Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
but which finally became unproductive. At the current price of silver, it was not profitable
to continue.
We walked and took pictures. We saw abandoned ore carts, rusted iron supports, hard-
rock tunnels branching off and narrow tracks. We stopped and looked into an even deeper
pit. The guide silenced us, and we listened to a rock fall 150 feet. We listened to it bounce
off the walls of the shaft and heard the rockslides and sifting dirt that followed.
The guide took us to the face and pointed out the vein. We all got our chance to rub the
vein for luck. Then in an open area, we formed a circle and stopped. No one moved, and
we all turned out our miner's light. In the depth of the mine, it was pitch black. Nothing
registered. It was pure absence of visual sensation.
The guide said that anyone could speak and offer reflections. "You're anonymous," he
said. One woman spoke up. She said that her father
worked in this mine for fourteen years, and this was the first time she had been in a
mine. The thought of his labor here stirred her feelings. She felt a connection, a respect
and reverence.
Another spoke in the darkness. He reflected on the value of sight and how blessed we
were, not only for sight but for the fact that we were healthy and could visit a mine. The
mood turned more reflective and spiritual. It was like a religious camp moment, giving
thanks and witness to the grace of God.
El Chico, the second town, with a history of silver mining, was a taxicab drive into the pine
forest, which President Díaz was wise to set aside. This ecological preserve attracts family
vacationers. The town is a small gem, only a few blocks in size, located on a mountain
slope.
From El Chico I caught the collective taxi for Pachuca, the capital of the State of Hidalgo.
Pachuca is a large city with a touch of colonial architecture. The collective let me off a
few blocks from the city center and the symbol of Pachuca, a towering monumental clock,
which was made by the same manufacturer as London's Big Ben in the late 1800s.
Near the clock and bell tower, a woman, shaded by sitting under a red-blue-yellow um-
brella, was selling city tours. The man in front of me bought the last four tickets. I told the
lady who had just sold the last ticket, "I'd like to take this tour, and I'm willing to stand."
