it's time for my final video from chihuahua after spending the last four weeks in mexico's
largest state we're leaving the magical town of Creel which we explored in the previous video
but we're not just getting a bus it's time to jump on el chepe express a much lauded rail experience
which reaches its terminus in los mochis sinaloa after traversing the supposedly magnificent copper
canyons i'm going to cover the highs and the lows of this nine hour journey in business class
and touch on some other options which may make your experience somewhat different is
this seriously the best train journey in the americas i'll let you make up your own mind
good morning and welcome to another mexico video that's a light above me that i'm using
for lighting because it's pitch black outside it's 6 a.m on sunday the 24th of april those
are my bags behind me why have i packed well i'm finally getting on the chepe express this
morning hasn't gone well because i've had to use water from the toilet to have a wash with
because there's no water brilliant but you know what it's one of those
things that happens when you stay in quite remote places you just so you just have to
you know make do with what you've got i don't stink so that's a plus let's get going
sun's coming up 6 14 a.m there's the moon hi hun mexi dogs
um get off you have to be at the station an hour before so i have to be there at
seven for the eight o'clock departure to los mochis and this video is kind of going to be
views out the window basically um informational so i put some stuff on the screen throughout i've
only got today so i'm going directly to los mochis you can stop off at the other i think
three or four stops three i think you know to go hiking stay there for a few days see waterfalls
you know a bit but unsurprisingly i have work tomorrow like normal people hence i'm going
all the way to los mochis so ah out of breath look at these views behind me ah goodbye clear
there's the uh chippy express we were looking at in the last video
is that the one i'm gonna be getting on today it's engines seem to be running
and lights seem to be on in the carriages beautiful sunrise in Creel i'm never normally
up this early to see it walking along the train lines it's too early for this man
she asked me i'm actually an hour and a half early what a shock there's no one here literally it's
a ghost town so while i wait and also i just saw my hair brilliant i am a little bit apprehensive
actually because in terms of reviews i've seen good reviews i've seen terrible reviews of this
but as always with anything take it with a pinch of salt because everyone's experience is
different right you know it's something that you guys have been recommending to me for about a
year now um so i'm really hoping it lives up to expectations you uh can't smoke on there there's
no wi-fi i'm hoping there are plugs um there is food i'm doing executive class as i mentioned in
the last video so um you know i will be able to actually have food um but you know nine hours i
think it's over nine hours on a train oh my lord um i'm sure it'd be lovely though with the amazing
views of the barrancos del cobre copper canyon it's the train at least and i'm in the right place
i wonder if they'll let me on now because i am freezing me tits off
oh exciting a proper luxury elite amazing train ride in mexico
i'm excited so i'm in number two which is uh business class
there's tourista economy class
sorry
i'm coming back that's helpful i just saw the guy putting little flags out saying what class each
carriage is because you know it's quite a long train and as i've just done i've just walked all
the way down to find business class now obviously to get on you need a form of id so i have my
rather decrepit looking british passport already i only got that last year and i have my ticket
which is saved on my phone of course you can print it off as well but who has a printer these days
probably people that still use facebook another bit of info as you can see down there there are
some guys putting their luggage on the luggage car yes there's a separate luggage car and of course
i've only got this so i think uh i'll be all right okay just waiting to board so tuesday thursday and
sunday grill eight o'clock i'll be getting into los mochis at 17 40 and these are all the places
that you stop on the way el fuerte I think that's a magical town at least someone's having fun
okay it's time to get on i
might think the train is it this one it is hang on hang on
this is business class to be honest i was hoping for like a little table or something
um but no big tv's up the end there the um
bar restaurant car is up there the guy told me it's not open yet so we'll go in there later
some of the dishes you can get a hambrger oh it's quite expensive i think it's cash only as well
and alcohol snacks ceiling is this sort of fabricy material
okay let's do this little check okay there is a usb port and two plugs on both sides of the seats
thank god you can put the window shades down obviously i'll put these up when we're
actually going are the seats comfortable um not really if i'm honest i was hoping
that they would be a little bit more comfortable you know especially as it is
nine ten hours i'm glad i put my luggage in the end in the luggage car because there is
only the room under the seat for a small bag you might be wondering about legroom again honestly
it's not great considering it's business class um you know i'm i'm not sure i'm five foot ten
eleven so you know if you're over six foot you can have a bit of an issue if i'm honest
let's have a look at this bar car
oh very posh
we've got these ginormous grey sofas with the big cushions
little tables bar stools
this seating area down here
nice little bar stools and uh is this like a marble i think so
so i'm being a basic [ __ ] um i am a budget traveler by the way um
so M&Ms for breakfast nice um i've got some cash me so i will have some of uh the food later eight
o'clock in the morning there's a bit early for barbacioa okay i'm between the bar and the
business class car um the toilets are in between by the way we've got these lovely views outside
it's quite cold um let's go sit down again
okay i thought i'd come in the toilet and show you this yes we're in a toilet on a train in mexico um
as always it's a bit difficult to uh keep yourself up no i've not gone to the toilet yet don't worry
um yeah so this um i must admit i'm a bit disappointed so far but
we'll see what happens we've got another eight hours
so i'm back in the bar car i thought i would just come in have a closer look on this lovely sofa
nice cushions i feel like i'm in buckingham palace or something like i'm not allowed to touch the
cushions um but i'm doing my best not to leaving it undisturbed yeah disappointment a little bit
disappointed with the fact that um you know the plugs don't work i know i'm being a bit of a first
world traveler person right now but you know yeah the seats really uncomfortable rock hard i would
expect in some i mean in uh business class there would be a bit of reclining or a bit of comfort
but honestly it just doesn't feel much different than a regular economy class if
you know what i mean because i've really come to expect a lot more from mexican
transport you know buses are spectacular i always compliment mexican public transport to the hilt
you know compared to other countries but so far in comparison with the exception of these nice sofas
um yeah a little bit disappointing but let's hope that things improve there is a bit of a kind of
over focus on safety so i was standing in this little bit trying to get some shots at the window
it's not safe it's not safe and i'm yeah i know it's not safe but i'm kind of comparing that to
trains like this i've been on before where you can quite easily stand there and get some shots
first stop a lot more people here
the ambient music that's playing is
slightly annoying as well those views in the distance copper
yeah there's a lot more people getting on at this stop than there were in creole
we're at the next station or something and i would get out and you know put my camera out the window
but i'm not allowed to get off my seat apparently is this the prison train i think it might be
okay i've moved seats to the one behind because people got off and shock horror the plugs do work
on this one so clearly it's intermittent and nice little table thing maybe this is finally
business class so um yeah i booked that one because that was any seat left when i booked
so you do have to book quite a lot in advance so these ones are much better with more legroom
it's about 12 o'clock now and i've come to the restaurant car because i'm starving if
i don't eat food anytime soon i will die um it's pretty basic as i said um you know with
the business class you get access to the the bottom bit so it's the urike restaurant i think
the top here i don't know how you get there um it's the first class bit so i can't go there
it's panoramic and everything i'll show you some pictures now that i found on google
okay forget food for now apparently at this stage only a group of old age pensioners with land yards
on are allowed to eat um apparently because i'm going to lost much because i have to wait until
later to eat don't know when that's going to be i'm so happy we've got views and we're back in the
restaurant car because it's my turn to eat as well as the ladies who are sitting with me hi hauns
this is cool different colored riverbed greens browns reds yellows
and scenery in the distance the food choices for lunch are tacos
i need something if it was substantial as well so i'm having a burger and chips
can you believe it i'm an expert green go just when you think this can't get any worse
burger and chips i've already tried a chip stone cold
i've lost for words i dread to think what the burgers like
cold chips just what i paid over 100 pounds for burger verdict lukewarm the buns
stone cold they've clearly been heated and grilled but how long they've been lying out brilliant
okay i just woke up we're now at el fuerte which is a pueblo
we're not getting off here though there's lots of those uh older americans that are
getting off here so uh the guy kindly allowed me to have a cigarette i'm in a good mood now
if you don't laugh you'll cry right um have a lovely time everyone in el fuerte
i think this is ideal if you are stopping off at places if you're doing the whole trip
like me in one go it could be a little bit stressful um the air conditioning
the clarinet power ballad instrumentals of um i will always love you by whitney houston
almost killed me i better get back on the train
we're in los mochis welcome back to sinaloa for the first time since culiacan 2021 where's the
luggage car oh i've got my bag i've never been so happy to be off a train in my entire life
okay i'll calm down in a second culiacan there's an old location navajoa sonora
there's a new location coming up in the future so we've come from 2 330 meters up in chihuahua
back down to sea level in sinaloa i i'm gonna say that i was disappointed i'm not gonna say it was
[ __ ] i'll leave that for instagram it would have been very different if i'd done it stop by stop
if i'd had more time i would have then had a different opinion of the copper canyon
however there's a huge difference with that and doing that one trip all the way to los mochis
i think the marketing of the chipper express is very clever because it is a touristy thing you
know it leads you to believe that everywhere is these fantastic canyon views and trains
going across these bridges yes there are bridges there are also tunnels there are also
rocky faces in reality you only stop i think twice and go very slowly you go back as well on yourself
at one point so they give you an opportunity to take pictures of canyon areas which we saw i
would say that equates to about 20 minutes of the nine hours and the rest of it is just rocky faces
pretty much average sandy areas with nothing there and tunnels so you know it's one of those things
yes i'm disappointed but i've had an experience and we've had more dogs i'm sure you'll have a
lovely time if you do the chippy express say i'm being diplomatic i've got to go back i mean to my
place and have a shower that'll be good after this morning's catastrophe thanks for watching
i will see you next time in los mochis for a regular video and a 4k walk around hallelujah
brilliant catch you later