Real de Catorce
Real de Catorce is an old mining town that was largely abandoned at the beginning of the 20th century, but which is making a comeback off the tourist trade.  It was a bit off the direct road to the border, but our guidbook spoke so highly of it we thought we should make a slight detour.  I'm glad we did!  Because we weren't at all sure our car would make it up the mountain, we parked our car at a hotel in Matehuala and took the bus.

 

It is somewhat hard to describe the charm of Real de Catorce.  In many ways it is just an old crumbling ghost town.  But there was something about the old walls and narrow streets that held our attention.



 






We stayed at a lovely hotel, the Mesón de la Abundancia.  A little touch of luxury amid the old crumbling buildings.





The next morning we rented horses for a short trip up to the old mine above the town.  

 













 













All traffic in and out of town goes through a long (2 km) one lane tunnel.  For one last adventure we decided to walk out through the long tunnel to meet the bus at the other side.