A false start to our train ride through the Copper Canyon…

We left Baja California Sur to head for the Mexican mainland via a long and boring ferry ride (during which we watched 3 films!). Once on the mainland we had a quick overnight in Los Mochis (an industrial city), and headed by bus to the small town of El Fuerte to start our train journey through the Copper Canyon. 

The Cooper Canyon is in the North of Mexico - proper cowboy territory. It’s twice the depth of the Grand Canyon and four times bigger. The trip through the canyon promises cliff-top vistas, towering moutains and the fascinating culture of the native Raramuri people. 

The train ride is hailed to be epic - 656km of track, 37 bridges, and 86 tunnels. It took more than 60 years to build, and climbs from sea level up to 2240m. In total, the train ride takes around 9 hours - though there are lots of stops along the way to get out and explore the canyon. 

There are two trains that you can take, each running just a few days a week - the local Chepe Regional which is primarily a cargo train for locals, and the tourist Chepe Express (complete with air con and a dining car). As we love to meet local people and experience their culture (and get a chance to practice Spanish) we decided to take the Chepe Regional, which runs 2 days a week and is a third of the cost of the tourist Chepe. You can’t buy tickets in advance - you have to buy them on the train. 

We stayed in El Fuerte for 2 nights, and prepared for the trip with lots of snacks (there are few shops along the canyon), clean washing, and a good nights sleep. We got up early Thursday morning to catch a ride to the station to wait for the train due to arrive at 8am. There were lots of locals also waiting for the train, and we were very excited to start our trip!
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1PWpuEEK0mENAnBGJzcoIBUks6SnwSe12https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1XV2rfb9F_TqHuiRj7OS-pH5Y210UQatV

Our train arrived on time and we enjoyed watching it pull into the station.
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1FAP8-uY4yFz6xLdaLo4OMmzh9e_UHgwl
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1OMPhJgkveQ530cCfz6XXFBgA139PXXQR
We noticed that instead of the doors to the carriages being opened, they were all shut with guards standing there. We approached the guards who told us we couldn’t get on - it took a while with my broken Spanish and the noise of the station to realise that the train was already full (having started the journey in Los Mochis), and that no one was being allowed to board. Eventually after much discussion and pleading, the train left without us (and everyone else on the station), and we were very disappointed and also now stranded at the station in the middle of nowhere. 

We have realised during our trip so far that Mexican systems are not so organised or easy to understand (for the locals too!), but we’ve been constantly surprised and grateful for the kindness of the Mexican people, including the day we couldn’t get on the train. A lady who lived opposite the station could see we were stranded and offered to call us a taxi, and our hostel owner let us stay another night and even called the ticket office to find out what happened and help us book tickets for the next day. 

We made it back to town in El Fuerte, and as the Chepe Regional wasn’t due to run again for 3 days, we decided to take the more expensive Chepe Express the following morning. Though we felt a bit flat and deflated, we enjoyed spending the extra day in El Fuerte relaxing, drinking coffee and making friends with the locals! 
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1qHFGmsPgKqzyifu6ATNNJhT7L68iFSlC
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1gMLWM0HxhF7b7VzcKHO8J8AIfpakTuMLhttps://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1F1mXbEqsiZNjXmp92ag1-aPURrq493skhttps://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1M6xYQc1ZfmmMv4AsTmDoddC_YElkSNtt
Spoiler alert: the next day we managed to board the Chepe Express and make a start on our journey into the Copper Canyon!
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1y2Q2cHzK7bzXDfTQ3sK7xsIPQyCGUi1_
  

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