Choo-Choo!
- Feb 13, 2019
- 8 min read
I've always wanted to travel by train. My dad always talks about when he was a little boy traveling by train to go to visit papá Lupe and mamá Lupe (my great-grandparents) in a little ranch called El Conde in Nayarit, Mexico. He remembers how it would take (I think) like one or two days to get there. My grandma, uncles, aunts, and dad would hop off the train right at the entrance of El Conde. And I remember the first time I found out that they would travel by train I got all excited and wanted to do the same thing!
So one day I was chismeando (being nosy) on Facebook and came across a video of a beautiful scenery and it was taken off a train. When I read the description it said it was in Mexico! I got sooo excited and shared the video to be able to look back at it. Next thing you know one of my friends told me she also wanted to go on it so we bought our tickets once Volaris came out with good deals!
This train takes you through the copper canyons in Mexico. It passes through the states of Sinaloa, Sonora, and Chihuahua.
There are two ways to get on this train: in Chihuahua, Chihuahua or in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. As always, I did my research and learned that during the winter time it's best to start off in Los Mochis so that you get to see the beautiful scenery before the sun goes down.
Our first stop was Los Mochis, Sinaloa. Everyone was worried about me traveling to Sinaloa, because it's said to be a dangerous state due to narcos and all that "bad stuff". My dad even told me to stay in the hotel and to only come out to eat (LOL). Little did he know I rented an Airbnb (per-usual) and was excited to explore.
We arrived to Los Mochis around 2 pm and got a taxi to our Airbnb. Our small studio apartment was in downtown close to restaurants which was perfect! Here's the link in case you're interested: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20244945?guests=1&adults=1
Where to Eat in Los Mochis:
Restaurant La Pura Calidad
OMG! I had the BEST aguachile I have ever eaten in my life! I swear, the shrimp would LITERALLY melt in my mouth! The salsa was the perfect spice and there were no excess veggies on the side. If you go here, please please please order the aguachile! Everything from this restaurant was delicious. Even the tamarindo flavored michelada.
Another must try is eating a "chorreada" at any street taco place. It's a thick tortilla (gordita) with meat (you pick the type of meat you eat), cheese, onion, cabbage, and of course salsa. It was so big that my friend and I regretted ordering one each!
What to do/ activities:
Los Mochis is very small. We asked a few Uber drivers what we could do and many didn't know what to say. So we literally went to the viewpoint of the town, to a restaurant to have a beer, and the movies. One suggestion we had but didn't make it to was Parque Sinaloa.
El Mirador allows you to see the whole town. It was windy (which was beneficial for my picture) but it was a pretty view! We noticed that it's a place where young adults and teenagers go and hang-out listening to music from their cars and drink beer. It reminded me much of when I visit my cousins in Mexico and we do the same thing. It's also a place where people of all ages do exercise!
Ok now for the good part... The actual train ride!
There are two trains: Regional and Express. The difference is that the express train is more "fancy" than the regional. It's fancier as in it has nicer seats and a nicer restaurant area. Also, the express is faster because it makes fewer stops than the regional train. That's it!
We chose the regional trains because it's cheaper. Both trains leave at 6 am. It's a good idea to buy your ticket beforehand so that you aren't rushed to get there extra early to buy a ticket. There are no online payments, so you have to call to book your train or have your hotel or tour (I'll get to that in a bit) help you out with that.
The seats were very comfortable! It had a very good amount of space between the seats in front of you (unlike airplanes). You can walk back and forth if you'd like and even go outside where the connection from one wagon to another to look outside and get some fresh air. There's a dining area in which they sell food and beverages. My friend and I had a few meals and beers on our train ride. The food is different on each train, a little pricey, and not that great. They warn people that no outside food and drinks are allowed on the train but we immediately realized that a lot of people do take snacks on their trip!
Okay so surprisingly I got asked how the restrooms were by a few people. So I do want to mention that the restrooms were bigger than airplane ones. Funny part was that every time I used the restroom I felt like I was drunk because the train kept on moving and I had to find balance LOL.
The scenery in Sinaloa was beautiful! I didn't even want to take naps because I was scared of not being able to see it all! I took a few naps but when I would wake up I would see such beautiful scenery.
The regional train sometimes has to stop due to allowing other trains (i.e. cargo trains) to pass by. So FYI you might not make it to a destination right at the time the schedule says it's going to arrive. When we hopped on the train in Creel the train was 1.5 hours late due to a stop it had made.
Funny story, my friend and I made friends with a tourist guy who invited us to join his group of 20 people (19 women and 1 man). At first we were hesitant because our loved ones of course had warned us on being careful, but we decided that everything happens for a reason so we joined him. AND LET ME TELL YA IT WAS THE BEST DECISION EVER. I always always have a plan to wherever I travel to but on this trip I let my friend do all the planning. We were supposed to stay in Posadas Barrancas one night and take a bus to Creel the following day and our new friend told us that there was absolutely nothing to do in Posadas which is why we ended up joining him!
First stop: Divisadero/Posadas Barrancas
We got off in Divisadero and went straight to Barrancas del Cobre which is a viewpoint where you could see the canyons, zipline, hike, zipride, etc. Sadly, since our train had stopped for 1.5 hrs (as mentioned it stops at times) we arrived too late to do the zip lining. We were so bummed this that was one of our main activities for this trip. Anyhow, the view at this place was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L.
Second stop: Creel
This is a small town considered a pueblo mágico of Chihuahua. A pueblo mágico is a town across Mexico that offer a "magical" experience due to their natural beauty, traditions, history, cuisine, art, and culture.
We stayed at a new hotel called Villas La Quinta. It's a little hidden however it's close to the main boulevard and very centrical. We were able to walk everywhere. The hospitality was amazing. It used to be a house, however they converted it into a small hotel. The owner, Ana, was very sweet. She took my friend and I to the hotel once we arrived, took us into town, and to the train station once we were ready to hop back on. The hospitality was very "home-like". If you are planning a trip, please please book a room with her! Totally worth it!
Everything in Creel closes very early (around 9/10pm). When we arrived my friend and I wanted to have some drinks and ended up at Best Western Hotel (only place open at the time) and realized that all the tourists head there to have a few drinks. However, we were only able to have one beer, because they closed at 10:30 pm. Definitely not a party town, even though there was a bachelorette group of ladies while we were having our beer. I do recommend going to "La Gata Negra" for some coffee and live music! The owner and her husband play the guitar and sing. I forgot the owner's name, but she was also a very sweet lady!
Our full day in Creel started off at 8 am. We headed straight up a cave on the main road to Posadas where Doña Petra-an older Tarahumara lady- lives. At some point the government tried to take over her cave and she was able to gain a deed for her cave. She lives off of tourists visiting her and buying handmade arts and crafts.
Next, we went to Cascada de Cusarare. It's one of the waterfalls that Creel has. You could walk down to the actual water, but it is a hard walk going back up to the top. Totally worth it though!
After the waterfall we headed to a small church in San Ignacio where Tarahumaras go to pray on Sunday's. What was interesting was that the church doesn't have the typical church stalls for people to sit. They have a few stalls for tourists, however they are put on the sides of the church so that the Tarahumaras can do their traditional dances for their Gods.
After the church, we went to two areas where there are huge rocks. In one area the rocks look like frogs and in another area the rocks look like mushrooms.
The Tarahumara are the indigenous people from the area of Creel. They live off of their arts and crafts just like Doña Petra, so please purchase your souvenirs from them! Their children ask for money and even carry their baby siblings on their backs. An interesting point that I noticed and learned is that the men don't go out to the tourism areas. They have their wives and children "work" and ask for money while they stay at home and drink. These indigenous people don't have traditional "foods", because they are so poor that they don't have enough money to be able to cook meals. Sometimes, they go days without eating. You don't have to give the children money but please buy some souvenirs from them!
Chihuahua, Chihuahua
We arrived in Chihuahua at 11 pm on the train. There are many taxi drivers at the arrival area offering taxi rides. We took an Uber to our Airbnb only because nobody knew the area we were staying in (only 3 min from the station). Unfortunately, we arrived so late that we couldn't find something to eat!
The next morning we headed to downtown Chihuahua to walk around. There's a beautiful church and many leather stores. We weren't able to do much since we were leaving that afternoon, but we were able to walk around and sight-see.
I know this post is soo long, but everyone was asking me about my trip and I wanted to make sure I got everything down. The one thing I was really looking forward to and wasn't able to do was Ziplining in Posadas Barrancas. So if you go, please make time for it! I also recommend getting a tour guide to take you places.
I would definitely do this trip again to take advantage of the things I wasn't able to do and stay more days!
Besitos,
Victoria, TheMexiiGirl.
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