Real de Catorce

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Real de Catorce is an old mining village up Sierra de Catorce mountain range at 9000 ft. Silver was discovered there in 1772 and became a huge supplier for the Spanish. The last part of getting there is 17 miles of cobblestone road through the mountains followed by a 2.3 km tunnel. The tunnel can only pass one car width at a time so they radio back and forth to take turns letting vehicles in or out. I went with a guy I met from Austin and we decided to walk the tunnel, not a popular choice, but well worth it. The village is very small and at this time we were the only two gringos there. He left the next day and I stayed on for a few more nights. I definitely stood out like a sore thumb.
Some movies have been filmed here including The Mexican. One of the hotels even had a wierd Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts mini-shrine. A very cool out-of-the way place to visit.

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