Bernie's Travels: Real de Catorce, Mexico

From Zacatecas Mike and I caught a bus out of town and began hitch-hiking towards a small town in the Chihuahuan desert called Real de Catorce. This small mountain town once produced huge amounts of silver, and the wealth from the mines created a boom town in the middle of nowhere. Due to a number of factors the mines shut down and the town was mostly left to fall into ruin. Recently there has been an effort to restore this quaint town and it now enjoys a healthy amount of tourism despite its isolated location.

Mike hitch-hiking

Our first ride was with this natural gas truck

From Zacatecas the first two roads going to Real de Catorce were well traveled and easy to manage. The third road was tough, with hardly any traffic heading towards the turn-off for Real de Catorce. We waited for about two hours with no luck. Finally a bus arrived in the evening and we decided to take it past the turn off to the next city, Matahuala, to go out and sleep for the night. The next day we missed the first bus to Real de Catorce, the second bus was canceled, and the last bus was sold out. Luckily they still let us buy a ticket, but we ended up standing in the aisle. To make our trip even more interesting the bus blew out a tire. We hobbled our way along to the next town and had a beer while waiting for them to change the tire. Despite all of the hang ups we made it to Real de Catorce by early afternoon and in good spirits.

Sheep crossing the road right where we were hitching

Mike lying in the road, with the sun setting and no traffic to be found

Me getting my shoes shined in the central park of Matahuala, waiting for the next bus to Real de Catorce

Mike and I watching them change the blown tire on the bus

There were only two ways to get to Real de Catorce. The way we came in we took a road that curved up and around a mountain until we reached a long, narrow tunnel that punched through the mountain to the town on the other side. To get through the tunnel we actually switched from the bus to a van that could fit though the tunnel which was more than a half a mile long and only wide enough to allow traffic in one direction at a time. On the other side of the tunnel the town opened up and could be seen marching down the other side of the mountain. To leave the town we took the other road on the opposite side of the mountain that was so steep and rough it was only accessible to vehicles with 4-wheel drive.

Looking down to Real de Catorce

The town itself was old and crumbling, but there was a lot going on. Real de Catorce has a unique combination of old and decrepit roofless buildings laying in ruin with a fairly vibrant main drag. Tourism has supplanted silver mining as the main income in this former ghost town and you can see plenty of evidence of both industries as you walk down the main street. Along with the crumbling nature of this small town there were plenty of cool sights to be seen just walking around the town.

Streets of Real de Catorce

Crumbling street with horse at the top of the hill

Looking at the city through a broken stone wall

Crumbling walls of old buildings

Old man shuffling on his knees to the front of the old church

Adorned statue of the Virgin Mary

Cock fighting arena

Mike walking the streets of Real de Catorce

Another church on the edge of town

Cemetery outside of the church

Altar in the Church

Horses lined up

Real de Catorce is set in the mountains with great views and a steep winding road that eventually leads to the flat desert more than 2,000 feet below. To travel back and forth between the town and the desert valley there were around a dozen old four-wheel drive “Willies”, the vehicle that preceded the jeep, running around town. Mike and I chose to camp in the desert so we took one of these “Willies” down the steep road with our driver Margarito, who helped us out with getting firewood and finding a good spot to camp.

View from the one end of Real de Catorce looking down to the desert below

Blue “Willies” on the cobble stone streets

Row of “Willies” lining the street

Driving down the mountain to the desert

Old house along the road down to the valley

Beautiful mountain landscape coming down the road

Road and mountains

Passing a red “Willies” next to an abandoned mine

Donkey on the side of the road

Little boy hanging out on the front steps

Plain house in front of beautiful mountains

Mike and me riding down the mountain on top of our “Willies”

Older woman walking along sheep corral

Arriving to the town at the bottom of the mountains where the other bus station to the town is located

Driving away from the town into the desert with the mountains in the background, and Mike enjoying the ride

Driving out into the desert with our shadows over the road

Back onto the dirt road with the desert in front of us

Windmill on a farm in the desert

Shepherd following behind his flock in front of a farm field

With the recent rains that had soaked the whole country up to the high desert region of Zacatecas and Real de Catorce it was an unexpectedly cold time to be visiting. Thinking that I would be traveling to the tropics I didn't have one long sleeve t-shirt in my bag. So in Zacatecas I bought the cheapest long sleeve t-shirt, pull-over, and pair of gloves I could find; and I'm glad I did since the temperature dipped down to a few degrees above freezing that night. Despite the cold temperatures later in the night we had a good time camping. After setting up the tent we found some interesting plants in the area, bundled up, and watched a good sunset. It took a while to get our damp fire wood going, but once we did it was nice and warm and we camped out by the fire most of the night. The fire was beautiful and the stars were fantastic. After sleeping under the stars awhile I woke up about 2:00 am to a smoldering fire, nearly freezing temperatures, and a flat air mattress. We went to the tent to try to warm up but it was a pretty miserable night trying to shake the cold on a punctured air mattress. In even worse shape was Mike who was not only freezing, but also dehydrated and with a bad case of Mocetzuma's revenge.

The desert landscape at dusk, and our camp site for the night

Me in the desert with my cheap UK shirt, enjoying the irony

Local plant life

The fire at night

The next morning we were up early to catch a ride back to town with Margarito at 7:00 am. Mike was in rough shape and chose to go back to Zacatecas from the bus station on the way back to Real de Catorce. I had the rest of my bag back in the Real de Catorce, 40 minutes back up the mountain, so I went back to get it and see more of the town before coming back down again and meeting back up with Mike later that evening in Zacatecas.

After Margarito dropped Mike off at the bus station we continued on to Real de Catorce. On my way back up the mountain Margarito carried a whole load of cargo on the roof rack along with me and an interesting guy who was part Aztec. Inside the “Willies” were about 10 people, and 5 people hanging off the back with one person sitting on the hood. It was an interesting ride up the mountain.

My Aztec friend

People hanging of the back of the “Willies”

Cowboys riding up the road in front of us

To get back to Zacatecas I was content to ride the bus, but of course it was broken down and wouldn't be ready for hours. So, I caught another bus out of town, got off at the turn, then starting to hitching my way back to Zacatecas. It was a little hairy getting back, but I made good time and caught rides all the way to the city. Back in Zacatecas Mike was still recovering, but the next day he was feeling better and moved on to see Guanajuato. I stayed there for a couple more days to see more of the city.