|
| Re: Copper Canyon Train
|
Posted on: Fri, 09 Apr 2004 19:07:06 -0700
|
The wife and I rode the train from Creel to El Fuente and back the last
part of March this year 2004. The time there is Mountain time and not
central which took me by surprise. The first class train leaves about
11:30 am as I remember and you get into El Fuente about 8:30pm as I
recollect. You get to see all the good scenery, no problem! The train
station at El Fuente is 7 km from town and there are some houses about a
1/4 mile away so it basically is pretty isolated. In our 70 days in
Mexico it was really the only time I wondered a bit about security.
There will be cabs there so I would suggest getting in with some others.
I heard of no problems here but it seems to make good sense not to get
into a cab by yourself. If you can get a hotel that will meet you
better yet. I believe it cost 80 peso's for the cab for the two of us.
It was 70 peso's the next morning to get back and it was the same cab
driver but I was not in a postition to negotiate the previous evening.
The first class train leaves about 8:30 am local but it is suggested you
be there a little before 8 am to be sure. Ask to be sure!!!
The second class train runs later both ways and I am convinced you would
still see the good scenery but you will get into El Fuente even later
and again there should be taxi's waiting but at this hour it would be
best if a hotel van was there to meet you. Again I have never heard of
a problem but just be aware it has the potential to be a problem. With
the first class you get back into creel about 4:30 pm as I remember and
I assume the second class would be about dark but you will have more
daylight on both ends than we did being a month later. The food and
drinks are expensive on the first class so we brought some snacks.
There are signs saying no food or drink but everybody had their water
bottles and had some bars and there seemed to be no problem. If you
have sandwiches, buy food at Divisadero I would say eat it while you are
off the train and before you get on the train. I got the impression
that you could eat it between the cars if you hurried up. I had some
food I was finishing up there and that is what I gather I was being
told. Getting back to Creel after dark would be no problem.
BTW if you get out of bed early you can get a look at El Fuente, check
out the zocolo area. The river area is nice also and about 3 blocks
from the zocolo is a lookout area and Museum which won't be open until
later.
I don't see any way possible you could take your motorcycle on the
train. I doubt very much if you could take a bicycle. You can take a
lot of luggage though, they just stack it toward the back of the car so
it might be possible to have a bicycle but motorcycle no way in my opinion.
The second class train does not have the diner and bar I am told but has
A/C and not many tourists on it but mostly locals. It is plenty good
and half price.
You can buy your tickets on board. The price seems to be pro-rated
very acurately per stop so you could for example get on the first class
train at El Fuente and buy a ticket to say Divisadero get off and spend
a couple of hours there rather than 15 minutes and get on the second
class train when it comes and buy a ticket on it to Creel.
If you have more time and "REALLY" want to see the Copper Canyon complex
I would take the second class train (or first class for more money the
first class is about $96 round trip per person as I recollect and the
second class about half of that from Creel to El Fuente) to Bahulchiva
get off and hire a van to take you to Urique. It would be best to have
this lined up with a place to stay ahead of time, I can tell you about
Batopilas but in regards to Urique we don't have the actual experience;
although at Batopilas we talked to at least 4 different people who had
been to Urique a few days earlier and 3 others that had taken a
horseback trip from Urique to Batopilas. The ride down to Urique or
Batopilas I am told is very similiar. I can vouch for the fact that the
ride to and from Batopilas is thrilling and breath taking. Anyway the
point is that there is not as many rooms in Urique so you might best
have things lined up; although as hot as it will be it probably won't be
a problem. The advantage of a private van over the bus is that if you
make arrangements before hiring they should stop a few times so you can
take pictures. If you have a fear of one lane roads, drop off's of
1000's of feet and obviously no guard rails DON'T DO IT. It will be
very hot at the bottom, probably near 100 degrees and the same is true
of El Fuente. Be sure you hotel rooms have fans!!!
The cost of the trip down and back should be less than $20 each way for
Batopilas. It should be less for Urique as it is not as long of a trip.
Ideally you would like to spend a day in either and then head out the
next morning but if it is just one over-night it would be worth it for
the scenery and a little time in town. The public bus leaves Batopilas
at 5 am. If you don't like to get up early that is another reason to
hire a private van. The main reason the bus leaves so early is to beat
the heat and to get you to Creel before the train leaves. BTW Many
people take the train on to Chihuahua. The weather at Creel should
still be very moderate and cool at night.
The most scenic part of the train ride is from Bahulchiva to about 90
minutes out of El Fuente from the Creel end or vice versa the other way.
There is also a nice view at Divisadero but you really need to get
off the train to see it.
From Creel to El Fuente you definitely want to be on the left side of
the train and coming back on the right side! It is a big deal. If you
can't then you will have to get up and try and stake out a place to
stand between cars on that side.
Sorry I have rambled some as I thought of things as I was writing. If
you have question let me know or something was not clear.
Ed
BajaBob wrote:
> I would like to take the train from Creel west to Fuente then back to Creel the next day. Can someone give me an idea of what time those trains leave and how many hours the trip takes? Mostly I want to be sure I can travel in the daylight. I'm thinking late April.
>
> Another question: Any chance it be possible to take my mororcycle on the train with me?
>
|
|
|
| |
