For the Wixarika people, also known as the Huichol, the high desert of San Luis Potosí is the place where the sun was born, and every year pilgrims walk or travel hundreds of kilometres from their mountain villages in Jalisco and Nayarit to Wirikuta, a sacred landscape around the old mining town of Real de Catorce.
The pilgrimage is a journey of renewal in which pilgrims follow the path of their ancestors, make offerings at springs and hills, and hunt the hikuri, the peyote cactus, which is gathered ritually and has a central role in their religion. Its use by the Wixarika is legally protected, and the cactus itself is endangered, so as a visitor you must not collect or disturb any plants, and you should ask before taking photographs or entering any ceremonial place. The climb to the top of Cerro Quemado at dawn is a significant ritual, and the whole area is part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro heritage listing.
Real de Catorce itself is one of the strangest places in Mexico. It was a rich silver town in the nineteenth century, with fine stone houses, a mint and a bullring, and after the silver price collapsed in the early twentieth century it was almost abandoned. Today a few hundred people live there, in a half-ruined town with cobbled streets, high in the mountains at about 2,700 metres, reached through the Ogarrio tunnel, a long, narrow, one-lane passage through the mountain, with traffic taking turns. The cobbled road up from the highway is long and bumpy, and parking at the end is limited, so take it slowly and watch for horses and jeeps.
Fuel is the thing to plan. There is none in Real de Catorce, so fill up in Matehuala, the larger town on Highway 57, or at Cedral, a small town of eleven thousand people on the way. The air is thin and cold at night even in summer, so bring a jacket, and a hat and water for the day. The town has simple restaurants serving enchiladas, gorditas and strong coffee, and some small hotels.