Real de Catorce Mexico Part 3 of 5. Transportation.

There are horses and few old Jeep Willys in Real de Catorce. Bob and I had to choose between these two means of transportation to take a tour. I asked at the hotel if this Willy was in used for tours but they said it is only available to transfer guests between the bus station and the hotel. I saw some others Willys in town, but I liked this one because it was next to cafe tables and chairs outside the hotel. I always try to find myself comfortable when sketching since you never know how much time a sketch is going to take, am I the only one who thinks that way? 

A5 Sketchbook, pen, ink and watercolor.

Right across the street from my cafe table there was a group of men peeling and eating peanuts. Turns out that this men were stablemen who offer tours on horse. Bob and I chose the horses since it is the only way to go to the Cerro el Quemado (Burt Hill) which I'll talk about in my next post. We met Benito Martinez Tovar, a stableman native of Real de Catorce. He was our guide and became our friend. Benito told us there are around 52 stableman in Real de Catorce. Each stableman has two or three horses, which makes a population of over a hundred horses for such a small town. Stablemen belong to an association and have to be accredited/certified to work as a guide tour. They have rules, like it is mandatory to wear hat, long sleeve shirt, boots and show their I.D. During weekends Real de Catorce is packed with visitors and there are not enough stableman to satisfy the demand, but during week days, they are more relaxed, like shown in the image below. Well, an advice for my dear travelers, if you like to visit a ghost town that feels like a ghost town, avoid coming on weekends or holidays. Click here to read part 4.

A5 Sketchbook, pen, ink and watercolor.