Small Towns Near Mazatlan

Nov. 16, 2006

We took a tour that went to small towns near Mazatlan. The first stop was to see the making of adobe bricks. The bricks were handmade; the worker put adobe clay into the form, smoothed it off with his hands, then lifted the form to reveal four bricks. The bricks are then allowed to dry in the sun; later they will be fired to give them strength. It looked like grueling work in the hot sun.

Another stop was to see the making of ceramic tiles. Dyes to add color are first added to the bottom of the mold.

The ceramic material is then poured into the mold; the way he pours the material, it looks like he is making pancakes. After the material was poured the worker then took a pencil and created swirls in the ceramic material. The top of the mold was then attached and pressure was applied to the mold.

He then opened the mold and removed the tile, showing us his creation. Since the swirls are put in by hand, each tile is different.

A close-up of the tile.

We drove by a field where  prickly pear cactus was grown as a crop. It seems that some people think it is a good treatment for diabetes.
 

This cathedral in Concordia is the oldest catholic church in the state of Sinaloa.

The interior of the cathedral in Concordia.

The mining town of Copala; it was founded in 1565. Now the main economic activity seems to be tourism. After a while, all the items at various tourist stops started looking alike.

These school boys in Copala were out to hustle the tourists for all they could get. When I took a picture of them, the one in the orange shirt demanded, "One dollah for picture!"

A river crossing; the water flows over the roadway. A modern bridge is being built to replace this river crossing.

When we returned to the RV park, I found my Roadtrek clean and shiny. Earlier I had contracted with a Mexican to wash and polish it for me for 140 pesos, which is about $13 dollars. He did a great job for much less than it would have cost me in the U.S.
 

Mazatlan is as far south as we get in this trip. Next we retrace some of our route; we drive back (northwest) to Guasave and then to a small village on the Sea of Cortez about 30 miles south of Guasave.