Durango, Mexico

Although the Sierra Madre still looms on the western horizon, the country around DURANGO itself is flat. Just two low hills mark out the city from the plain: the Cerro del Mercado, a giant lump of iron ore that testifies to the area's mineral wealth, rises squat and black to the north, while to the west a climb up the Cerro de los Remedios provides a wonderful panorama over the whole city. Officially named Victoria de Durango, the city, with its nearly 600,000 inhabitants, sits between these two hills in the Valle del Guadiana. Highways 45 and 40 intersect here, making it an important transport junction between the coast and the interior cities of Torréon, Saltillo and Monterrey, but the town is worth a visit of a day or two in its own right, with a national monument and beautiful colonial architecture. The people, too, are a charismatic and gregarious bunch whose hospitality comes as a charming respite from the north.