Northern Mexico: Agua Prieta to Guanajuato

Wednesday January 20. Crossing the border was too easy: they waved us through. Fortunately we had read travel guides that told us what we needed, so we parked on the Mexican side and went in to the office for our car paperwork and personal entry cards. We also learned that banks have the best exchange rates—much better than the casas de cambio--but they won’t change money; using the ATM gets the best rate. We drove all day on a two lane highway with little traffic other than trucks. The landscape alternated between broad high plains and mountains. It was intensively agricultural with dairy, hay, cotton, nut orchards and some cattle. We arrived in Chihuahua just before sunset, and easily found the large park and sports complex where the guide book said there would be secure overnight parking. The security guards welcomed us and kept a watchful eye all night. After a snack, we strolled around the park along with hundreds of other families out enjoying the evening, watching the runners and racket ball players and open air Zumba classes and exercise circuits and high school drum groups practicing. 

Thursday January 21. It was a long, hard travel day, besot with minor problems. Navigation is a full time job. After our futile trip to the railroad station looking for tourist information for Copper Canyon, It took us another hour to find our way out of Chihuahua on to the highway. There are few street signs. The highway signage is really confusing. There is more than one road with the same highway number. The maps don’t agree. The paper maps don’t have enough detail and the maps.me maps are slow to load and hard to read. The oral directions
we solicited were confusing. Most of the place names are unfamiliar, and sometimes our destination appears and sometimes it does not. The turns are signed at the last minute, without enough time to interpret and make the right choice. We have missed lots of turns, and ended up either on the slow road through town with stop lights and speed bumps, or driving many kilometers out of our way. We have gradually learned to look for the cuota (toll) road signs and avoid the libre roads, that “Mexico” means the main highway to Mexico City, and the google app on the phone is the best navigator.

   The pavement in the state of Durango was horrible, with potholes big enough to break an axle. I have never heard Michael swear so vehemently. We crossed the line into Zacatecas state just at sunset and the pavement improved, so Mike kept driving. When we stopped for gas, the lock on the gas cap was jammed; I was thinking we might have to sleep the night there, but Mike and the gas attendant managed with a little oil and a lot of force to get it to open. When we finally got to Zacatecas about 9:30pm, we spent an hour looking for an RV park listed in the book only to eventually learn that it was no longer in operation. Nor was there a restaurant, nor a beer to be had. We heated a can of soup and slept on the side of a Pemex station.

Beetleland

A cathedral in Zacatecas

Friday January 22. Desperate for a shower and time for a little housekeeping, Sharman tried to navigate to one of the other trailer parks in the city, but gave up. We found that it is much more pleasant to navigate by inspiration and see what we discover. We discovered a Romanesque aqueduct and a green park with a fountain and paths, so we parked the car and wandered. The old city center is charming, with elegant colonial architecture and intriguing new art installations, narrow cobbled streets and pedestrian plazas. VW beetles are everywhere.

   We continued down the highway to the old colonial mining town Guanajuato. It lies in a set of steep canyons; the streets are incredibly narrow, winding, steep and tunneled. The houses are built up the sides of the canyons, often with stairs or pedestrian paths too narrow for vehicles. We (wrong turn) drove the Panaramico street that traverses high up the ridges, in and out of the folds of numerous converging valleys, eventually finding (yes!) the tiny RV park that the book directed us to. Just in time for sunset. After a (lukewarm) shower (yes!) we wandered down the hill to the old centro, studying the landmarks in the maze as we went to ensure our safe return. Eventually found a restaurant and got our cerveza (yes!) and dinner. Wandered some more after dinner to see the town and find the Museum of the Mummies, behind the cemetery at the top of a hill. Then down and up to our little roost on the hill. At 6700 feet elevation, all this hill climbing is good training.