Where in the World?

Batopilas Canyon

We awoke this morning to no electricity and water which made it very hard to take a shower and other such things. Half the town of Creel was without electricity. Eventually the hotel manager was able to get the water pump going which helped immensely. The electricity was still out when we left in four vehicles for our adventure ride down to Batopilas.

The road to Batopilas from Creel is 135 km long or 83.9 miles. 70 km of the road was paved and 65 km were dirt. It took us 5 ½ hours to get there. This canyon road was hair raising. 11 km of the dirt road were being widened which meant detours around large earth moving vehicles on a road about 1 ½ lanes wide hundreds of feet up the side of a canyon. It was very bumpy in parts. The majority of the road was one lane wide which made it interesting when another vehicle approached. The cliffs fell below us several hundred feet to several thousand feet at some points. One slip of the wheel would be terminal. Our driver thankfully was a pro and drives this road twice a week.

What we got in return for this physically numbing ride was some of the most dramatic scenery on the planet. Canyons upon canyons for as far as you can see and then some. Deep ravines filled with massive boulders. Strange shaped rocks poking out of the flora that covered anything that wasn’t bare rock. Even then there were exceptions as we saw a tree literally growing right out of a rock. At one point, where we stopped for a rest and a snack, I swear the cliffs rising from the Urique River approached or exceeded 4000 ft. (1210 m) in height. Stunning nevertheless.

Batopilas Hacienda Ruins

We dropped quickly from 7500 ft. (2286 m) elevation to 1870 ft. (570 m). The temperature changed from cool and dry to sub tropical. The forest at the higher altitudes consisted of 23 species of oak, 8 species of pine and numerous deciduous shrubs and wildflowers. By the time we got to Batopilas, most of the trees had vanished to be replaced by organ cactus, agave, acacia looking shrub-like trees and other mixed shrubs that could handle the heat and dryness.

Batopilas is a small town of about 700 hundred, but in its day when silver mining was prevalent had over 5000 residents. Now the town supports the many local indigenous people that live scattered all over the canyons, contains a couple of art galleries plus a few hotels and restaurants. Tourism is part of the commerce here but growing illegal drugs like marijuana seems to be the largest enterprise. We were told to stay within certain areas and not venture past. No problemo!

As the evening approached and the sun was setting we explored the ruins of a large hacienda here that was in service during the silver mining days. The ruins were fascinating with the juxtaposition of stonework and overgrown plants covering the grounds. It was peaceful as we walked the ruins while hearing the Urique river flow over the rocky bed below.

A quick dinner was in order as was a shower to clean off the dirt and dust from the ride down. Tomorrow we explore the Lost Cathedral of Satevo and then head back up to Creel; another 135 km, 5 ½ hour ride.

Please view my photos for the day. (18 photos)

Have a great day!

Michael

View of the Divisadero

It was time for a lazy morning. After our last breakfast at the Hotel Mission in Cerocahui, we did a little walking, a little bit of packing and a lot of relaxing. Our two buses arrived right on time. After our bags were thrown on top again, we began our bouncy, dusty 45 minute ride to Bahuichivo.

Of course our train was right on time, 1 hour late. I decided that the trains in this region are on time when they arrive. That’s the only criteria that seems to work.

The train ride from Bahuichivo to Creel in the state of Chihuahua has been deemed the most spectacular train ride in North America both in scenery and engineering marvel. We passed over 37 bridges, plowed through 86 tunnels (some over 1000 feet in length) and crossed the continental divide three times. There was an incredible turn where the train track actually crossed back over itself. It was amazing to see.

I stayed almost the entire time on the observation deck. Remember this is the small place between cars. For me, this was the best way to experience the scenery and the train ride in its most raw form. The highest elevation was 8071 feet (2460 M). We stopped a few times to take on new passengers. There were always a group of indigenous Tarahumara people selling their wares. Erica and I found several really nice woven baskets from a mother and daughter who came right up to the train window.

One of the most awe inspiring places we stopped at was a view point of the Divisadero Barrancas. This canyon is deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon. I’ve never seen anything like it. The scale was so immense it was hard to fathom the distances and heights we were seeing. The photo on the top left is from one viewpoint. We reached Creel shortly after spending time here. We were all ready for a quick meal and then some rest.

We have a big day planned for tomorrow; more exploration of the Divisadero, Cusarare Falls and Mission, Valley of the Frogs, Valley of the Mushrooms and an up close and personal tour of a Tarahumara family home.

View my photos for the day. (21 photos)

Have a great day!

Michael

On the Train

We leave the Hotel El Fuerte 15 minutes late for the train station. The Chihuahua Pacific Railway was our preferred mode of transportation to the very small village of Bahuichivo where a bus would take us to our final destination of Cerocahui. The Hotel Mission would be our home for two days as we explored the surrounding countryside and the small village of approximately 1800 people.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, our train was 1 hour and 10 minutes late. According to our guide, Mexican trains have their own time table and the schedule can change continuously. You just have to learn to go with it.

The trip was long (4 ½ hours) as we inched our way up the canyon slopes and followed one of the many rivers very closely. The train swayed back and forth as we crossed multiple bridges and traversed many tunnels. This area was incredibly rugged. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

The Mission Hotel Bell

Before we boarded the train, our guide told us that there would be observation decks to take photographs and view the rugged landscape we were traveling through. I had to laugh as I entered the observation deck. Basically, it was the area between the train cars. So, to take a photograph, you had to hold on to the hand rails with one hand, lean towards the opened train car door (top half was opened) and take a photograph with the other hand. The intense swaying and bouncing made it quite challenging. I was reminded of trying to take photos of orcas in Puget Sound earlier this summer on a severely rocking boat.

We reached Bahuichivo safe and sound but still swaying to and fro. Cerocahui is 8 miles south of Bahuichivo. So, we boarded a bus-like vehicle, our bags thrown on the top and off we bounced down the dirt road towards our destination. 45 minutes later we thankfully reached the Hotel Mission. Cold margaritas were waiting for us. A late lunch was quickly consumed giving us time to walk around the small village or rest.

The evening started with some local entertainment. It was quite relaxing. Dinner consisted of local caught fish peppered with a multitude of spices, rice and a bowl of lentil soup. Hmmmm. Very tasty.

Time for bed. Tomorrow we will travel to Barranca de Urique to see some dramatic canyon scenery. Who knows what else?

View my photos for the day (28 photos).

Michael

Over the weekend I was in Tarrytown, NY with Erica helping out at the crafts show that takes place twice a year at Lyndhurst. Be sure to look at the Lyndhurst site as I’m not going to be talking about that today.

Across from Erica’s booth, Bob McNally had a booth showcasing his instrument, the Strumstick. It is similar to a guitar but with only 3 strings. The frets are spaced such that the only notes that can be played are in a major key. For the non-musician, this means that no note sounds bad. The tagline for this instrument is “For the musically disinclined.”

It’s true. I watched many people play this instrument who had no musical experience at all. They were amazaed at how well it sounded. Watch and listen to Bob demonstrating the grand strumstick (key of D). The smaller, standard strumstick has a higher sound (key of G).

I had a great time playing with the lady working the booth and other times just playing by myself. I met several really nice people from England, the Ukraine and multiple states. Music is a great way to relate to people. We really enjoyed watching a four year old boy play the electric strumstick for awhile. He was quite entertaining.

Bob also invented an electric version of the strumstick. It has a great sound. If you have 6 minutes, check out this cool little video of him playing the electric strumstick.

If you have always been intimidated by the guitar, try the strumstick. Many people have successfully moved from the strumstick to the guitar after several months of playing the strumstick.

Playing music is fun, a great way to relax, brings people together and allows your creativity another outlet.

Michael

I’m back in Warsaw, Poland for four days to help with the roll out of a major new tool within the company I currently work for. It was quite a surprise as I didn’t expect to be back here so soon.

But, I’m fairly adaptable with changing plans. That’s one good thing I’ve learned in my position over the last few years. Change is not as fear inducing as it used to be. I’m not saying I don’t have problems with change still, but it is far less than seven years ago.

One new of way thinking for me is to view change as a new adventure. Since I like adventures now in my life, change seems to be a natural part of that new way of thinking. Adventures (i.e. changes) are good as they keep you on your toes, both in your thinking and adaptation skills.

The flight was good in one respect. I was in business class. But two things took some patience and adaptability. The plane was quite bumpy for 90% of the trip from Newark to Warsaw. I’m much better at handling that but after seven hours I was starting to feel woozy.

Secondly, to add to the already woozy feeling was the bad odor emanating from the guy next to me. It was quite overwhelming. All seats were filled so I had nowhere to go. So, I had to adapt and quickly. For large periods of time, I kept my pillow over my face. The rest of the time, I tried to keep my head turned to the right. My technique worked most of the time.

Phew! I was very grateful for landing; more so than usual. It took me a couple of hours to get my stomach settled down.

Here’s to less smelly travel.

Michael

To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world. An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered. – G.K. Chesterton

I arrived with a little under two hours until my flight to Houston, TX (via Chicago) was leaving. It was a good plan. The first delay came from the ticket agent. The flight was an hour late, but I would still make my connection. The second delay was uncharacteristically long lines for scanning baggage. No worries. I still had plenty of time.

Around the time of my departure to Chicago, the gate agent announced the third delay. The plan was not going to arrive for another 1 1/2 hours, which meant I would miss my connection to Houston.

So, I got in line where a man promptly walked in front of three of us to get to the head of the line. I didn’t give it much thought, but a guy behind was livid. He approached the guy and told him that he had jumped in the front of the line. The man couldn’t and didn’t care less. So much for the slight distraction.

The gate agent promptly booked me on another airline to get me to Houston tonight. Fantastic! I go down to the new gate and airline to see my fourth delay. This plan was running about 30 minutes late. But, I still have time to make my new connection through Newark to Houston. No problem.

Within about 20 or 30 minutes the fifth delay occurred. My new plane would be late and the Newark connection would be missed. Am I mad at this point? No. I found after flying tens of thousands of miles that getting angry doesn’t help at all.

So, I go back to my initial airline and they rebook me to Chicago for the night but I will not get to Houston until Friday morning.

The agents were really nice and I believe that is because I was nice. They can’t be blamed for weather or mechanical failures, but some people do and that’s too bad.

It’s all just part of the adventure which is my life. I’m reading, writing this blog, people watching and just chilling out. Nothing wrong with that. It’s been a busy week.

Michael

I was up in Northampton, Massachusetts this weekend with Erica. She was at a show and I was there to play. Of course I helped out a little bit in the booth.

Right next to Erica’s booth was a lady selling ceramics. Her husband was Steve Katz, one of the original members of the 1960′s band Blood, Sweat and Tears. How cool is that. If you were listening to music back then, you may have remembered the hits “Spinning Wheel” and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.”

We chatted for a bit, not about music that much, but about the new Amazon Kindle. It’s like an iPod for books. I was amazed as I could literally have hundreds of books, newspapers, blogs and etc. at my fingertips on one device. It is a first generation machine and expensive but I think it will change the way we do things, just like the iPod.

Steve was a good guy and very into the Kindle. I wish him luck on his current tour schedule with the band.

Michael

My last day in Barcelona was a bright, sunny day with clouds that rose over the mountains. I’ve really grown quite an attachment to this city, the food and it’s people. I think I’ve gained 2 or 3 pounds with all the home cooking I was able to experience.

I learned a lot from my few days here. As I got to know the people on a more personal level in their homes and among friends, I realized that there were five fundamental lessons that were being taught.

First, I (we) need to slow down and focus on the present moment more. I’ve talked about this concept before, but it was refreshing and inspiring to see people living that way every minute.

Second, the importance of communication and how much we can communicate without speaking the language. Babi’s grandmother was the best at this. I couldn’t understand one spoken word from her, but I never had a problem understanding what she was telling me. Now that’s a gift.

Third, to be more open. Many of the people I met took a genuine interest in learning more about me despite the language barrier.

Fourth, laugh a lot and often. Though I feel that I do this very often, it’s always refreshing to see people live that philosophy.

Fifth, give and then give some more. Guests (me) are treated like royalty. It’s a great way to treat people.

I appreciate my new friends and I hope to see them very soon in the near future. I will be back to this place. It’s easily in my top five favorite places now.

Michael

I spent the majority of the day with my Spanish friend’s father and friends. Later we visited with her mother, grandmother and friends. It was a fantastic day. The scenery, food and conversation were quite special.

My friend’s father lives in S’agaró, Spain which is up the coast north of Barcelona about 60 miles. This is a beautiful seaside upscale resort area with stunning views of the Mediterranean. Most of the time was spent eating lunch (for over 3 hours) and talking. I was doing very little talking since I didn’t speak Catalan or Spanish. But it was fun to be involved with this close knit group of people. At one point, we had four countries represented; Spain, America, Ecuador and the U.K.

Near the end of the afternoon, my friend’s mother drove us to Vinyoles which is up in the mountains. In fact the area around Vic, Spain is a stunning valley surrounded on all sides by mountains. To the north, I could catch glimpses of the snow covered Pyrenees Mountains. They were simply stunning. I have to go back and explore this area some more.

My friend’s mother and grandmother were lovely! Her grandmother made a fantastic dinner composed of bread with oil and tomato, vegetable soup, omelet, and a very tasty dessert called A Gypsy’s Arm; some kind of cake with a crème filling. All the food was fresh and cooked on the spot. You can’t get any better than this.

I loved being able to experience the Catalan and Spanish culture at this level. I was able to see and experience how they live, eat and enjoy life.

At the end of the day I was feeling somewhat stressed because of some meetings I have on Tuesday. I was told to relax, enjoy the moment, tomorrow is tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Michael

We landed in Barcelona through wind and rain in the early afternoon. The forecast is rainy for several days. Oh well. Plans have to be adjusted. It shouldn’t really be a problem as there are plenty of things to do in this wonderful city.

My co-worker and I had a somewhat of a challenge obtaining our luggage after getting off the Lufthansa flight. There are two terminals at the Barcelona airport; A and B. We landed at a gate right in the juncture of the two. As we exited the gate, we both saw a sign with an arrow pointing to Baggage Claim – B. So, we followed.

After walking about a half mile to the end of terminal B, we walk down the stairs to baggage claim only to realize that Lufthansa bags are located in Baggage Claim - A. We ask someone how to get there and he points up and back the way we came. We tried to return up the stairs, but that way was blocked; no entrance to the gate area from here.

So, we walk on the ground floor all the way back to Terminal A which was at least a 1/2 mile or more. We find baggage claim A, but the doors are exit only and the guard will not let us in even though we showed him our ticket stubs and luggage tags. He tells us we have to go back up the stairs and through security again.

Argh!

Another 15 minutes and we are through security and down the stairs to baggage claim where our bags were just rounding the baggage belt when we walked up. We grab our bags and head outside to find a cab in the rain.

We quickly find one, explain that we need to be taken to two hotels; one a Marriott near the airport and the other in central Barcelona. The taxi driver takes off and after about 10 minutes, I realize he has passed up the Marriott. I show him the address and he starts getting very angry since he has passed the exit already. He had misunderstood us and thought we wanted a Marriott in central Barcelona, but there isn’t a Marriott in central Barelcona.

Once we straighten out the confusion, he angrily turns around and starts driving “wildly” through the traffic in the wind and heavy rain. He keeps repeating, in Spanish, how we messed up the directions. I keep nodding my head as I don’t want him to get any angrier than he already is.

Finally, after much swerving and high speed driving, we arrive at the correct hotel.

Welcome to Barcelona!

I know things will be much better, so I’m not worried at all.

Michael