[Sorry, but the next few posts are terribly terse, and somewhat disjointed. I want to get them posted while they're still fresh in my mind, and I have a decent Internet connection]
Friends, do make life easy on yourself - get your vehicle temp import permit from the web site or a local Mexican Consulate -- well before you travel. They're available 6 months before, and can last 6 months.
There are Push-to-talk phones everywhere here. Makes even a coffee shop sound like a construction site.
Oh oh. My stomach is starting to bubble. I probably shouldn't have eaten street food before getting on a 10 hour sea crossing. Ya think?!
Appropriate attire for female Mexican office workers -- if it's not too short or too tight, why bother?
Where Rebecca spent the night
I have fond memories of Catholic school girls striving hard to alter their uniforms to achieve that certain level of ... ummm... 'easy' ... that would give a nun a coronary.
Unlike with the other B.C. Ferries, those in Baja California load motorcycles last.
The good thing is that you get to see the long, carefully orchestrated process involved with loading an ocean-going ship.
Didn't really want to see them loading this on the ship!
I'm looking forward to sailing across the Sea of Cortez tonight...
Almost ran out of gas today. That long desert stretch Jose warned me of yesterday .. well I thought it was still a day south of me. Turns out I was wrong.
So I slow down to an even 80 kph, where I think I get my best mileage, and keep an eye out. After fretting about it for an hour, and constantly doing the math to see how far I can go, I finally found a lonely little outpost selling gasolina. These ladies saved my day.
I put in 2 gallons, just enough to reach the next Pemex station.
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Stayed the night in Guerrero Negro, an old whaling village on the west coast. Now they do a big trade in whale-watching. There are no whales here right now, so we'll just be moving along in the morning.
I ran into a couple from Los Angeles who spend 6 months of each year on their sailboat in the Sea of Cortez and along the Pacific Coast of Mexico. They're really nice, approachable folks. My burning question was, "How do you afford it? What do you do?"
Ann is originally from Peterborough, Ontario, and now manages a dental hygienist office. Dave is a marine mechanic. They work hard for half a year, and live simply in the big city. Then come down here and live on their boat. While down here, they don't work -- just travel around and port for fresh supplies.
A nice and simple life. And a wonderfully inspiring story.
Oh yes, Dave tells me they sample the Fish Soup everywhere they've ever travelled, and the one served by by the Hotel Malarrimo is the best. Ever.
Dave and Ann, as well as another couple down from Oregon, crossed into Mexico through Tijuana a couple nights ago. Apparently it's pretty safe right now..
=== CORRECTION ===
I've been informed that there are NO wild horses in Baja. So the ones I saw roadside near Tecate were just hanging out waiting for their cowboys to come round them up. Pretty cool. I've seen many horse-mounted cowboys out here so far, and will try to get a picture...
Man, I'm missing the Hotel Santo Tomas back in Ensenda. That was a palace! Here's a picture of Uriel who was invaluable in helping me deal with the Mexican Import authorities (We tried, my friend. We tried...) I hope to see him in Canada one day...
The room I'm in tonight in Rosario de Arriba is much colder than I expected, or am happy with. There isn't even a heater in the room.
I thought I'd just take my computer over to the restaurant attached to the motel office, but it's just as cold in there. I guess I haven't yet trained myself to look and ask for working heaters when choosing a place to stay…
Mountains of Baja
Other than the frosty fingers tonight, today was a wonderful travel day. Only about 25 kms of construction in the nearly 200 kms I rode today.
Jose, Elizabeth and little Robert
I met a lovely Mexican familiy on the way back north to their home in San Diego. Jose informs me to make sure I have extra fuel on hand while crossing the desert stretch up ahead, where the road crosses from the Pacific coast of the peninsula to the Gulf of California side.
Lickily I still have the 1 litre fuel bottle on the bike that I was using to carry camping stove fuel. Hmmm .. where I can empty that fuel to replace it with gasoline?
It's only an extra 20 or so kilometres of range that will give me, but acording to the map, there are settlements well within the range of my bike's 23L tank…
I guess we will see…
Along the road today I passed through two more military checkpoints, but was waved through each time. Since I will most certainly NOT be taking pictures of these checkpoints, I should explain them a bit.
Dusty streets of San Vicente, B.C.
There are probably about a dozen soliders visible as you approach these checkpoints along the road. All traffic must stop, and each vehicle is approached by a solider with an automatic rifle at his side. Off to each side of the checkpoint, set back about 10 feet from the road are little bunkers. Each is about the size of a couple porta-potty's standing together. They are surrounded by used tires, and inside sits one or two soldiers with really, really large mounted machine guns. The kind I used to really love seeing in those old Westerns when the hero surprises the bad guys and whips the cover off the wagon and, ta-da!, lays waste to all evil-doers with seemingly endless rounds spraying while he sweeps the big machine gun back and forth.
When you're on a motorcycle, in a foreign country, facing a language barrier and realize these soldiers, like soldiers everywhere, are mostly just boys with deadly toys .. suddenly the charm of so much steel and machismo is not quite doing it for me.
Like I said though, so far, I've only received a quick looking over, and been waved right through..
Not so for many of the folks that had been traveling the same stretch of road with me earlier. I don't know these people, or their stories, but had kind of grown fond of the guy in the blue Mazada pickup with the busted taillight, old tire in the back, with this little daughter playing hide and seek with me from the jump seat of the cab. I hope they made it through okay.
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Another lovely family on their way to the US. Junior, his wife (I'm sorry I forgot your name) and their almost 5-1/2 month old (off camera - still in her tummy!)
I wish you guys all the best! Cheers.
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Some video I shot today. I just pulled over to the side of Federal Highway 1 and panned around me. Not a single soul. Very peaceful, very nice. I think I'd like to come back one year and camp along this stretch of the coast during the warm summer months.
Hotel Santo Tomas -- first rate. Excellent quality and service. Great low prices. Friendly, professionl staff. Bright, clean rooms with a decent speed Internet connection via WiFi throughout the building.
Got the big runaround trying to get my temporary import permit papers for the bike. I had a nice bilingual fellow on the hotel staff, Urel, on the phone trying to track down the correct office for me to visit.
See, when I crossed at Tecate, they told me I'd have to come to Ensenada to get the import papers.
So after tramping around to 4 different office yesterday, I think I have a good handle on the layout od downtown Ensenada.
It seems almost all of the government office are right in core, but there must be a checkpoint on the way into the city where the staff are requested to leave their good senses while at work.
I'm told I may be able to get one at a military checkpoint on the main raod south. Or if not, then there are some more immigration offices down in La Paz.
