Into Mexico

El Centro Casas Grandes

Lee with a friend for Paco

Typical street scape in Casas Grandes

Looking relaxed in Cabanas el Prado in Madera, Chihuahua

Once again relaxing in the hotel in Creel

Day 4 - Silver City to Nuevo Casas Grandes

After our complimentary breakfast at the Palace Hotel in Sliver City we headed for Columbus, NM and the border crossing into the Mexican town of Las Palomas.

The crossing was uneventful. All needed facilities are at the crossing. There are “assistants’ at the crossing who help by pointing out the various offices, immigration, customs, etc. These offices are not easy to recognize. The process was made smoother by heeding occasional suggestions from our “assistant”. First we obtained our travel visa from the “migracion” office, then obtained copies of the visa, drivers licence, vehicle registration, and passport. We took these copies to the customs office (aduana) and received our vehicle permit. That’s it! A small tip for the assistant and we were on our way.

The vehicle permit cost 316 pesos (payable by Visa on receipt) and the visa cost 237 pesos (payable at any bank) The exchange rate is approximately 10 pesos to the dollar.

We arrived in Nuevo Casas Grandes about 3 pm, found Hotel Pinon, unpacked and went for a walk around town. Even off the bikes we stood out in the crowd. It seemed like we were the only tourists in town. We received lots of smiles and waves.. or perhaps they were laughing . Either way we smilled and waved back. Supper was tacos in a local outside restaurant. We tried the beef tacos and also the scrimp. Both were very good.

Tomorrow we plan the see the nearby ruins (Paquime) and then ride to Madera.


Day 5 – Nuevo Casas Grandes to Madera

After breakfast “Dennis’ Restaurante” we packed up and set course for Paquime, the ruins. In order to get to Paquime one has to go through the old town of Casas Grandes. The old town is much nicer than the new one (Nuevo). Beautiful old world charm in el centro. We stopped to take a few photos. The ruins of Paquime are what is left of a town that was abandoned some 700 years ago. It is believed that it was attacked by the Apache indians in 1340 and unearthed in the mid 20th century.

We headed south from Nuevo Casas Grandes across fairly flat farm land (They grow Pecans in this area) and stopped for lunch in Buenaventura. We stopped at a roadside cafe. A typical concrete flat roof building. In Canada or the USA you would not even consider slowing down let alone stopping to eat a place that looked like this. But this is Mexico and Mexico is the land of contradictions. The inside of the restaurant was clean and bright , the owners friendly and the food great!

Leaving Buenaventura we left the plains and into the Sierra Madre range. Leaving the semi-arid farmland behind, we climbed into pine forest on a nice winding, well maintained road to the town of Madera. We discovered that the word “Madera” in Spanish mean “lumber”. Madera is not a tourist destination but there are several hotels. The one we chose was one of the cheapest. Lee convinced me to check it out and once again we were surprised. Despite the rough look, the room, with private bath, is clean and well maintained. $200 pesos and the owners served us dinner (with beer) for another $130. If at times you are not outside your comfort zone, it’s not an adventure. {Note to Dave: Dave this is your kind of place!}

Tomorrow we are off to Creel, gateway to the Copper Canyon.

Day 6 – Madera to Creel

After a great breakfast of honest to goodness huevos rancheros we packed up and said our goodbyes to our hostess at Cabanas el Prado. She came right out to the street to wave adios .
The route today took us through a mix of high plains farmland and pine forests as we gradually gained elevation. There was strong wind out blowing of the west that tossed us around a bit and churned up some dust. The temperature is not about 16 or 17C here in Creel. I used my heated jacket at times on this leg.

We arrived in Creel around 1:45 and followed the signs to el centro. We parked by the railway station and reached for the Lonely Planet guide book. As luck would have it we were parked 20 metres from the hotel we selected. After setting in the Korachi Hotel it’s time to explore the town and find an internet connection.

Tomorrow we will ride down to Batopilas and overnight there. It a 2000 metre descent on a single lane dirt road. We plan to return to the highway the next day and make our way south towards Durango.

It might be a few days before we can get another internet connection.