(Nov 18, 2017)
We set our afternoon’s destination as the Museo (Museum) of Pancho Villa in the small town of Canutillo, south of the city of Parral. We had read that you could camp for free without any hassles in the parking lot, and we were interested in visiting the museum as well. Quite a timely activity, as November 20th is an important holiday in Mexico, celebrating the start of the revolution in Mexico against the widely perceived corrupt government lead by Porfirio Diaz. Pancho Villa was a key figure in the revolution.
On our way to Canutillo, we were going through another small town when Derek saw oncoming local police checking out our vehicle as they passed. He then saw them turn their vehicle around. It wasn’t a full on “shit hook” but he suspected they were coming to check us out and a few blocks later they were right behind us following us through town. As we got to the outskirts of town, on came the lights. Okay, we didn’t do anything wrong, we weren’t speeding…was this going to be our first shakedown?
An older policeman approached Derek’s door, wished us a good afternoon, then asked, in Spanish, where we were going. Derek explained that we were heading to Canutillo, to camp. “To camp!”, the officer said in Spanish. “Si, I said, “Y para el museo de Pancho Villa. Es bueno?” Yes, yes, he said, in Spanish, it is a very good museum. He asked for Derek’s driver’s licence, and as Derek handed it over, Derek told him we were Canadian. And that was it! On you go, he said. (It all happened in Spanish).
We did find the museum, although it was closed by the time we arrived…the distances are taking longer to drive than we estimate. Roads that look like major highways on our map can be quite narrow and winding. We had an uneventful quiet night and were invited to mass the next morning in the church attached to the museum. We declined for a variety of reasons mostly it would have been a bit disrespectful since we hadn’t showered in days and we would not have had any idea of what was going on in a Catholic mass conducted in Spanish. The museum opened at nine and had lots of great old photographs of Pancho Villa, sometimes likened to a modern Robin Hood of Mexico.
Museo de Pancho Villa
One of many old photographs of Pancho Villa at the museum.
We are now camping in a family waterpark outside the city of Durango called Balneario San Juan. During the day it is full of families picnicking, listening to music and playing in the thermal pools. By 6 pm the gates are locked and we have the place to ourselves until the gates open at 8 am. Flush toilets, our own private hot pools and decent WIFI. We have decided to stay for a few days and take a break from the road and catch up on some chores. Our fridge refuses to work reliably, the rough roads we have been on seem to always be shaking something or the other loose and the truck is in serious need of a wash. We also relaxed and strung our new high tech two person hammock for the first time today, and it is wonderful! The plan as it stands is to head back to the coast in a few days to enjoy the sun, sand and higher temps around Mazatlan.
Photo at dusk from one of the hot pools.