated carriages trolling up and down the road touting for punters to sample their deafening techno beats on a ‘scenic’ ride up and down the strip.  In other places we have visited there have been charming, Cinderella style carriages decked with flowers pulled by horses and they clip clop around the old town.   No, not here.  Acapulco had taken tackiness to another plateau.  These evil contraptions were towed by scruffy blokes on quad bikes which we forgot to photograph on our last night.

On top of all this there were the local hop on & off buses – brightly coloured, foghorn blaring to attract passengers and a full-on ear-splitting soundtrack of disco/trance/grunge as you ride.  One passed by every sixty seconds on average.   We did use them as a cheap way to get around and have experienced music blaring buses in other countries and find them quaint…..but only for a limited time.

We eventually found a quietish place to eat and endured the roadside ambience from the open balcony.  We retreated via an OXXO to buy milk, water, beer and tequila, to our view to die for in room 2128.  Neil posted on TripAdvisor that, in his opinion, Acapulco was ‘hell on earth’.  He got many replies all suggesting that we had indeed booked into a hotel in the noisiest part of town.  Why hadn’t the reviews told us this?  If we booked somewhere a 15 minute walk in either direction it would have been a bit better.  Too late now so we set about trying to make do.  Over the next couple of days we did manage to find places that weren’t bad and the food OK.   

What we didn’t know, but should have guessed, was that this hotel was very popular with families from Mexico City.  The hotel was very busy so trying to get into the pool or to relax and read a book by the pool was impossible.  To make things worse, we had flown in on a Friday, the start of the weekend, so the pool area was crazy plus there was the inevitable speaker playing loud music……aaaggggghhhhhh!!! Our plan for a relaxing few days chilling out on the beach were completely dashed. 

Another thing that we got wrong, well Neil to be precise, as it’s his job, was climate.  We hadn’t anticipated it being so hot and humid thus making time on the beach very uncomfortable.  What it did mean, and we did this in Australia, that a lot of the day was spent in our AC room reading or updating the blog.

Now one thing we did get right was The Clavidistas.  They have been giving their spectacular shows in Acapulco for just under 100 years.  They dive from either 25m or 35m into a narrow gulley.  We went for the only daytime show at 1pm so that we would get better pictures.  We did, but we absolutely fried in the sun on the viewing platform waiting for the show to start.  It was worth it, and 100peso (about £4) saw us watch 5 guys ‘do their thing’. 

It was so good we decided to go back and see it again in the cool of the evening as they do shows at around 7, 8, 9 and 10pm.  This time we managed to sneak in for a view from the top where we had a seat…..result!  We also had an elevated view which gave us a whole new perspective.  We don’t know why but we were never asked to pay so at the end of the show ‘we got the t-shirt’!  100peso has us the memento to hang in the gallery at home amongst our other travelling memorabilia. 

Acapulco over, we took a taxi which cost 300peso to the airport.  When we arrived at the thieving prepay taxi booth to travel into Acapulco, we paid 450peso.  Who says crime doesn’t pay when it’s legalised?  Next stop, final stop, Mexico City.

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.

The early morning flight to Los Mochis with Volaris was on time and comfortable.  It’s a tiny airport with one luggage belt so 15 mins after landing we were in the taxi queue.  Most airports in Mexico operate a fixed price taxi system whereby you buy a ticket as you leave arrivals.  It’s a wizard wheeze to allow the taxi drivers to charge around 25% more than the fare you usually pay to return.  That said, it is slick and does remove the tedious bargaining process we faced in Cancun where there is competition and the further you walk into the baying mob of taxi drivers the more the price falls.

There was also airport free WiFi and we checked on any replies from the booking agent about the hotel and train tickets.  Partial success!  The night before we resorted to splitting the credit card details between our separate email addresses and Fanya replied that she had taken payment from the card. Yay! But there were no train tickets in the email and we still had to sort out the part of the journey which Fanya couldn’t book so we took a taxi to El Chepe, the Copper Canyon railway station. 

As it’s low season there are only 2 tourist trains a week, and there wasn’t one running the day we arrived, so the station was deserted.  The young lady on the ticket counter spoke very good English which made the whole complicated explanation much easier.

We told her how we had tried to book tickets on-line without success and that the hotel we planned to stay in had reserved tickets for us but we had been unable to pay because Fanya, the girl we had been emailing, had been off work plus there was a Sunday involved when she doesn’t work at all, but we had now paid but we didn’t actually have tickets and we needed more tickets for the second leg.  The girl at the ticket office was very patient, she found our names on the list for the first journey – yay! She also found that there was availability for the second onward journey we needed 3 days later – yay again! But we couldn’t add these on to the first booking as the tickets couldn’t be released as the agency hadn’t submitted payment – what???  We could pay for the additional journey separately but that would double the price.

She agreed to call Fanya’s mobile number and find out what was going on.   After about 30 minutes they sorted it all out.  The system would take a few hours to update for the payment from Fanya, we would pay cash to the ticket counter for the difference in ticket price for the extra part of the journey we wanted to do and Fanya would email us all the tickets once the systems had updated.  We were pleased with the solution but still uneasy that we had to walk away from the station without printed tickets in hand as we were moving on to another location and this was the last place where we could physically get a ticket before boarding the train.

Meanwhile, the taxi driver who had delivered us to the station had also asked where we planned to go next.  We realised there would be no taxis hovering at the train station so we told him we were going to El Fuerte where we would board the train a few days later.  It was about an hours drive and was a better place to stay than Los Mochis. We had planned to go by bus but hoped he might give us a good price to take us all the way.  We thought that with the distance involved we felt that the old USD $50 note we had been carrying around for the last 2.5 years would be around the right rate.  He started off with Peso at a high rate, no surprises there, and then we said ‘what about USD’?  Sure enough he started way too high so Neil waved the $50 bill under his nose and he thought for a while and then said ‘Si’.  One hour in a taxi enabling us to get rid of a $50 note we didn’t really want seemed like a good deal when the bus journey would probably take at least 2hrs and leave ‘sometime never’.

He was a gentle driver which made the journey very pleasant and eventually we arrived at the hotel in El Fuerte.  The room seemed ok and as we were tired and hungry from our early start we went to get some lunch.  We found a lovely spot under the trees overlooking the pretty Plaza.  The food was good but we hadn’t anticipated the local menace.  Tiny little daytime black bugs with a bite that itches for days.  Americans call them ‘no see ums’ and we encountered them a few years ago in Florida. We hadn’t thought about putting on bug spray and they soon  started to hover in number all around Cheryl and even took chunks out of Neil.

Back at the hotel and Neil started to think we had been given the wrong room.  We booked a quad room which came with a fridge, but we had been given a triple room with no fridge.  It was warm here so we needed a fridge to keep the milk cold.  Arrrrgggghhhh – another hotel giving us a room different to the one we had booked.  Neil went to see the guy who said ‘you are two, why do you need a quad room’?  ‘Because we wanted a fridge’ Neil replied.  ‘I don’t have a quad room to give you’ he said.  ‘Then we’re leaving’ said Neil.  Luckily this one hadn’t been pay on arrival but was to be taken later on a credit card.

Back in the room we quickly packed up and used the wifi to find another hotel and chose The Posada del Hidalgo.  It was more expensive but it was absolutely stunning, and we’re worth it!  It was only a short walk so it was a winner.  As we left and dropped off the keys the guy said absolutely nothing – his loss for trying to cheat us.

El Fuerte is a sleepy place with several hotels and restaurants and a central plaza with church, that’s normal, and just a gentle vibe about it.  We needed supplies of tea and coffee so walked to the biggest supermarket about 15 minutes away.  Next day we went to the town museum which had some films about the history with English subtitles plus ramparts that allow you to see for miles around.  From the viewpoint we also saw the river which snakes past town.  There is nothing in the guidebooks about it but we did notice a walkway, or Malecon.  It turned out to be a long stretch of paved footpath which was a pleasant place to walk and watch the kingfishers, cormorants, herons and eagles. 

The river is also home to a fish called Lobina which appeared in most restaurant menus.  We’re not great fish eaters so we didn’t try it. We tried the ‘top’ restaurant in town according to Tripadvisor and it was a terrible dud with almost inedible food. We’ve noticed that there are hardly any up to date reviews on TA and we think it’s fallen out of favour partly due to Covid, and also as it was plagued with false reviews. We finally hit lucky and found a great restaurant which served up delicious camarones, but not as good as in Campeche.

The hotel was within an old colonial building and was like staying in a museum.  The amazing public areas were regularly by brides to be to have stunning photos taken in their glamourous gowns.  We were also nearby the town clock which provided a loud two minute melody chime three times a day, very quirky and we loved it. At the bar area there were a number of hanging feeders full of sugar syrup which attracted hummingbirds. They were mesmerising to watch as the hovered in mid air before expertly dipping their long beaks into the feeders. We tried to get photos but almost all were blurred as they didn’t stay still long enough.

Knowing that tour groups used the hotel we worked out that they would run a bus to the train station when El Chepe ran.  In exchange for eating one breakfast there we managed to blag a ride. The added bonus was the breakfast came with lots of delicious crispy bacon – yum!

The day before we left the train tickets arrived by email – phew!

Next time it’s all about one of the main reasons we came to Mexico.  To ride a section of El Chepe which runs up to Possadas Barrancas, The Copper Canyon which is said to be bigger and deeper than The Grand Canyon.

Our first internal flight in Mexico was with Volaris and it went well, swimmingly well, and it was cheap as chips along the lines of Ryanair but without all the little traps to charge you an arm and a leg just because you hadn’t done this or that.  The 2hr flight cost us £30 per person including checked in cases.

On arrival we took a taxi to The Hotel Roma in the centre of Guadalajara which was to be a stop off for just one night.  As we checked-in we were handed a little padded envelope package containing Cheryl’s trousers that had been AWOL for several days, relief! The trousers had made it and arrived before we did.

We had a walk around the central plaza that evening, exploring the cathedral and other beautiful buildings before settling down for dinner in a great little place that had margaritas at 60 pesos and even better, 2 for the price of 1…..now that’s right up our street.  The food was very good, not overpriced and it was just a really nice bistro type of place with several small balconies overlooking the main plaza. 

Next day we left our main cases at the hotel and headed off for a 2 night stay in Tequila, and why wouldn’t you?  The 2hr bus journey was quite tortuous to start with as it headed off in totally the wrong direction to pick up passengers before finally heading towards Tequila.  The first hour was spent touring the city whilst the second part of the journey, which covered the greater distance, then took a further hour.  The seats were a little uncomfortable and to help her back Cheryl used some clothing to make a small lumbar support cushion.  The countryside outside town soon became field after field of the blue agave plants used for Tequila and it was quite stunning.

On arrival in Tequila we hopped off the bus and with just light backpacks the 15 minute walk to the hotel was really easy.  We had booked a king suite, however, the room we were shown looked nothing like the pictures shown on Booking.com.  It was tiny with just a small window which overlooked the corridor used to get to the room.  Not very private, very dark and quite claustrophobic.  Cheryl immediately asked for one on an upper floor hoping to get a proper window, and we usually do request a quiet room on a high floor. We were told that was not available.  Cheryl stood her ground and stated that not having a window was an issue and was certainly not something we would book.  We were then shown the room at the front, with a large window and a balcony overlooking the street.  This one looked just like the pictures on booking.com.  We were allowed to have it but we were told it was booked for the following night but she would see if we could stay. 

Did we mention logistics had been tricky?  We wanted to take a Tequila tasting tour and there are several noted in the guidebooks.  There was even mention of a Tequila train which was a day trip from Guadalajara and sounded a lot of fun.  However, add Covid to the mix and finding out what was actually available was tortuous to say the least.  Internet searches revealed that the train was now only operating as a ‘luxury’ aka ridiculously expensive exclusive tour by Jose Cuervo and only on Saturdays, and with no obvious way to book it

Our two-night stay in Tequila itself was to allow us to get to the distilleries in person and find out what was really on offer.    With the room sorted we were able to relax a little and set about organising a tour.  First, we went to Sauza but unfortunately the English-speaking tour at 1pm was full, as was the next day and the day after.  ‘Damn those bloody tour companies’! Just to be safe we booked on the next tour in Spanish at 3pm in the hope that we would be able to understand some of it and hoped we may find an English one for the next day.

With a couple of hours to kill we set off for a walk and found a restaurant to get some lunch.  We had just ordered beers when Cheryl had an ‘oh shit’ moment.  ‘F**k! I think I left my trousers on the bus’!  Neil couldn’t believe she had chosen those trousers as her back support, and that she could be so careless to leave them behind, especially after all the efforts made to find them before.  She left him to finish his beer and ran off back to the hotel to check that they weren’t in the room and then asked the very helpful hotel staff with good English who tried to ring the bus company.  No answer so she ran back to the restaurant and met Neil on his way back and we set off back to the bus stand to see if there was any chance we could find them.

The bus we had been on was headed on to another town, Magdalena, and then we hoped it would turn around and head back to Guadalajara.  The old guy at the tiny counter in the scruffy bus station was just lovely and with the help of a few mimes and google translate he made a call in which we heard the word ‘pantalones’ at which point Cheryl shouted ‘Si, pantalones!’ He nodded so our luck was in.  We had to wait until 2pm when the bus would return.  It was a long wait and about 2.15 a bus pulled in and we recognised the driver. 

Cheryl shot inside and was relieved when he pointed to the pesky pants which were now on the driver’s bags on the front seats.  Cheryl was once again reunited with her trousers.  Neil suggested that from now on she should wear them every day, sleep in them every night and shower in them every morning just to be sure she never lost them again.  She declined.

With only a few minutes to spare we made it back to the Sauza distillery for the 3pm tour and finally luck was on our side.  There were only 5 other people on the tour.  An American couple who were on a year out and travelling in a van plus 3 Mexicans from Merida.  Both the Americans spoke Spanish, she was actually a Spanish teacher, and the three Mexicans all spoke English so they kindly agreed to have the tour in English…..fab!   The tour was fun, we learnt a lot about growing and harvesting the agave that they use to make tequila, then we had a talk on tasting which was sadly only available in Spanish but the other guys all helped us out with a rough translation.  Whether we understood the finer points was irrelevant as the Tequilla tasted great! 

Tequila is another Pueblo Magico and deservedly so.  It has the rich history of the drink and is a really attractive small town with many pretty colonial buildings and public plazas.  It is also a noisy town mainly because it’s now a party central for hordes of Mexican tourists.  The party atmosphere starts early with the imaginatively shaped and brightly coloured tour buses for each distillery pumping out music as they roll through the cobbled streets. There are many touring musicians hoping to earn a few pesos serenading the diners at all the restaurants.   We also experienced our first Mariachi band who were fantastic. 

The next morning our hotel wanted us to change rooms.  Apparently, the other booking for the room had preference over us.  Neil wasn’t happy as you can imagine, and stood his ground as when we checked our original booking we were clearly in the room shown in the pictures.  We weren’t moving so if we couldn’t have the room we wanted our money back.  He soon got a call from customer service at Booking.com.  Hurrah! The hotel had backed down and we could stay.  There was however, quite a frosty atmosphere when we went past reception on our way to get lunch.

We were treated to the amazing Voladores which was something Cheryl wanted to see and we thought we would miss as our schedule wouldn’t allow travel to Papantla where they originate.  It’s an old mystic tradition where 5 men clad in traditional white clothes climb a 30m pole with ropes attached to their ankles. Four sit around the edges and rotate the pole so that the ropes coil around it while the fifth plays a mournful sounding pipe and drums.  The men then fall backwards and gracefully spin around as the ropes unwind and glide down to earth stopping with their heads a few inches off the ground.  There is something about eating dinner in a square overlooking The Cathedral, listening to Mariachi and watching Voladores gracefully return to terra firma.

We didn’t manage to find another Tequilla tour in English but overall we really enjoyed our time in the town.  We also realised that had we made it onto the 1pm tour in English on the first day that Cheryl would never have got those trousers back as she probably wouldn’t have remembered them until it was too late to catch the bus on its return to Tequila.  Some things were meant to be.

We had planned to bail out of the bus ride back to Guadalajara as soon as we reached the edge of town and then use a taxi to get back to the hotel in the centre.  That way we would avoid the needless hour long loop around the outskirts.  However, our plan failed as the bus did not make the same stop as it had done on the way out so we were stuck, and the traffic was horrendous to add to the misery.  We eventually got to the hotel, we were reunited with our cases and were allowed to check in early, hurrah!  Then we got to the room – hang on, this one is much smaller than before, and where is the fridge?  Back down to reception to have yet another argument over what we booked.  Eventually with the help of our friend Google Translate and scrutinising booking.com for the pictures of the deluxe room showing a fridge we were successful and upgraded to a junior suite!

Guadalajara is a huge city and our plan to stay in the centre was perfect as we were in walking distance of the main plazas and historical buildings.  We returned on a Saturday and returned to the restaurant overlooking the Cathedral plaza for dinner.  After eating Cheryl noticed the lights had gone out in the Plaza below and looking from the balcony spotted a countdown clock projected onto the Cathedral.  We had a perfect view of the amazing sound and light show which went on for about 10 minutes.

Sunday morning and whilst having breakfast at the hotel we noticed there was no traffic at all outside.  From 8am to 2pm the main artery routes into town are reclaimed for cyclists, including one with a tiny dog running down the centre of the road, pedestrians, skaters and all other non-motorised forms of transport.  It worked really well and we hope it’s a model that all big cities and towns could adopt.  We spent the rest of the day wandering through the various plazas and pedestrianised streets before returning to our favourite restaurant.  Just before 8pm the lights dimmed and we watched the sound and light on the Cathedral again.

With an early morning flight to Los Mochis we made the reluctant decision so stay at an airport hotel the night before.  Now did we mention how difficult logistics were proving to be?  Well, next day we were about to fly to Los Mochis still without confirmation that we had tickets for the train and without these we had no way to get to the Copper Canyon.  We had been told the tickets were booked but we had to pay for them before they could be released.  Reluctant to provide credit card details via email we asked for a What’s App call and that’s when the communication ground to a halt.  First thing on the Monday we sent lots of messages but no reply until it was time to change to the airport hotel.  Fortunately, on check in we realised one of the guys on reception spoke really good English so we asked him if he could call the customer contact centre of the hotel that was meant to be making the booking.  He did, turned out our contact had a day off but he eventually got hold of her mobile and we are extremely grateful, as it was agreed that we should go immediately to the train station when we land in Los Mochis to finalise everything.

The hotel was fine but the eating options, as is normal with airport hotels, were limited.  It was Hobson’s Choice, American chain restaurants Chillis or Dennys?  Chillis it was and we weren’t surprised……….crap!

Very early next morning the hotel shuttle dropped us at the airport for another Volaris experience to Los Mochis and yet another blip in the purchase of our tickets.  Next time folks!

The walk from J-P’s place to the bus station was an easy 5 minutes and we were soon on the first-class bus for the 2.25hr journey to Campeche, another Pueblos Magicos town, on the Gulf of Mexico.  The bus station was quite a way out of town, but the taxi was cheap, about £2.  The Hotel de Paseo Campeche was OK, our room was a proper suite with a separate sitting/dining area with small kitchenette and separate bedroom. It was a bit tired and in need of a refurb but it wasn’t expensive and had a lovely view through the balcony doors across to a park with a huge outdoor event area.  We were less than 10 minutes walk to the Malecon (promenade) and about 10 minutes to the centre of the old walled town.

Colin and Jan had sent us photographs of a couple of places they had eaten in a couple of years ago and we found a restaurant with a large balcony with views across to The Cathedral……superb.  The food was also excellent and we finally got the owner to alter his margarita recipe to our liking – extra liquor and no sugar syrup……..yes, who on this planet puts sugar syrup into a margarita?…..his barman.  Anyway, he finally got the message and suddenly we were back in business.  We ate there the second night too and Cheryl had the camerones al coco (shrimp dipped in dry coconut and flash fried).  Oh my word, they were just delicious.

Our days were spent exploring the town and the Malecon which is so long that we didn’t manage to walk from one end to the other.  The pelicans offered plenty of entertainment as we just enjoyed the sea, the breeze and the walking.  One evening was a bit windy so we ate at a different place and wished we hadn’t but you can’t win ‘em all.  Cheryl also turned her ankle as she came out of the loo.  The waiter was lightning quick to help and bring a bag of ice to help reduce the swelling.  Next day we did something that we very rarely do, a touristy city tour in a strange little trolley bus.  It was mainly due to Cheryl’s ankle being tender and the tour was excellent and meant we could see many of the places we wanted to without too much walking.

We also decided to get some laundry done which, in theory, should have been straight forward.  Not so, as we hadn’t factored in that our 3 day stay included a Sunday when the laundry was closed.  We had no choice on but to pay extra for an express wash which was to be collected Saturday.  Hardly express as it took until 7.30pm so we picked up the laundry en route to dinner.  Only when we got back to the hotel did we realise that they lost a pair of Cheryl’s trousers and a long sleeved t-shirt.  Not good, we were leaving early on Monday to travel on to Uxmal.  A few WhatsApp messages later and they had found the t-shirt which was delivered to our hotel but no sign of the trousers.  We travel light, and we are headed for a very cold climate in the mountains so losing these trousers was a disaster.  We kept in touch via WhatsApp, asking them to keep looking.   

On our final evening we decided to return to the restaurant with the fabulous view and both have the camerone al coco plus margaritas of course.  Despite the fact that they are just shrimp they are incredibly filling but then they were huge and you do get 5.  Restaurant boss was so pleased to see us again he gave us a free margarita each which probably wasn’t a good idea but then it would have hurt his feelings if we said no.

Did we mention logistics have been a bit tricky?  We needed to book the special train journey in the mountains we had planned in a few weeks time which was to be the highlight of our trip.  Given the uncertainty over Covid possibly stopping things we had been reluctant to book it too early as it couldn’t be cancelled.  Despite being one of the top railway joorneys in the world (featured on Bill Nighy’s programmes) we’ve had to work hard on the research about the train as up to date information has been hard to find.  Eventually we worked out the limited winter schedule and what trains we were allowed to book as tourists.  Tickets were available online, we were going to splurge and go first class but there was no availability.  Business class was there so we selected the two journeys we needed and went to pay.  That’s when Cheryl had another tantrum as there was nowhere to input address details and so the card failed……AGAIN!!!!!!!     ARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

Eventually, through pleading with the online chat facility, we were able to get the tickets reserved and an invoice emailed to us which we then had 5 days to pay in person using cash at a Banamex bank branch using the payment details provided.  OK it was a lifeline, but with our limited Spanish, our onward travel plans and the fact that all Mexican banks seem to have a mile long queue outside this was going to be difficult.

We loved Campeche and wished we had planned a longer stay.  We took the bus back to Merida to change bus to go to Uxmal, another ancient Mayan site.  When we got to Merida we stocked up with beer and stuff as the area we were going to stay in near the ruins was another tourist trap with limited options for eating and no local shops at all. The onward journey by second class bus meant a wait for around 2 hours and would take about 2 hours.  We decided to see what a taxi would cost, first guy said 800peso (about £30), the second guy 1000peso and then a third guy gave us a price of 600peso. (about £24).  We accepted and settled down for a comfortable drive of just over an hour to our next hotel.

Uxmal is quite a difficult archaeological site to visit.  You have three options, an organised tour which is expensive and too rushed, or you stay in nearby towns and pay for a taxi, or you stay in the few overpriced resorts near to the entrance.  Cheryl picked up from reviews that a couple of the resorts are owned by the same company and that if you booked into the cheaper one, due to Covid they weren’t using it and there was a strong chance you would be upgraded to the more expensive one.  The gamble paid off and we received a message confirming the upgrade to the ‘posh place’ which charges £150/night.  We had a beautiful room overlooking the pool with a huge jacuzzi tub in the bathroom.

We had dinner in the expensive but very good restaurant and the margaritas were excellent.  A small tour group arrived and sat in the main restaurant area, and their guide set up a projector for his lecture.  We were actually sat outside eating on the terrace but we could hear every single word of the talk.  He was American, so he was very loud and, oh boy, was he so bloody boring!  It was all about the ‘Math’.  A lot of ancient civilisations used the same mathematical proportions when constructing their buildings, and there was a magic ratio of 1 to 1.68, blah blah, square root of two, blah blah, and on and on he went.  There was another couple on a table close to us and we all got the giggles as the serious lecture continued.  Eventually when the lecture ended the couple joined us for a chat and a few jokes about the dreary lecture. He was an 84-year-old American and his wife was Mexican, and we had a very interesting chat about their life in Mexico.

Our included breakfast next morning was an amazing feast and entrance to the site was a massive 2 minute walk from our room!  The site itself was excellent with hardly anybody around which is pretty much what we had read.  When we went to Chichen Itza we were queuing for the 8am opening along with the rest of Mexico.  Here, we sauntered across around 8.30 and walked straight in.  Serene, well preserved without being OTT and we left about 11am to cool off before coming back at around 3.30pm when the whole place was even quieter.  It was so peaceful, we saw more iguanas basking in the sun than tourists. We had 2 nights enjoying this very tranquil place before taking a taxi back to Merida Airport for our onward flight to Guadalajara. 

Meanwhile, staying in touch with the laundry the naughty trousers turned up and they said they would send them to our hotel.  We explained we had moved on and gave them the address in Guadalajara but we weren’t confident we would see them again.

The bus journey to Merida was hassle free and it was about a 10 minute walk to the Hotel Doralba.  We soon realised that being close to a bus station also meant it wasn’t the best area to be in – chaotic streets full of grimy industrial and commercial premises and lots of stands for the local buses and shared vans known locally as ‘collectivos’.  It was once very grand hotel with a peaceful lovely internal courtyard where we ate breakfast.  That was about it.  It was cheap, the room was functional and needed a makeover, the staff were cheerful and helpful but we wouldn’t stay again.  On the positive side, it was just a 5 minute walk to the central plaza with the cathedral and evening entertainment including a sound a light show which, sadly, we only caught the last few minutes.

Merida is a large, wealthy city and It is quite touristy which was reflected in the restaurant prices near the central Plaza.  We took a walk a few streets away and found a place that was deserted but was in a sublime courtyard with all sorts of greenery.  Mmmm, should we risk it?  We did and they served us the best margarita that we have had to date.  The food too was pretty good.  When we got back to the hotel we looked it up and found that almost all the other reviewers said the same, ‘spookily quiet but with awesome margaritas’.  Not wishing to eat at the touristy end we ate there for 3 nights and we were not disappointed.

Our first full day we got up early and caught the 8am bus to Celestun.  It was a painfully slow and very dull 2.5hr journey.  We got off the bus on the bridge before the main town to walk to a jetty to take a boat.  The boats seat 6 so we teamed up with 3 German girls to share the cost. The journey might have been dull but the reason for the trip made it all worthwhile – Pink Flamingos wading, eating, chatting and flying.  Wow, absolutely stunning and the same journey back just seemed to fly by.

A couple of days later we set off to a small town called Izamal, a ‘Pueblo Magico’.  It has been awarded this status as it has retained its original architecture and the tradition of painting its buildings yellow.  This time the bus journey was only just over an hour.  We walked 15 minutes to the hotel to find it locked and a French couple also waiting.  We knocked but no answer.  We sat on the doorstep and waited for 30 minutes and then a guy arrived in a car to say the hotel had closed due to Covid.  We were invited to get in his car and with the French couple following in their hire car, he took us to Hotel Tuul.

It was a relief when we saw they had our names and booking arrangements at reception – phew, it hadn’t been a scam!  We checked in, paid exactly what we should have paid the Hotel Hacienda Izamal, however it was a considerable step down from the King suite with balcony we had booked.  The room was large with a king bed but it was sparsely decorated and very dark.  Hey ho, we could have been sleeping in the street so we went along with it but raised a complaint with Booking.com.  After a lot of angry emails we eventually got a £20 refund which was about the cost of one nights stay so we’re happy. 

We loved Izamal.  It was indeed very yellow with only a few rogue buildings on the outskirts daring to use anything but the mellow shade.  It was also extremely peaceful and quiet with the trademark pretty Plaza dominated by the striking yellow walls of the convent above. Sleepy, extremely picturesque, some interesting ruins and excellent places to eat. We wished we had planned to stay longer.

Then it was back to Merida to stay in La Pantera Negra which was basically a very small and quirky boutique B&B.  Jean-Pierre, obviously French, and his wife Gina, Mexican, welcomed us and showed us to our room.  The whole place had amazing art and sculptures everywhere, it was very interesting. 

As this was a small place and we knew that breakfast was served on a large communal rooftop terrace we had been looking forward to meeting other travellers and swapping travel tips.  Unfortunately we were the only ones in the place but it turned out well as  J-P loved to chat and he was a fountain of knowledge on all things Mexican and much more besides.  We spent the next couple of days exploring the city and eating dinner in our favourite quiet restaurant and drinking fabulous margaritas – too many for Cheryl on one particular evening!

We mentioned before that we were finding logistics a bit tricky as online info on transport options has been difficult to find.  For buses we now rely on the basic info in Lonely Planet and Rough Guide even though they are a few years out of date.  Knowing which bus company goes from what station (most cities have at least 4) helps as well as knowing which bus company (sometimes more than 6) goes to your destination also helps.  This info is a guide only as we then have to go to the station in person to queue up to find out the times, duration and class of bus actually available and then purchase a ticket, or get all the options and make a decision later. Simple!  Oh, and add to that the fact that we don’t speak Spanish!  Thanks Google Translate and the top tip to get to the ticket window with the day, date and destination of travel all written down clearly to avoid any misunderstandings.

Using our newly honed technique we successfully purchased our first class onward travel to another Pueblo Magico, Campeche.  Feeling smug with our bus success we thought buying flights to Guadalahara would be a breeze as that was a tried and tested online process internationally.  Another meltdown ensued when we had to enter the address details needed for the security check as it was clearly not set up for Brits – we don’t have a max 6 digit Zipcode, and our state was not recognised – Arrrrggggghhhh! Cheryl tried using the first 6 digits of our 7 digit postcode and using UK as the state – PAYMENT FAILED.  Tried another card – PAYMENT FAILED.  We needed to fly as the alternative by bus would involve a change of bus in Mexico City and take 30 bum numbing hours to complete.  Cheryl had a tantrum about why was everything being so bl**dy difficult so Neil took over and tried again.  This time – PAYMENT CONFIRMED – hurrah!  We jumped around the room as if we had won the lottery.  So – how did he do it?  By simply having his name details correct when he set up his online account for the flight company Volaris.  Neil had also helpfully set up Cheryl’s account earlier but had put in her first name incorrectly as he thought they need both first and middle as shown in your passport.  She saw the funny side…………eventually.

The plush bus to Valladolid left bang on time from the ADO terminal in Cancun.  It was a pleasant way to travel, albeit the scenery was very dull once we left the city limits as the highway was flanked by dense trees pretty much along its entire length.

Two hours later we reached the town of Valladolid which was to be our base for visiting the ruins at Ek Balaam.  What a contrast to the blandness of Cancun.  This place had lots of old colonial town charm, with quiet streets, old churches and convents, and a large attractive plaza filled with trees and benches in the centre of town. 

Our accommodation was in a very small guest house, Casa Palagui Colonial, a short walk from the centre.  The room was more like a small apartment with an adequate kitchen and dining area, however its outstanding feature was that it was crammed with Mexican kitsch and everything was covered in flower themed decoration including a matching toilet seat, cistern and toilet roll cover!  We also had our own table and seats on the covered area facing the beautiful garden where an enormous breakfast was served each morning.

Our hosts, Alan and his mum and dad, recommended a restaurant which was so good we ate there for all 3 nights of our stay.  It was in a lovely large garden at the back of a small museum so we doubted we would have found it by ourselves.  The food was fantastic but the added bonus was discovering the excellent Margaritas with chilli and salt rimmed glasses for just 79 pesos (approx. £2.80).

The ruins at Ek Balaam were a half hour taxi ride away and made a pleasant afternoon trip.  The site is surrounded by trees and wilderness so is relatively calm and peaceful and you can climb up to the top of the main pyramid, something which is not possible at most other sites.  It looked an easy climb but it was incredibly steep coming down!

On our last night just before we set off for dinner, Yolande from Holland checked into the room next door.  We realised later that night that we should have asked if she wanted to join us rather than eat on her own.  We shouldn’t have worried at all as it turned out that she had already arranged to meet Frank from Canada using Tinder for her dinner date in town!  Her sightseeing the next day was a cycle tour with Frank and the next day would be a visit to Chichen Itza as he had a motorbike.  As Yolande cheerfully said, it’s company while I’m travelling and there’s no commitment.  The best bit?  She was 50 and loving her independent life as her well paid freelance job allowed her to take plenty of time off for travel.

Next morning it was back to the bus station to take a second class bus to Piste, the small town near to Chichen Itza.  Second class buses are air conditioned, clean & comfortable but don’t have an on board toilet or assigned bookable seats.  They also tend to stop in most villages along the way so are generally a slower way to travel. 2-3hrs on second class is about the maximum providing you don’t drink too much water – not a good idea to get to your destination desperate for a pee and not knowing where the nearest loo is.

We checked into Casa de la Luna and our first impressions weren’t great.  Piste is a small village whose primary purpose is to service the tourists who stay the night in order to hit the site early and avoid the arrival of the tour bus hordes.  We booked a balance between price and facilities knowing that whatever we booked, cheap or pricey, it wouldn’t be great.  It grew on us very quickly, the room was comfortable with a very large bed but it didn’t have a fridge.  ‘Oh dear, how was Neil going to keep his beer cold’?  No problem, there was an 24×7 OXXO (convenience store) right next door, perfect.

We came here to visit Chichen Itza, a large Mayan archaeological site, which was just a 25 minute walk away.  Later in the afternoon we took the walk to the visitor centre and entrance to find out where to get tickets so we could be near the front of the queue when the site opened at 8am next morning.  Job done, beer o’clock then next door to the hotel with a large pizza oven and not bad margaritas.  Pizza wouldn’t have been our first choice but as this was touristville we thought that something straight out of an oven was going to be safe to eat.  It was enormous but not bad after we asked for it to go back in the oven for a second time to get it crispy.

Early next morning we set off for Chichen Itza.  Mission accomplished – at 7.30am we were second in the queue behind a tour guide who was there to get tickets for his punters.  We bought some packaged cheese & ham sandwiches from the OXXO for breakfast and thought we would eat them in the park.  Tickets in hand we lined up for the temperature check and turnstiles only to be turned away after the bag check – Na, no food allowed!  So having been front of the queue we now had to quickly scoff the butties before they would let us in.  Casa de la Luna didn’t offer breakfast but provided free coffee and cake for those wanting to get to the park early so we took our cake with the same idea of eating it later the park.  Neil had the crafty idea of hiding the cake under his hat and strolled back through the turnstiles so we could get into the park asap!

It is a big site with so many things to see but the main focus is a huge pyramid.  There are lots of other ruins, a plaza where you could imagine small businesses trading and haggling for fruit, vegetable and meat plus a humungous ball court which is a feature of most Mayan sites.  Here a ball game between 2 teams was played, without the use of hands, just any other part of the anatomy, with the idea of scoring ‘goals’ through a stone hoop 5m’sh in the air.  Now the best bit, the losing captain and possibly his team were sacrificed, probably by decapitation.  Not quite Quidditch but the end result far more interesting!

As we discovered strolling through the site and looking at the various buildings and platforms, the Mayans were a blood thirsty lot and regularly carried out human sacrifices, probably to keep the minions in order.  There were several depictions of Jaguars and Eagles feasting on human hearts and lots of skulls adorning the platforms.  

We left about 11.30am just as the tour buses were arriving and it was starting to get busy and hot.  Sightseeing done we walked back to the accommodation via OXXO for a cold beer.  That evening we decided on pizza again this time showing the waiter that we wanted it ‘casi incinerado’.  It worked, almost cremated gave us a delicious and enormous pizza which we could only manage to eat about a third.  The waiter provided some foil, so we took the rest and split it between breakfast before boarding the bus to Merida, and lunch on the bus.  We love it when a plan comes together.

After a bit of a gamble the South West Train from Axminster to London worked very well.  It’s reputation for being dirty and not too punctual was proven wrong.  As they say, don’t always believe what you hear or read.  Glyn kindly drove us to Axminster station which was quaint and quiet.  The train was on time, clean and the decision to upgrade to 1^st Class for an extra £10 was worth it as we got nice large comfy seats and the compartment was virtually empty. 

The scenery through Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and Surrey was beautiful.  On arrival into Waterloo, due to Covid we decided not to use the tube and jumped straight into a taxi instead.  It was worth it making the journey so much quicker and with absolutely no hassle, 15 minutes from station to door.  We spent the evening with Alex and Freddy, admiring their newly remodelled house.  It’s taken nearly a year to complete and their townhouse is almost 40% bigger than before including a very cleverly designed utility which reclaims the space they own under the pavement at basement level in front of the house. 

After dinner the boys were busy packing as they were off to Canada next day to meet with their surrogate, Winter, for the first time.  We joined them on the journey to Gatwick and spent the night in The Premier Inn before flying out early the following morning to Cancun.  11hrs on a plane is not something to look forward to but hey, it was more than passable after the welcome bubbly, food and the odd glass of grape juice followed by a sleep on the flatbed.  It felt great to be travelling again after 2 years.

We hate the overpriced taxis at airports and Cancun was no exception.  A little hard bargaining later and we were on our way, and with our lack of Spanish, we certainly needed the help of our friendly driver, who even called the owner of our accommodation to check we were in the right place. This apartment, North of the City was only available for 3 nights as we had booked it in a hurry as the plans for Mexico were only just taking shape when we left.  It turned out to be just fine, a little dated but well equipped and right on the sea front with a beautiful view across The Caribbean Sea.

It was lovely to sit on the balcony and watch the Pelicans, Guillemots and the ever graceful Frigate birds.  We also had a distant view of the downtown mega hotel strip.  Our stay was marred to some extent by the very loud Americans and Canadians that congregated around the pool area during the day.  They generally don’t have a volume control which was annoying but it can also prove to be amusing.  You get to hear every word of the endless banal conversations with people interjecting because no one is really listening and everybody has something to say. If only they had something interesting to say! None of the conversations had any substance, just ‘all about me’! 

The most annoying character seemed to have crossed the barrier with his cohorts at one point as the next day he sat by himself for an hour or two just gazing out to sea.  To our amusement he hadn’t put on any sun cream and the following day he looked just like a Red Panda with white eyes and a very red face – karma and natural justice spring to mind!

Being far from the centre, food options were limited.  We were close to a public beach and the beachfront restaurants were tourist traps with unexciting food and pricey drinks.  The service on one night was so bad we left before ordering and our only other option was a dinner of processed fast food snacks from the local Oxxo convenience store!

We moved on to Malecon Suites which were central to the city.  The plan here was to have a comfortable apartment for a few more days to allow us to finish our travel plans as the logistics were proving tricky to work out.  There was access into the shopping mall with supermarket underneath the complex.  We had a large kitchen, dining and sitting area and a huge balcony with what looked on the booking site as an incredible outlook across the lagoon.  Well, it would have done 10 years earlier when the photographs were taken!   Since then, 2 more blocks have been erected, one for offices and the other was a building site with an unfinished tower for apartments.  There were also some very noisy bars and restaurants and a busy main road. Whilst it wasn’t the end of the world it was just disappointing.  

The planning went well, we managed to get to the bus station to book a first class bus to Valladolid despite having minimal Spanish, and generally enjoyed the luxury of the apartment.  As Covid rates are climbing here in Mexico, and Cancun was one of the worst hit areas, we chose to avoid restaurants and instead catered in.  Not a bad idea either as it meant we could get plenty of salad and fruit to hopefully make up for the excesses to come as we set about our real travelling. 

The weather was good, mostly sunny days and temperatures hovering around 30 degrees.  We enjoyed sitting on the enormous balcony looking at our partial view across the huge lagoon which separates the town from the Hotel Strip.  One afternoon we took a long walk through the a large open area between the main road and the Malecon, which means boardwalk, which ran along the town side of the lagoon.  It looked as if there had been major spend on the road infrastructure.  A huge waterfront area without a single hotel, shop, bar or restaurant – just roads, paving & attractive planting.  The expensive all-inclusive holiday hotels with beachfront access were a fair distance away across the lagoon and completely isolated from the town.  Cancun was not our kind of place but it made a useful first stop to get over the jet lag, finish the planning and settle into Mexico.

Next stop Valladolid.