Matehuala and Real de Catorce

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  Real de Catorce, Mexico
Sunday, November 26, 2006

"Do you think this guacamole is safe to eat", asked Paul. "Sure", said Laura. Paranoid of anything vegetable based and uncooked, I opted to avoid the guacamole. Laura, a much more adventurous gastronomique, dove into the stuff.

The following morning we awoke to catch the bus to Real de Catorce. Real de Catorce is a small town accessed only through a very long, one lane tunnel, the product of the townīs mining days in prior centuries. Itīs more recent claim to fame would be the location for filming "The Mexican" movie. Real is also being billed as the next Sausilito or Sedona - as it has a "spiritual" side to it (described below) as well as a number of up and coming artists shops and galleries. We stop in one of the galleries. Quite nice!

Lauraīs adventurous eating has dubbed our day: "Real de Catorce - tour de banos". Yes, we can officially pronounce that our lucky streak with "the water" has ended. Our two hour bus ride to the town ended with a transfer to a "mini-autobus," which was small enough to navigate the tunnel. This would not be a good experience for a claustrophobic, or anyone afraid of a mine caving in on top of them. Some of the locals walk though (with their children, bikes and carts) with cars and busses brushing against them as they hug the walls. Upon exiting the tunnel we were greeted with a long line of local vendors selling all manner of food & souvenirs. Almost every building in Real de Catorce also rents out toilets, which was quite handy. We quickly ran the tourist gauntlet grabbing only a couple of tortillas on which to snack and headed to the local church as itīs the main attraction becuase of some saintly shrines.

A - Matehuala Church

As luck would have it, mass was in session, so we get bonus points for going to church. Mass was in Spanish so I (Paul) understood nothing, and got nothing out of it. This is comparable to my experiences with English masses. I think Laura may have prayed to St. Francis for assistance with her malady. We headed into a local recommended eatery and grabbed a great breakfast with the best coffee yet on the trip. Afterward, we headed around town to see the sites.

Real de Catorce is also famous for the cactus from which peyote is harvested. Peyote is traditionally used by the local tribe, the Huichol, in their spiritual ceremonies. The Huichol art reflects this too. Lots of colors and swirling patterns. Peyote is also popular with the hippy crowd for less reputable uses. We spotted a VW bus with CO. tags and psychedelic paint, we were suspicious. We also saw a number of hippies in Matehuala, which is the closest big city to Real. In the words of Jimi Hendrix - "Are you experienced?...have you ever been experienced...?"

We just really wanted to see it up close and take a picture of it for the web site. Our description of the cactus in hand, we wandered through the town, up the streets, past the old cock fighting ring, navigating the wild dogs and stray donkeys, and up the hillside. We found a couple of likely suspects, snapped our photos and headed to lunch. Real de Catorce also (strangely) has a lot of Italian food. This is great because we're both already getting sick of the food here! (How many tortillas can one eat? Also, was it that damn guacamole that inspired Lauraī's tour of los banos?) One thing we've noticed is that this culture is not prone to wine drinking.

B - The Zona Central in Matehuala

If you want good wine with your dinner, donīt come to Mexico. Itīs beer, and no Sierra Nevada in sight. Just the local beer, which is o.k., I guess. Our lunch stop, owned by an Italian had two choices of wine, expensive and Riunite. We enjoyed our lunch with fizzy Riunite wine. I remembered the products tagline from my childhood, "Ruinite on Ice, that's nice..." Not really though. Think Boone farm.

Approximately every half hour in the town you hear a loud braying of a donkey. Laura was suspicious that this was actually a recording. She insisted that the recording was to bring tourists here and part of the aftermath of "The Mexican" being filmed here - until one suprised us with a solo about ten feet away. A braying donkey is not a pretty sight.

We caught the last bus out through the tunnel to return to Matehuala and our creepy little hotel room (which we really liked). The final passengers included the hombre de Helado and all of this equipment he had been using all day to sell ice cream to the tourists as well as a couple tamale carts, baskets and children. The bus got very full, Paul couldnīt even stand up and Laura started praying that her claustrophobia would not kick in during the route through the tunnel. All went well, we returned safely to Matehuala and made our way to San Luis Potosi. Next entry...the colonial cities and beyond!

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C - Laura at the tunnel to-from Real de Catorce	D - Paul at the tunnel to-from Real de Catorce	E - Real de Catorce Town Crier	F - The Cathedral
G - The Streets	H - The old church by the cemetary	I - Is this peyote?	J - Or is this peyote?
K - Inside the old church	L - Huichol Indians	M - Emergency Services in Real	N - A view of the city
O - Local Chorizo

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