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We drove into Matehuala and went to the bus station to ask about a bus to the ghost town of Real de Catorce. Then we parked up at Wal-mart for the
night.
The next day we packed our rucksack and parked up by the bus station. We thought we had plenty of time for the bus, but found out we had missed it
because we have missed a time change!! It is one hour ahead in this state which observes summer time! So we sat and read whilst we waited nearly 2
hours for the next bus.
It took nearly two hours to drive to Real de Catorce. The last part was on a 15 mile long cobblestone road up into the hills. Then we had to change
busses into a smaller one to go through the 2 mile long tunnel which had been roughly hewn out of the rock and was very dusty inside.
By the time we got there we only had 2 hours to look around before getting the return bus! Real is supposed to be a ghost town that was abandoned
after the mining stopped in the area. But there are a number of inhabitants who are rebuilding the town.
There are a lot of artists who stay here to paint and it is very peaceful here, surrounded by mountains. Thousands of pilgrims come to the church
here to thank St Francis of Assisi for various things and leave thank you notes in the church. It is also famous for being the backdrop for the
film "The Mexican" in 2000, starring Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Gene Hackman.
Maybe we have seen too much because we weren't really impressed and wouldn't recommend the journey out here. The pizza was terrible too which
didn't help!
After another night at Wal-mart we drove along a good road north, went through Saltillo on the free road and found a Pemex in the middle of nowhere
for the night. That evening Kirsten said that there was a "pimp" on our floor - she meant to say "pip"!!!
On Thursday it was a scorching 40° C as we continued north and went through a very dusty and windy industrial town called Monclova. Then we decided
we would go across the border at Eagle Pass today instead of heading further north. So we ended up frying some chicken that we still had, which we can't take
over the border. Not the best idea in this heat!
It took us 2 hours to get through the formalities and if we hadn't got return flight tickets out of the US, we would not have got a visa for
America! Then we politely asked them for directions for Wal-mart!!!
On Friday we did some shopping and then drove north along the border - the road had been dug up and was really bad for Winnie! Anyone would think
we were still in Mexico! The petrol prices were also a lot highter than we had expected even though we are in Texas - one of the cheapest.
($2-65 per gallon).
We drove to Amistad National Recreation Area and stopped at the visitor centre where we spent a long time chatting about Mexico to the ranger
there! He even gave us a CD of topographical maps for the whole of Mexico!
We went to the dump station and then found a nice peaceful campground for $4 per night and stayed for 3 nights.
We spent most of the time cleaning and sorting out Winnie. Helen found a cleansing plaster which she used for her nose! We also managed to watch
another film (The House of D - with David Dukovny and Robin Williams) and Kirsten cried the whole time!! At midnight on Sunday, the alarm went off and woke Kirsten up. She then lit a candle and sang
"Happy Birthday" to Helen!
