There’s a good reason why no-one else is here!

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We have woken to another morning of mist but we are getting used to it now. Our choices today are to do nothing again or to make the foolhardy trip out to the Recowata Hot Springs. Yesterday we had ruled it out on the grounds of the reviews that labelled it as fabulous yet dangerous! Should we let this deter us? Yesterday we said yes but this morning I am saying, are we going soft in our old age?

We go for breakfast at our usual cafe and then set off in search of a taxi. There is none in sight. Whilst we are waiting, a down-and-out approaches us. His English is perfect. He has just come back to Creel from The States after 18 years and he cannot find his family. We interpret this to mean: I have just been kicked out of the USA, I have no money, please can you give me some? It isn’t long before he asks us for 10 pesos for a cup of coffee. To be honest it was worth giving him the cash to make him go away. He thanks us kindly and off he goes.

Five minutes have passed and a rather well dressed gentleman is now approaching us (we know we should not have given that guy the 10 pesos, as now word has spread!). He asks us if we are looking for a taxi. Well, since we are standing at the taxi rank it’s a pretty obvious assumption! He’s obviously a ‘fixer’ and has no doubt been pointed in our direction by our new ‘friend’. We know the price should be around 500 pesos for the return trip, as the amigos have already advised us. He is asking for 800 so we counter bargain at 600. He says no, so we say we will wait for the taxi. It doesn’t take him long before he agrees to 600 and he tells us to follow him - interestingly away from the taxi stand and over the railway tracks.

We end up opposite our breakfast cafe with our original ‘friend’ and a few other obviously down-on-their-luck individuals. Our fixer has his mobile phone glued to his ear and assured us ‘taxi is coming’. We see that our English speaking ‘friend’ has a cup of coffee in his hand and a fag dangling from his fingers. He points to the coffee and thanks us profusely. I say he is welcome to the coffee but not the cigarette. He looks sheepish and says he is trying to give them up. Taxi is coming, he tells me. Good car, it belongs to my brother. But, I thought you had lost your family, says I. Ha, he is now lost for words! Enough is enough. There is no sign of a taxi and, indeed, we are somewhat uncomfortable that’s it’s clearly not a registered taxi that might or might not be coming. Apparently taxi driver is having his breakfast! OK, well we are back off to the official taxi stand then!

It’s been almost an hour now that we have been at the stand and we decide to give up and go to see the amigos. Wouldn’t you just know it, the moment we walk away from the square a taxi drives past us! We hail it with no luck so we return to the square. The taxi is waiting in the rank.

Now to ask the fare. I type into the translator that we want a return fare to the hot springs. The driver takes my phone and holds it right up to his eyes...this does not bode well - no wonder he ignored us when we jailed him...clearly he can’t see very well!

Anyway, he asks for 800 pesos. We decide not to haggle as we want to do the trip and there is no sign of any other taxi. We agree on condition that we pay him at the end of the day. He asks for 400 now and 400 later. No, we tell him straight - we need to be certain that we will be collected for the return trip so will only agree if he takes the money later. He laughs in a good natured manner as if he knows what I mean and agrees - clearly we were not being too suspicious after all.

We are now an hour later setting out than we planned and we know it’s going to be a tough walk back from the springs so we hope that a 4pm pick up is not over optimistic. We have been told it’s a 45 minute walk down and 1 hour 15 minutes back. We have therefore allowed 1 hour down and 2 hours back with 2 hours at the pools.

Our taxi sets off up into the mountains and then on to a rough track. As usual there is an Indian toll booth where we must pay to enter the land. The taxi driver seems to be telling us the fee is 400 pesos...surely not? Ian enters the booth as the tickets are printed and it turn out to be 40 pesos each. Toll is paid and we are dumped at the end of a rough track. The driver indicates that now we must walk - he will he back at 4pm.

The rough track gives way to a paved, if somewhat uneven and narrow, road and we begin our steep walk down to the pools. Soon we hit the main car park but can understand why the taxi didn’t want to come down here. In truth I don’t think we would have enjoyed it either - it’s very steep and uneven. We are starting to understand why people have called it dangerous - but only if you are foolish enough to try driving! Walking is fine!

We pass through on to the snaking track down to the hot springs. The views of the canyon are spectacular but we keep our distance from the canyon side as the photos just don’t do justice to the treacherous drops from the side. Only authorised vehicles may now use this route due to the number of deaths that have occurred - one of them, shockingly, only last month! To be honest, we can’t understand why anyone would be allowed to drive on this track - authorised or not! In high season and at weekends, 4WDs still ply this route for 60 pesos each way...but seriously you would have to be mad to do it. There are long black marks in the paving indicating the places where these trucks have lost their braking power and skidded! The memorial crosses for people who have lost their lives here are a chilling reminder.

The path twists and turns so many times that I have now lost count. I just know it’s a lot, it’s been very steep, and we have to be back up the top by 4pm for our taxi! It’s now 11.30am and we have reached the bottom of the canyon. The water is gushing along the river at the bottom but there is no sign of the spa pools. The path continues on...a little flatter I suppose but annoyingly undulating all the same.

We seriously wonder if we missed the pools as the river route seems never ending! Ian is convinced we have missed a turning somewhere, but how? There has only been one track? Anyway, the information that this is a 45 minute walk down is a farce. Fortunately I am in front as Ian is all for retracing our steps - just one more corner I say...for the next three corners. I am almost convinced that he is right and tell myself that if there is no sign when we round the next bend then that will be it...and I think we need to allow three hours for the climb back up, not one and a quarter!

We have reached the next bend and eureka...I can see the changing room block and the bright blue concrete of the swimming pools. Hoorah, we have made it! There is no one else here so we have the place to ourselves and I have my swimming costume on in no time. There are several pools to try out - some cleaner than others, although mostly it is algae on the bottom which we don’t need to touch as the pools are deep enough and the water itself is pretty clear. There is a guy scrubbing the algae off one of the empty pools so they are obviously trying to keep them clean.

First I try one of the smaller pools with a waterfall cascading behind it. Then I move to the largest pool which is a small swimming pool size and deliciously warm. It’s peaceful with the steep canyon sides all around and just the sound of birdsong in the air. Ian joins me for a while although swimming isn’t really his thing.

And now we meet a young Czech couple who are touring Mexico in a camper van. They have bravely come down on a very narrow path from the Mirador - rather them than me! They join us in the pool and we have a great chat whilst lounging around in the lovely warm water. They have driven their van from Los Mochis through the mountains and fully confirm that the drive was terrifying! Another point scored for Ian as we could have taken the mountain route on the bus!

It’s nearly 1pm and Ian reminds me that we need to move if we are to climb back up in time for our taxi. I would have liked longer but I dash for the changing rooms stepping over a large beetle and lizard to access the showers. Washed and dressed, we say goodbye to our friends and start the long climb back.

The ascent is tough but we feel a pressure to press on as we are only too aware of the amount of ground we need to cover. Whoever said this was only a 2km walk must be off their heads...and as for the time needed - ridiculous! Fortunately we have loads of water as there was none to purchase, and the sun has been kind enough to disappear behind some dark clouds. Very lucky for us I think!

We have arrived back at the main car park. The climb has taken 90 minutes, so better than we thought but we have been pushing it as we definitely don’t want to miss the taxi. We haven’t paid him yet, but you never know! We sit down on a bench by a log cabin for 5 minutes rest. We now have over an hour to complete the climb up to the place where we were dropped which took us 10 minutes to walk down. Unsurprisingly it takes 30 minutes to walk back up. It’s not quite as steep as the previous slog, but bad enough!

It’s 3pm so we find a stone in the shade and sit down to demolish our yoghurts - part of the picnic lunch we didn’t eat as we thought we were short on time. Neither of us feels like anything else and we have now completely drained our water supplies. We have reached our destination and are totally exhausted - so we have to ask ourselves...was it worth it? Hell, yes!

It’s quarter to four and we hear the sound of wheels on the dirt track - it’s our taxi, here to take us back to our hotel for a lovely hot shower and a rest before dinner! Back at the hotel, the owner is astounded to hear that we made it down to the pools and back. He translates to his Mexican friends who are sitting in the bar and there is a round of applause!

We have decided to return to the posh place to eat tonight as it was very good food there last night. We are just leaving the bank ATM on our way to the restaurant when we hear a cry from across the street...it’s our ‘friend‘ from this morning. He dashes over to us and wants to know all about our day! He has had a bad day. Oh dear, how to extract ourselves politely? Fortunately, we are at the restaurant so he gives in gracefully and leaves us in peace. I bid him goodbye and good luck in ‘finding his family’, telling him we are leaving town tomorrow - we don’t want him following us back to the hotel! Luckily we know the back route, avoiding the town square where he probably sleeps...poor fella.

Back at the hotel, we have a heavy rain storm - there is a tin roof, so it probably sounds worse that it is!

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