copper canyon May 17 & 18

how do you describe the most beautiful canyons / scenery/ raw nature you have ever seen ?

there really are no good enough words but here i go

we got our stuff together and jumped on a bus to BATOPILAS at 930 on monday morning. les was hesitant , he did not think the trip wd be worth it and actually considered staying behind...but decided to go at the end. for the first 2 hours he was not impressed. The bus costs 220 pesos per person and it was packed.  it is very important to be the FIRST ones on the bus and to sit in fornt so that you do not choke on dust and sweat 'cause you cant open the windows due to sand !!  I was amazed at the trees and the mountains. they go on and on and on forever and the trees get greener and taller and they are mostly pines. all different kinds of pines. the road was paved and wide and i wondered why so many people had said the road was dangerous

we soon found out
as soon as the pavement ends, you are on the original 30 yr old dirt or sand or rock road....and it is narrow and i do not understand how our bus made it around those curves. he had to calculate to the inch where to turn !!!!

scary but i believe in God and was not worried
the 4 hour trip took us 5 plus hours. and the hard part is that it was very dusty. too dusty to open the windows and with every minute the bus got hotter and hotter.
i mean it was really hot.
las vegas type of hot heat. dry and dusty and hot.

bathrooms on the way ??????? find a spot in a bush or in between the trees :)

we arrived in Batopilas the early evening. the first house you see is a huge wonderful house that Les rightly guessed belongs to an american. we later found out that he has built a posh hotel for gringoes. we never went back to it but i want to look it up on the internet

then we went by the house that shepherd used to live in and next to it is the silver foundry he had. the man used to be the mayor in NY and left the country for Mexico under accusations of having been corrupt. I can only say that his wife must have loved him VERY much. it must have takenthe months to traverse the mountains under very severe conditions. We have a book that his son wrote about their experiences and I cant wait to read it. Shepherd even took a grand piano and apparently there were lots of arts and culture, but I was disappointed on the one hand and on the other hand, realized that altho the town is now run down, abandoned, a once faded beauty still apparent in some places - benches, main aquare, architecture. I can now say that batopilas is gorgeous.  it grows on you. at first i was disappointed thinking it was old and rundown. but the truth is they have no money to keep it up. so i think i will write and request it be made into a world heritage site

the trip is incredible and as one german guy  put it, Copper Canyon is grandfather to the grand canyon.

now we are off to an indian at lake arareco village and Cusarare waterfall and an indian cave which used to be inhabited and now stands as show

sunday MAY 16

sitting in an internet cafe in the mountains of CREEL, in chihuahua

the train ride was long and beautiful. we took the cheaper one, non tourist, it was clean and air conditioned and there were other tourists

getting there was a trip in and of itself:  ferry from la paz to topolobambo.  left at 11 at nite !!!  slept and woke up at 6. got a cab to los mochis.  got a bus to el fuerte. took the train to creel.  and everything worked smoooth as pie

the train was slow and steady ....and after divisdero for me was the best part

trees and trees and more trees .. for miles and the train climbs and climbs and climbs more

the newspaper was one i started to read at dinner, only to find a portion of it is in German ... come to find there is a community where they live off  the land. speak only German.  live life in a very simple way ... amazing and totally unexpected find

Creel is very pretty. It is high in the mountains and we are feeling difficulty breathing.  we are off to dinner. our hotel includes dinner tonite and breakfast inthe morning and all for 30 dollars.  it is called Margarita's Hotel and it is in front of the main square. the souvenirs here are dirt cheap.  20 pesos for beautifully designed snakes made out of whittled wood. dolls of all shapes and colors.  not sure of their cost.  mata ortiz pottery from 20 pesos to thousands of pesos.  and all different colors and shapes as well.  there are woven covers everywhere, but i forgot to ask how much they cost since we are not interested in them.  the indians sell the baskets starting at 20 pesos and upwards.  they smell of pine. the larger ones are a cactus leaf. the smaller are pine. all are colored with a stone mixed with water. we have heard that the colors never fade

we are ready for more !!  what a fun trip so far :)

saturday MAY 15

we are off to take the ferry. leave in couple minutes for the terminal

the ferry leaves at 11 pm and we have our own cabin

met some people who said the ferry is great . clean and comfy

tomorrow we take the train. i can hardly believe the day has arrived

yahooooooooooooooooo

fri MAY 14

off we go !!!!!

here are pics of la ventana ... we are looking onto property here since it is close to la paz airport .... nand it is very VERY pretty

May 13, 2010 Thurs

mary and george, smiley and john were here for a nite - it was so cool talking to them...they are much more than guests now- I truly consider them friends....catching up on months of whats been going on is fun

they were wonderful to the bike club !!  they brought clothes and so much stuff to sell - shoes and curtains and blinds...amazingly fantastic. they will also bring more stuff next time and will - most importantly - keep an eye out at salvation army for bikes and a bike rack. now that is muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusic to my ears ....and best of all, if there is a best of all when everything is going so well .... mary and george bought a full team uniform !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  and Smiley and John donated too !!!!!!!!!!!   wow. 

so ....  I really thought those  were the LAST TWO uniforms we needed dough for - NOT so, turns out there are 2 more kids wanting to join the team !!!  So, Yolie Carlos and I brainstormed about who else might help and Yolie will visit them tomorrow

we are busy working on the design for the team uniforms. they are going to be just perfect.  the logo is not as great as i would have liked, but if the kids are happy, that is fine by me.  i did put my foot down at spending club money for the parents to get team jackets.  nope.  this money is for the kids.  i would love to get freebees too, but my thought is that we are adults and can work.  the kids cant earn big bucks. they can certainly help out and they have and  that is why i am proud to help this team.  but using moeny for the parents ...not my idea of right.

the surfers got a little talking to yesterday - if they dont get together and start worling now on fund raising - there is NO way i am going to seat it the month before.  they have to go to asuncion in august.  asuncion supported us, we must support them.  and then we have our 2nd annual contest here in bocana in dedember or january. got to prepare now. not later.

Cotty will do some garage slaes with the new items.   I am on my way over to drop stuff off.

Linda will do another garage sale

we called Juanchy's kid Grecia asking if she is interested as well

so, when I come back in a week, hopefully all will have been sold !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  LIfe is indeed, beautiful.

Time to pack, we are leaving tomorrow !!!   Must call Dudu, see about staying at his house in La Paz.

SURFBOARDS AND WETSUITS

An angel from San Quintin sent us 3 boards and LOTS of wetsuits

we are thrilledddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd THANKS KELLY

May 12, 2010

lots of reading for Copper Canyon. I am so excited about the trip, mostly because we are going to really wing it. if we like what we see and want to stay longer, we will. If we are ready to move on, we will.  Baja Nomad has given fantstic tips, wonderful to have such fresh and insightful ideas

The gang should be arrriving soon !!  it will be nice to catch up on news with them. they are bringing stuff for the garage sale - this is awesome

a woman named Mayela died - complications from diabetes which she did not take care of. they amputated her leg and she died within 2 days of it.  no one is working today - it is another funeral day

taught English this morning at the clinic - quiet day there. class went really well. i am so happy that they are understanding and really progressing well. class is down to 2 from 5.  ana fisher is too tired after working all night. she cant concentrate. the other 2 people used to panick when they didnt understand immediately and  someone else corrected them ... it wd happen so fast, there was no way for me to avoid it, but i wish i could've. they were fun students and a group of 5 is a perfect number

talked to Marc yesterday and he is so so sooooooooooo happy with life. Marisa is already in vegas and getting herself an apt. Marc will be driving across country via Seattle perhaps (dont ask me how they came up with that itinerary since he is in north carolina) ... On to Korea at the end of the month.  I have found out that GiaMagia is in Seoul and InWook is in Incheon - a big seaport town with English as the Second Language - they are trying to make the city international