La Mina Eden

While in Zacatecas, take the teleférico (cable car), which glides over the city to the Cerro de La Bufa, the hilltop that was the site of Pancho Villa’s most famous battle. There are monuments on the hill commemorating this event. Also on the summit is a beautiful church. When the cable car returns you to town, ask directions for the short walk to La Mina Eden, just a few blocks away. At the entrance to the mine you buy a ticket and a guide leads you through the vast, dimly lit tunnels, hand-hewn by Indian slaves. Along the way you cross suspension bridges over cavernous drop-offs where water has collected. You cannot help being saddened when you see the horrific conditions in which the slaves—men and young boys—worked and died. We were told that not a day ever passed without a fatal accident. At the bottom of the tunnel, your guide leaves you and you board a little train that slowly returns you to a world of light.