Topolobampo: Copper Canyon by Train
From the tour brochure: “The Copper Canyon Train is a notch in the belt of serious travelers, and the canyon itself is legendary for its breathtaking scenery and stunning landforms. Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. However, it's essential that you bring your spirit of adventure. This is not a typical train ride in any sense. Your approximately six-hour journey (each way) will wind through tunnels and over bridges as you climb from sea level to 7,200 feet.”
According to the brochure, it is essential that we bring our spirit of adventure, and that was certainly true. Originally, we were supposed to get into Topolobampo around 5:00 AM and assemble for our tour at 5:10. But there was a change in schedule and, although we would still dock around 5, we didn’t have to meet our tour until 6:10. It was nice getting to have a little bit extra sleep, and we didn’t have to get to the buffet quite as early. So, after eating, we met the rest of our tour in the Stardust Lounge, and then proceeded to the gangway to head for the buses. We had been given stickers with numbers (1-3) and letters (A-B), which indicated which bus (1-3) we were to board and (later) which train car (A-B) we would ride in. So, Craig and I were on bus 3 for the 1-1/2 – 2 hour bus ride from the pier to El Fuerte, where we would catch the train. From Topolobampo, we drove through Los Mochis, and finally arrived at El Fuerte and at the Chihuahua al Pacifico (Chepe) train. We really didn’t see much of the countryside on the drive since it was still very dark outside. As we board car B (since w had a B on our sticker), we look for a seat on the right side (we were told that this was the side to sit on to see the canyon – the other side just looks at the hillside).
We settled into our seats and soon the train pulled away from the station. The view out windows was still pretty dark because of the rain (left over from Tropical Storm Olaf), but it wasn’t raining too hard so we could see the surrounding countryside. And even with the rain and gloom, it was still stunning. According to one of the guides who had been working on the Chepe for 27 years, this was the highest the river had ever been that he could remember. And the other guide said that in his 8 years doing Copper Canyon tours, he had never seen this amount of rain at one time. But what’s a little rain to a Seattleite, right?
We sped along, going over bridges and through tunnels, when all of a sudden, we came to a halt. And here we sat. We could get up and walk around, and the platform between our two cars had open windows so we could stick our heads out and take pictures without glass to obscure the pictures. After about 20 minutes, our guide came and told us what was going on. It seems that we have a small truck that rides the tracks ahead of us, looking for anything that may be a problem on the track. And they had found a small rockslide and were busy clearing the track. After about an hour, the train slowly began to move again and we were on our way.
But, within about half an hour, the train stopped again. But this time it was to pick up a group of soldiers that had been camping along the tracks. We were reminded that the Chepe was a passenger train, not a tourist train, and when there were passengers wanting to ride the train, we had to pick them up. The Chepe, in fact, is the last passenger train in Mexico, and takes a couple of extra cars when there is a tour going up to the Copper Canyon. The soldiers climbed onto the engine (there was a platform and a rail around the platform for them to sit/stand on), and we were off again. The rest of the trip up to the canyon was pretty uneventful, and we stopped at a couple more towns before we got to where we boarded school buses up to the lower rim. At one of the towns, the ladies and children come running to the train with the pine needle baskets that they had made, hoping to find someone on the train willing to buy one or two (or even more) of their baskets. I bought two baskets ($3 each) and later wished I had bought more – they were beautiful and smelled wonderful, all piney inside.
We were supposed to get to the lower rim around 2:00 PM, but we finally boarded the buses to head to the lower rim around 4:45 PM. We were told we would have about 30 minutes at the lower rim for pictures and the chance to buy more baskets and blankets. I headed for the canyon overlook and Craig wandered around, looking at the baskets and other items the ladies were selling. The rain had stopped and the sun had even come out, making the canyon gorgeous to see. We had been at the lower rim for only about 5 minutes when our guide came and said we had to get back on the buses right away and go up to the restaurant at the upper rim for our dinner. People were very disappointed but still took their time to make one last purchase before, grumbling, they boarded the bus.
We got up to the upper rim and were ushered into the restaurant where we were served our chicken, fish, rice, and salad dinner. We finished most of our dinner and decided to go out on the balcony to get more pictures of the canyon. It was a good thing because, although we thought we would have about 45 minutes to an hour, our guide soon came and said that the cruise lines was concerned for our safety. The rain had started again and there was concern that the railroad would not be safe to travel on. People really started grumbling this time since most had barely had time to finish dinner, and we didn’t get to see any of the native dancers. But they didn’t seem to be concerned with dangerous the track conditions just might be. Craig and I appreciated the concern, though, and headed back to the bus and to the train.
We boarded the train and headed back down to El Fuerte at around 6:00 PM. Normally, we should have gotten back to the ship sometime around 2:00 AM, but we were told it would take a lot longer because of the track conditions and the rain. Not to worry, though. Since we had booked this trip on the ship, the ship would wait for us to get back before leaving Topolobampo. Sure enough, the train went extra slow and had to frequently stop, often backing up before continuing forward. Our longest stop was for about 35 minutes. And by now, it was quite dark outside. We tried to sleep, but the seats weren’t really comfortable enough to sleep for more than about 15 minutes at a time. Finally, at around 3:00 AM, the train arrived at El Fuerte and we got onto the buses (fortunately, these were the big tour buses, not the quite uncomfortable school buses) for the hour and a half ride back to the ship. At 4:30, nearly 22 hours after our adventure had begun, we walked up the gangway (and were greeted by all the crew who came out to welcome us back) and headed to our cabin where we could get at least a few hours of sleep before we had to get up and get ready to head out on another tour in another port.
The Copper Canyon train going over one of the 30+ bridges:
One of the ladies selling her baskets:
Craig and Cathy with Copper Canyon behind them:
Check out the rest of my blogs about our cruise:
- Our Mexican Riviera cruise: Impressions of the ship
- La Paz (Pichilingue): Artisans of La Paz
- Mazatlan: Sierra Madre Country Tour
- Puerto Vallarta: Town, Country & Tequila
- Cabo San Lucas: On our own
Labels: Copper Canyon, cruise, Mexican Riviera, Topolobampo, vacation
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