Mexico's copper canyon, and the train ride through it, are billed as wonders of the world and must do's. They are both certainly pretty impressive. However, the higher your expectations, the greater the chances of feeling just a little let down.The start of the journey was, unfortunately, the grim town of Los Mochis where the early departure meant staying the night. Perhaps I should have taken Lonely Planets warning about the hotel I chose more seriously. How bad can dirty, rat infested, loud music and prostitutes really be?
It didn't get much better when I arrived at the station to discover the cheapo train didn't run that day and the expensive one left in just five minutes. A choice between paying over the odds, or staying another night in seedy hotel, had to be made quickly. So speedily in fact, that once I did board the premium train, I was without basic essentials for a 12 hour trips, like water and food. At the mercy of horrendous on-board prices I was.
Still, in hindsight, a few days after being raped to the tune of $20 for breakfast, the view from the train was pretty impressive for large parts of the journey. It climbs over 2000m, so the route winds and twists continuously, through steep valleys, across wide rivers, past forests and through farms. Certainly not a train journey to fall asleep on. As I did.
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