Pachuca, Hidalgo

Today we made the trip from Tula to Pachuca.  It was the realization of a wish of mine to see the town with the same name as my boat.

Raising the Bell mechanism weight

100 year old British made bell control mechanism

Pachuca's bell tower celebrating indeendence of 1910

We arrived at the central bus depot of Tula at about 8.45 AM and at 9 AM we were rolling on our way to Pachuca.  During the short trip of about 90 minutes I occupied my time by watching what must have been a remake of "Herbie" the VW beetle.  Even with the Spanish dubbing I managed to follow the simple story very well and found it so over the top silly that I shared laughs with some of the other passengers.  Nevertheless I would occasionally glimpse around and am able to confirm Brenda's observation that the road between Tula and Pachuca is first class with its four lanes sometimes close and divided by a barrier and sometimes separated.  Some sections were through very deep cuts in hills that must have required a lot of dynamiting and earth moving.  In my opinion the road was to the standard of the best in the world.  The cost of this bus leg was 158 pesos ($13.20) for the both of us. 

We arrived at the Pachuca bus terminal at 10.15 AM and within 15 minutes we were aboard a green-striped Colectivo minibus headed for the center of Pachuca 20 minutes away.  I found the business model of this enterprise interesting.  There was a queue of about 5 of these mini buses. Passengers were packed like sardines in the head bus, then it was sent on its way and the net bus would be filled up.  The advantage to us passengers was low cost.  The total charge for Brenda and myself was 11 pesos (about 90 cents). 

We got off the bus at centro, the center of the city, next to the Plaza de la Constitucion and managed to find our way to the Plaza de la Independencia (the zocalo) between Allende and Matamoros. On Allende we found the Gran Hotel Independencia which is mentioned in our guide.  The price was OK at 440 pesos so we checked in and were in our room at 11.30 AM, giving us plenty of time for looking around the city.

Hotel, Brenda at right in front of room

The hotel was built in 1865, the year that Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.  It conforms to classical Spanish architecture, with the rooms along a rectangular perimeter and a large courtyard in the center.  The hotel has "good vibes" and the staff are great.  We were granted permission to dry our hand washed clothes along benches in an unoccupied section of the building and when we returned to our room in the late afternoon one of the staff ran to us with our dried washing neatly folded in our bag.

Statue of Christ overlooking city

Our first foray into the town took an unexpected detour.  We visited the large clock and bell tower in the center of the Plaza de la Independencia in front of the hotel and paid the 10 pesos to go up a flight of stairs and survey the surroundings.  Soon a man invited us to go up to the next stage, which involved a long climb along steel rungs set into the wall.  Brenda elected to stay where she was but I took up the offer.  Soon there were 6 teenage school girls following, then the man who acted as our guide.

The climb was well worth the effort.  The center of attention was a wonderful mechanism built in London and installed in 1910 when the tower was commissioned to commemorate the achievement of Mexican independence.  The mechanism was in mint condition and appeared to me that it would easily run for another 200 years.  Its purpose is to keep time and trigger the ringing of the bells at the quarter hour and full hour.  On the quarter hour the equipment came to life, gears spun around, lines were pulled, and the bells rang.

One of Pachuca's quieter streets.  Note mountain.

The entire affair is powered by two large weights and one smaller one, much as in a grandfather clock.  Every three days a crank is used to raise the weights to their full height.  Today was the third day and the guide did his cranking demonstration then got me involved.  At first the cranking was risibly easy but with time it got more and more difficult.  But this old dog of 67 was not going to show weakness to 6 young senoritas and mercifully the weight got to the top before I got to cardiac arrest.  The girls then had a go and I was amazed at how physically weak they were.  Maybe that was a good sign of easy modern living.

At the Pachuca mining museum

In the afternoon we visited the Museo de Mineria, which is a chronicle of the of the interesting mining history of Pachuca.  And interesting it is.  Silver was unearthed in this region as early as 1534.  Thereafter is a history of mining for gold, silver, and obsidian reaching into the 1990's (and possibly the present day, but I'm not sure.)  We're talking serious and extensive mining, at least on a par with Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. 

I had a special interst, of course.  My boat was built by a mining engineer in Western Australia.  I've been informed that a "pachuca" is some sort of vessel for treating gold ore in Western Australia.  Brenda and I suspect that that name came from a similar devise used here in Pachuca in its gold treatment process. 

Unfortunately although Brenda and I scrutinized the Spanish language exhibits very closely we could not find any explicit reference to any piece of equipment called a "pachuca", but then why would there be, if it was part of the local mining scene?  I did see a tantalizing reference to an invention by a local person of a new gold processing method, but could not find a definite link.


Brenda's Mealtime Story 4: A food specialty here is the paste. Pastes are very popular and there are many outlets. They are the local version of the Cornish pastie. Back around 1849, a British company bought into the mining industry here. They hired and imported some Cornish miners. These miners brought not only their skills in modern, more mechanized mining but the pastie which is ideal for the underground meal - pastry encasing a mix of beef mince and vegetables such as potato, carrot, turnip and onion. Pachuca pastes come with fillings such as well-spiced tuna and potatoes, chorizo and beans, and several more savoury fillings as well as a popular rice pudding, and a pineapple custard version. The pastry is either flakey pastry or rich flakey pastry. I have always liked pasties so it is a form of heaven to be in a city where they are so readily available.

Incidentally, the Cornish miners are also credited with introducing soccer to Mexico - now a national obsession.