Every year, groups of Wixárika pilgrims, the people known to outsiders as the Huichol, walk hundreds of kilometres from their homeland in the mountains of Jalisco and Nayarit to Wirikuta, a sacred desert in San Luis Potosí. The route crosses a chain of sacred places, springs, hills and rocks, where offerings are left and ceremonies performed, and Cuhixu Uheni, near the small town of Villa de Ramos, is one of them. The pilgrimage route as a whole has been put forward for World Heritage status as a living cultural landscape.
Wirikuta itself lies further east, in the high desert around the mountains of Real de Catorce. For the Wixárika it is the place where the sun was born, and where they gather peyote, a sacred cactus central to their religion. The area has been the focus of conflict in recent years over mining concessions, and many people, both indigenous and not, have campaigned to protect it. If you visit any of the sacred sites, behave with discretion and respect; these are places of active worship, not tourist attractions.
The landscape is the Chihuahuan desert at its most austere: a high, flat plain at around two thousand metres, with yucca trees, cacti, creosote bushes and distant blue mountains. The light is intense, the sky enormous, and the silence profound. In the evenings, the colours of the desert change from gold to red to purple.
The riding is straightforward on the main roads, long straights across the plain with little traffic, and wind that can be strong and gusty. Real de Catorce, a former silver mining town in the mountains to the east, is reached by a long cobbled road and then a single-lane tunnel over two kilometres long, with traffic controlled in alternate directions. It is a memorable ride, and the town, a mix of ruins and restored buildings, is fascinating.
Villa de Ramos is a small town with basic services, but for reliable fuel and supplies, Salinas or the city of San Luis Potosí are better bets. Carry plenty of water; the desert is hot by day and can be cold at night. Check current travel advice before riding in this part of Mexico, and avoid riding after dark, when livestock, potholes and unlit vehicles make the roads dangerous.