Day 9 – San Carlos to El Fuerte
After a last dip in the pool, we set off from San Carlos towards El Fuerte. From El Fuerte, we would catch the Chihuahua-Pacifico railway through the Copper Canyon, the most prominent geographic feature of Northern Mexico.
The route took us mostly along the coast on toll roads (always labelled “cuota” in contrast to the “libre” or free roads). We learnt a big lesson for the trip ahead: always make sure the gas station attendant resets the pump. While we sat in the car, the attendant first tried to fill us up from the pump facing us but it appeared to be broken so she brought the pump from the other side. We didn’t think anything of it but when the bill came it was $75 and 17 gallons of gas. This seemed much higher than what we were expecting given the number of kilometers we had driven since our last fill up. We weren’t positive so payed the money. Later, when we did our fuel efficiency calculation, we saw that if charged accurately we would have only gotten 10 mpg for the last 500 kilometers whereas usually we get 25 mpg. We overpayed by around $40 which was annoying but a learning experience.
Our next excitement was just after the turn off to El Fuerte from the highway. Due to a tropical depression on September 20th, part of the road had washed away. Construction workers told us that we would have to take dirt farm tracks to go around and rejoin the road further up. Viki was rather nervous about this but we proceeded along a rather hairy dirt road and made it safely to the other side.
On arrival in El Fuerte, we first drove the 6km to the train station where we thought we might sleep for the evening. It didn’t appear a safe place to leave the car for three days so we decided instead to go to a hotel in the city, planning to leave the car there. We checked in to our $15 hotel (recommended by Lonely Planet) and were told rather matter-of-factly that there was no train. The lady proceeded to explain about the great storm that had destroyed sections of the railway and that it would be out of service for the next month. We were very sad as this was the think we wanted to do most in Mexico, but have decided to try again on our drive back up north.
Day 10 – El Fuerte to Mazatlan
Today was an expensive day in tolls. In total we paid around $25 dollars but were rewarded with a smooth drive back to the coast. On arrival, we went to a hostel and negotiated a room for the next two night for $20 per night (400MXP). This was the Hostel Mazatlan, a trendy hostel with hammocks and nice rooftop terrace, really close to the Old Town of Mazatlan.
For dinner, we found a simple taqueria on the street where we had chorreados and horchata. We’re having fun trying all the variations of tortilla/meat/cheese such as tacos, quesedillas, enchiladas etc.
Day 11 – Rest day in Mazatlan
We woke up to the free breakfast in the hostel comprising of fruit, banana bread, and some coffee. Since we’ve been feeling very lazy over the last week, and with the spectre of Andrew’s mum disapproving of our laziness, we decided to run down to the beach and use the outdoor fitness equipment. We were pleased to discover that we can both still do pullups so our muscles have not yet gone completely to waste.
After a shower, we headed back out for a walk along the coast and lunched on “pescado zandareado” (a whole barbequed fish) on some tables by the beach. A relaxed afternoon followed. We read our books and chatted to a dutch couple at the hostel who had just done a three month roadtrip themselves up to Alaska in a “Wicked Camper” rental van. Finally, for dinner, we headed back to the same stand as last night where we each had a Vampiro (like a tostada with cheese and meat) and a taco.