On a slightly humid Sunday morning, we left the ‘California Star’ at its berth, and made our way ashore at Topolobampo.

To be truly correct, we were actually at the ferry terminal, a couple of kilometres outside of the town (yes, here in Mexico, they also use km’s), so that meant for us, a nice morning walk to find a bus to take us to Los Mochis.

We took comfort in the fact the we were not the only people making the trek, and with a bit of dumb luck, it wasn’t long before we found a bus idling in the streets of town.

Paying a small fare, we squeezed into a couple seats, packs and all, and the bus promptly took off.

To Los Mochis by local bus

It was a thankfully short journey (maybe half an hour), as sitting with a full pack and another passenger beside you, doesn’t make for the most comfortable journey.

So let me tell you about Los Mochis.

Our Lonely Planet guidebook described it “as terminus for the fabulous Ferrocarril Chihuahua Pacífico train journey all mean Los Mochis milks a lot of tourist traffic”

They got the terminus for ‘El Chepe’ bit correct, as for milking tourist traffic, I can only assume this place gets busier at other times of the year, or they meant Mexican tourists.

Fortunately we had booked this one (our place to stay for 2 nights) in advance, so knew where we were headed.

Had we not, I’m not sure how we would have found somewhere, as none of the hotels was readily apparent in this grid like city.

Still, we checked in, stowed our bags, and thought we’d try, if possible, to book our train tickets immediately.

It was hot, about a 4km walk, but we took a punt… and discovered the office wasn’t open to sell us ‘Class Econimica’ tickets until the next day!

No tickets to be had at the station…

Food was now our primary concern, and on the walk to the station, we’d spotted several potential candidates for our lunch venue.

We chose at random, and we chose incredibly well!

Our inspired, random choice of lunch (it was also breakfast) venue

We’re pretty sure this guy and his young assistant served us up some delicious goat tacos, with a frijole tortilla thrown in for good measure.

With a couple of salsas to choose from as well, this food was damn tasty!

We’d found little else to do, and our guidebook was really devoid of suggestion, but with luck we stumbled upon a local market (If you’ve read much of travels, you’d know we love local markets) which was an enjoyable indulgence.

It was great to wander amidst the first market akin to something from South-East Asia in a long time, with raw meats, traditional medicines, automotive parts and both food and drink vendors.

Market day, Los Mochis style

In the markets, this weathered face caught my eye

We had one other desire for the day. To find a venue for the World Cup Final.

Having wandered for a time, we decided to head back to our room to try Google for an answer.

Turning on the TV in our room, it was again through pure chance we found a channel with not only the football, but the game was actually about to kick off an hour earlier than we’d expected!

Thankfully, not a minute was missed, and the best team won on the day. Viva Alemania (Germany)!

The following morning saw us repeat our trek to the station, only to again find the ticket window closed!

With little other option we sat down to wait, and at half past eight, the blind was raised briefly. Long enough for us (the only 2 customers in the station) to purchase our tickets to Creel for the following day.

In a repeat of the previous morning, breakfast saw us stopping at the same taco stand, this time with the added addition of a Jalapeno each on the side (I cleverly chose a small one, Sarah did not).

Our favourite tacos in Los Mochis (admittedly, the only we tried)

It was a delicious way to kick start the day. Having assisted Sarah in her consumption of her frijole tortilla, after the fiery kick received from my own Jalapeno, I was very happy to leave the remainder of hers on the plate.

Seeking ways to occupy ourselves for the rest of the day, we hit the gardens, where they had some pretty cool shady paths and a few old trees that had been nicely carved.

Tree art in Los Mochis

Aside from some tasty Coco (Coconut) ice creams from our local Oxxo (a bit like a 7-Eleven) and catching some dancing in the park, that pretty much concluded our time in Los Mochis