Ghost Town Vandals

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dibbons

dibbons

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
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Location
La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico
"El Triunfo" was a booming town of thousands of residents in the 1800's thanks to the gold mines. When the mines filled with water, the good times came to an end. Today the population sign shows about 300 persons left behind, who have nothing to do but sell cactus fruit (pitaya) to cars passing through town or sell a taco or a trinket to the occasional tourist. First foto is the ecological cabin porch area we built five years ago on top of a hill overlooking the town. Foto two is the view from there of the church and the chimneys of the now abandoned smelters. If you look closely at the second foto at right edge/center you can spot the cabin there in the background.

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I knew very well I was asking for a miracle when installing copper pipe for the small brick bathroom, a common item often stolen along with copper wire taken from local schools when classes not in session. Well, after five years, the copper pipe is missing, along with a partial roll of barb wire, a battery operated screw driver, a few hand tools, and a new shower head still in the box. The inside of the cabin was ransacked, but the locked metal door on the brick bathroom was undisturbed (for now). There is no way to lock and secure the cabin itself, which has wooden shutters for windows.

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The only way up to the cabin is a 100 meter foot trail from the highway below. Local burros were used to haul material up the hill during construction, while I have to still carry all the water up the hill myself for drinking, washing, bathing. When the pipe was stolen, I lost 450 liters of fresh water stored on the roof of the brick bathroom. The one solar panel on the roof is still there (for now). The bathroom has a shower, waterless toilet, deep double sink, and LPG water heater.

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When I arrived to discover the theft, I also found the door of the cabin was still secured with the 2 X 4 from the inside, but three chairs, a folding table, and an air mattress had been brought outside and were now on still on the front porch, along with a new can of insect spray that was not mine. I wonder now if we had two different sets of visitors--someone camping out there and someone else stealing stuff?

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The funny thing is, the back of one of the plastic chairs had recently snapped clear off on me, but I found someone had made holes on both sides of the chair back and used wire to tie it back together again. The other weird thing is that I found no trash lying about--no empty beer cans, no soda bottles, no candy wrappers, no general garbage of any kind.

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During the initial construction, we built around a native cactus that was there before we were. Unfortunately, it dried up and died while I was away on business, either from lack of water or lack of sunlight (or both).

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Two more fotos, one of the finished bathroom interior and one of the view one has while sitting on the toilet.

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Well I dig it, I would be happy to live there, if only I had one of those sun baked Maya chicks cook for me. The cactus next to the bed would have to go, I could see myself try to use it pulling my tired butt out of bed....I don't know maybe greasing the palms of few of the locals might keep an eye out for the cabin? I am sure that who ever visited the cabin while you was away, and helped themselves, found it in their heart to repair the chair they broke, all is well.
 
There was a newer restaurant on the highway right below the cabin for about three years, until it mysteriously burned to the ground. After sitting in a destroyed state for many months, it is now being rebuilt (new owners) and should re-open this month in April. It is only a five minute walk from the cabin.
 
The tall smelter chimney was constructed in the 1800's using a blueprint design taken from the architect who designed the tower in Paris, Gustave Eiffel. It recently had scaffolding surrounding it all the way to the top to restore/repair cracks (for the second time).

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