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The Guadalupe Mine

From Guachochi, our near-term goal was to get to Parral, our last stop in the state of Chihuahua. However, while going through the Chihuahua travel guide we had been given in Creel, Gerry came across an intriguing statment about a small mining town called Guadalupe y Calvo. We had never heard of the city, but according to the guidebook it was one of the most authentic mining towns in the region. Gerry was determined to go there even though we weren't at all sure what there would be to see when we got there. But the side trip would take us through more of Mexico's mountains which we loved, and would cost us a day's time and a couple of hundred miles more wear and tear on the car. Would it be worth it? How would we know if we didn't go? So we went.

Military checkpoint

The drive from Guachochi to the junction with the Guadalupe highway was pleasant and went quickly. By lunchtime we were there and were happy to find a nice lunch of chicken, rice, and salad. After lunch we had to go through a military checkpoint set up to check for drugs. When faced with this middle-aged gringo couple each group of soldiers reacted differently. For some there was total confusion when they heard the way we mangled Spanish. For others there was an obvious need to treat us just like they would treat Mexicans. And for yet others, there was an immediate assumption that we couldn't possible be carrying drugs. In this case, they chose the middle course, asked us to step out of the car and did a fairly thorough search of the passenger compartment and even made a vague attempt at searching the trunk, which is always packed to capacity. But while the search was going on Jan struck up a conversation with the young lieutenant in charge and haltingly we agreed that the job they were doing was a necessary one and that drugs were very bad and that yes, there were lots of them in both the U.S. and Mexico. By the time the search was over, there was much good feeling and warm wishes as we drove on our way.

The Road to Guadalupe y Calvo

For the next three hours, we were treated to some more of Mexico's wonderful mountain scenery. Up and down, over and round, we went on winding mountain roads, mostly in sunshine but with a drop or two of rain here and there. Just outsideof Guadalupe, we found a pullout near a church that gave us a terrific view of the town which is squashed into a narrow canyon with a turbulent stream rushing down it. As we drove into town, the road got steeper and windier until at last we spotted the magic word hotel, and weary from driving, stopped and found a decent room at a decent price.

After checking in and carrying our bags up two flights of stairs, we cleaned up and were about to leave when we noticed that Mexican President Vicente Fox was on the TV. We turned up the sound and learned that he was about to give his annual report to the Mexican people on the state of the Union. Yes, the official name of Mexico is the United States of Mexico, los Estados Unidos de Mexico (??). In addition to the fact that we were interested in what he had to say, it was very good practice for our Spanish so we put off dinner for an hour and listened to the speech in its entirety. We have to say that our comprehension was greatly aided by his admirable diction. The news didn't sound marvellous, but there wasn't really any terrible news either. The country was still suffering from the post 9/11 downturn, but the economy seemed slowly to be coming back.

La Sierra Hotel

By the time the speech was over, it had started to rain and so we decided to forgo exploring until the morning and instead ate dinner at the restaurant that took up the ground floor of the hotel, where we shared a tasty plate of beef fajitas.

The next morning, bright and early, we left the hotel in search of the mines which we were told were the Mexican equivalent of "that-a-way". Of course if our language skills had been better, we might have derived more information fromthe directions, but we knew enough to head for the center of town, which we did, and then carry on down the valley. We stopped in the main square for breakfast and found a very friendly family-run restaurant and hotel where we ate a hearty meal of eggs, sausage, and, you guessed, frijoles.

Road Crew

Leaving the restaurant, we peeked in at the small village church and then carried on along the main street of town until we came to the end of town and saw a couple of hundred feet on and down the valley, what looked like an abandoned . mineWhen we got there we confirmed that there wasn't much to see: an old chimney, a few buildings and some kind of storage sheds. Much more interesting to us was the work going on on the road that we were following. The rainy season, that by now was in full swing, had washed out big gullies across the road, as water streaming off the hillside tried to find its way to the river. Two teams of men were working on shoring up the foundations of the road with huge boulders, which they then filled in with smaller stones and earth. We had enqired about the possibility of driving from here on down to the ocean and had been told that the road was very bad. Here was proof of that indeed.

Main Street and Church

Reasonably happy with our short walk, it was now time to get back to our car, load it up, and get on our way to Parral, which was a good six hours (?) drive away. As to the question asked in the first paragraph, on the whole we thought the trip was worth it. No, the mine was not terribly interesting. And, no, the town was not really pretty in any conventional way. And yet, the drive to get here was dramatically beautiful and the town was very different from any we had yet seen, so yes, at the cost of a day and three hundred miles, it was worth it.