El Fuerte

I was feeling a bit unsure of myself by the time I reached Los Mochis, the turning point of my journey from the sea to the mountains. To catch the train in the morning, I needed to get up at about 4:00 a.m., get a taxi to the train station to book my ticket in time, for a train that would leave at 6:00 a.m. for the Copper Canyon, las Barrancas del Cobre. I had no hotel reservations up in the canyon but a vague idea of where I wanted to stay. I just couldn't get my mind around the idea of being on the move again so quickly, or of getting up so early. But nor did I want to stay in the slightly expensive (though comfortable) Best Western in Los Mochis. I studied the tour book some more, and finally realized that I could buy my train tickets in advance, at the station in Los Mochis, but I could catch the train at the next town up on the train route, in El Fuerte. Once I had secured my ticket, I could go by bus at any time to El Fuerte and catch the train the next day, at the more reasonable hour of 8:40 a.m. So that is what I did. And it was the best decision of my trip! For so many reasons!

First, though, here is what I wrote, back upon my arrival in El Fuerte:

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I think I love El Fuerte. The people are so friendly, and they do not look at me as a freak for my blond hair and blue eyes, nor do they try to sell me trinkets as a tourist. But they do not ignore me, either. If only my Spanish were better! They ask me where I am from and seem so welcoming and friendly---from the moment I got off the bus! Someone saw me with my backpack and my tour book pages, and asked me what I am looking for. I told him the hotel, and he pointed me in the right direction. I started walking that way, but was still looking lost, when another man asked me, and I said that I thought I knew the way, and he said yes, it is that way; he would take me there. I said I thought perhaps I should eat first, so he walked me to a nearby little restaurant---the plastic chair and vinyl tablecloth kind.

The restaurant was a couple blocks away, and it did cross my mind that I might be about to get lost or that I was crazy to follow this man, but I went ahead and followed. By this time we were speaking English, and he told me he is part of the tourist bureau here; if I would come find him in the center square after lunch, he had maps for me. I ate a lunch of vegetable and chicken stew and tortillas, communicating only in Spanish, and then went to the square. It is quaint and colonial, and not crowded but not deserted either. I walked toward the cathedral, and the tourist-bureau man saw me and walked me up to my hotel, which I never would have found without him as it is behind the old Spanish fort (which is now a museum) on a hill. He waited with me until we found the proprietor, who was expecting me (I had emailed from Los Mochis). I thanked my personal tour guide and tipped him and said I would find him in the square again, because he wanted to recommend a hotel up in the Canyon.

I changed (it is HOT here, especially in the sun) and set out to take pictures. I found the tourist information man at the government building he described---there is, indeed, a tourist information booth there, although it looks pretty closed. Not many tourists? He gave me free maps and the hotel recommendation in the mountains, and pointed out a recommended restaurant for dinner, which does indeed look nice. I thanked him again, got his name, Jesus, and then went on to find water, ice cream, and a cool place to sit.

What a wonderful way to start off in a town. And my hotel is so quirky and unusual---it looks over the river, but also down on some houses; roosters and hens walk around the area, and I suspect some crowing will keep me up tonight.
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Yes, crowing did keep me up, and a lot of other noise all night down along the river, at all hours, but aside from that, it was wonderful.

Now, here in Chihuahua, I can say that the best part of going to El Fuerte and staying at the Hotel Rio Vista was meeting Allan and Jillian, an Australian couple traveling all around the world. But even if that hadn't happened, I would have been very pleased with my stop in El Fuerte.

Here are a few pictures: