My daily routine in Xela
Day 341
Xela, Guatemala
I’ve been here for three weeks now studying and my days are pretty much the same. I wake up at 7.30am, eat breakfast and walk the 50 meters to the school around the corner. I get a cup of coffee and sit studying Spanish until 10am when there is more coffee and usually cake. Every stands around chatting for half an hour and then there is more studying until 1pm. Sometimes myself and the other students and teachers will go for a walk around town to look at something interesting, sometimes we’ll go for coffee. The school hasn’t had many people in it so far, at most 5 students, which at least means its reasonably quiet.
After school I come back to my host family for lunch and then maybe I have the rest of the day to while away. For several afternoons in the week we take excursions out to markets or churches in the local area which fills the rest of the day. Sometimes I have a siesta in the afternoon, or just sit and play my guitar for a few hours. I found a cool little cafe with wireless Internet so like to sit there when I need to get my information fix. I pulled my bike out of my van as soon as I arrived so try to cycle everywhere. Xela is kind of hilly and the roads can be pretty bad but its small enough with a bike.
At 6pm I have a salsa lesson and there are two possibilities, Salsa Rosa, which is small and funky, or Guajira which is bigger and with a nicer room. They both cost Q30 ($4) for a group lesson but no matter which you go its always a gamble as to whether you end up dancing with someone suitable or not. There is a nice Canadian girl, Ashley, who usually goes to one of them who is pretty good to dance with, but you might end up with someone completely off your level, or worse, no one at all. It seems Salsa is pretty popular with guys in Xela.
And so it should be, last Tuesday I turned up at Guajira to find 8 new, and very attractive, girls lined up for the class. Apparently they were trying to learn some new skills as they were the contestants in the ‘Miss Xela’ competition later today. I had a fun hour dancing with some hot (and rather tall) girls but sadly they didn’t return the next night. :p On some nights there is Salsa music in a few of the clubs which I have been to a few times. I’m feel like I’m finally getting to a decent level but I am still hampered by the lack of a good regular partner…
After my class I head back home for my evening meal and maybe an attempt at my homework, depending on whether I was given any. I’ve been messing around with Cubase 3sx for a while in an attempt to record some music, but the PreSonus 1394 interface I have works but produces far too much noise to make it worthwhile. I’m still looking for a solution but its not easy without a permanent Internet connection.
Xela is nice, although a little cold and it seems to be raining a lot of the time these days. I figure I will study for another week, maybe two, while trying to find some travel companions on the road South before heading east to El Salvador and some more time on the beach.
I need to start blogging again…
I need to start blogging again. Or something. Why has England sucked all my energy away so quickly??? I need a beach
Driving down to purgatory
Day 166
San Blas, Mexico
Most of my afternoon was spent driving down the coast to a small fishing village called San Blas. I had heard that it was a good place to practice my surfing and I was looking for a place to chill and improve my Spanish. It was only 4 hours or so down the highway and I listened to my language course and Manu Chao as I rolled along. My planned place to stay was a camp ground place called ‘Stoners’, nothing to do with any illicit activities, it was built by a gringo called Bob Stoner. The present owner is the Mexican surf Champ, an imposing guy called Pompis, helped out by his German girlfriend Nicy. It sits right next to a nice break on the beach and has a few cabanas for $10 or camping for only $3. I found myself a nice little spot where the sun wouldn’t kill me in the morning and said hi to the few other guests before heading off to see if I could remember how to surf.
The afternoon break is pretty rough, I would have to try to get up in the morning and catch that one instead but the area seemed pretty good. The camp ground has boards for rent and offer lessons too as well as a kitchen and fridge, which is great. The only problem is that it pretty much closes at night, so after I had showered and watched the sunset the place was deserted apart from the night watchman who just wanted to get an early night. I was happy to join him, although it would preferably be alone in my own tent…
drive to san blas/stoners/surfing-offer rick my board/quiet night
Windy by the Pacific
Day 164
Mazatlan, Mexico
Today was the day of partings once more, Roland decided it would be time to head to Guadalarja to meet his father in a few days and would have to go now. We checked the bus station and the buses left every 1/2 hour 24 hours a day so he would be off whenever, but we wanted to try to see a few things first. Mazatlan boasts the second highest lighthouse in the world, but the weather was awful, with low clouds and a heavy wind, it would be pointless to climb that today. We decided to go over the bay to the local ‘island’ (its attached to the mainland) where there was a nice long beach but we didn’t last long. The wind just threw sand everywhere and after an hour of getting blasted we gave up and headed back. Today would have been the one to drive down the coast, but how were we to know!
Cloudy Lighthouse.
We went back to the main beach as the sun slowly started to appear but it was still pretty windy. For a late lunch we had the local speciality ‘Pescado zzzzzzzzzzz something’ which was pretty good and then went back to see the old town some more in the daylight.
Cheers!
We spent some time in the Catherdral before wandering back to the square where we sat and people watched for a few hours. There is a local music school nearby so we listened to the students practice their various instruments and just chilled, quite literally, it wasn’t a good place to sit still in shorts. That became too much so we went off for some internet usage and returned to the potato woman for some much needed late supper. I was going to be sorry to see Roland go, but he’s in the country for a few more months and we’re both going south, I will no doubt bump into him again. Maybe then he will have become a Couchsurfing Ambassador like me and I won’t look down on him so much 
new hotel/checking bus station/over to ferry/lighthouse cloud/sitting on the beach/too windy/horses.ATVs/back to maz/claifornia grass/fishy dish/catherdral/sitting in square/fast internet/potato woman/bheer by the beach/bus for roland
Sushi by the sea
Day 162
Los Mochis, Mexico
The next morning we had a serious problem (not counting 2 hangovers), we couldn’t get out of the apartment. The previous night we had set the big dead lock and now it wouldn’t open. We pulled it, tried all the keys, tried taking it apart, climbed through windows and tried to open it from the outside, pushed it, shouted at it, bashed it, removed more screws, used some pliers, gave up and went back to try it all again before Roland just pulled a knob on the end and the door opened. Beer creates these fuzzy thoughts but it seemed quite obvious once we had done it once.
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We went back to the Pacific for a look at the beach and being Sunday it was pretty busy, families with kites and kids in their expensive cars and clothes, the usual nonsense.
The Batless Bat Cave
There was also a bat cave but after exploring it (which took 20 seconds) we gave up and went back to town. I wanted to stay and watch the bats come out, but I wasn’t the driver, Roberto preferred to drive us up to the top of some hill to see Los Mochis at night, it was just a load of lights….
Rolando is stunned into retardation by the view
Stuck lock/walmart/sushi/beach/bat cave/look out/potato tacos/
Back and forth in San Lucas
Day 157
San Lucas, BCS, Mexico
We returned to the supermarket on the advice of our neighbour to buy more supplies for Los Arbolitos beach which was in the middle of nowhere and on a terrible road. We didn’t want to be driving around looking for food, we would be pretty much trapped with whatever we took with us. Betsabe was at church, it seemed Sunday had rolled around again without us noticing but had invited us to lunch and we drove over to sit and chat and leech her Internet connection. Expecting to spend the night at a dodgy beach I had left my laptop at her place, uploading photos and downloading movies. She is a Lost addict and was stunned to learn that the fourth series has recently started and I spent quite a while earning a extremely positive CS feedback by copying the latest 3 episodes to her laptop and ensuring they play. She made delicious lunch and I finally got to eat cactus which was really nice, although I have no idea how she made it. Roland is the chef, I hope he took notes.
Lunch was late though and I started wondering where we were going to spend the night. When we eventually got going it was 3pm and Betsabe drove us over to La Playita beach, which we had been looking for, before putting us on the road along the coast up toward Los Arbolitos. Of course all this passed me by as everyone was chatting in Spanish, but the road was pretty appalling, sandy with regular bottom scraping rocks. Betsabe got her Toyota saloon over the obstacles with no problems and I followed, with an increasing sense of uncertainty and dread. No one was camping up here, the road was bad, the sun would be setting soon and I only had a quarter of a tank of gas. Not a good combination for a trip out into the Baja wilderness. We came to the first town after half an hour and I decided we should go back to the original beach and come back better prepared, if at all. We said goodbye to Betsabe and her friends and once again went to set up our tents by Barb, our Canadian neighbour, who once again wanted to know why we hadn’t left :p
Another dodgy place to sleep
Day 157 Los Cabos
After what can only be described as a pretty restless night I woke to a knock on the window from Roland. He had slept soundly in his tent on the roof by Eduardos room and learned he had come home really dunk at lord knows when and passed the tent without so much as a glance or recognition that we were waiting for him. We went for breakfast and then went to use Eduardos shower and have a chat. He gets by by selling crystal rocks to tourists, seems to suit him as he didn’t look the person most likely to get up at 7am without fail. The first warm shower in 5 days was rather nice, but I don’t think I was smelling too bad, my salt crystal deodorant had been working wonders now since Toronto and day 2. I felt glad to be alive when he told me this was a area with a crack problem and he always locked his door. That made me feel super about sleeping in my car! Maybe we’ll see him in his home town soon, but since his Canadian friend left him a load of food he said he may stay longer in Cabos just to eat it.
Ah, Beach Life
We had arranged to meet Betsabe at 2pm so wasted the time by going to a nearby beach, Santa Maria, which was quite nice and quite hot. We spent most of the afternoon watching 3 girls chase each other up and down the beach in an attempt to throw one of them into the sea. It was very warm though so after some reading and Spanish lessons I went to tidy my car and check why my cooler is no longer cool. I put all Roland’s stuff on one side and then had a minor crisis when I couldn’t find my replacement camera charger. Not another $40!! Time flies when you’re having fun and after sorting out my increasingly untidy food box was nearly ran over by Betsabe as she came to join us on the beach. We then froze as we watched a completely crazy whale jumping about and smashing its tail into the water over and over. Roland went for another suicide attempt on the cliffs and happy with living for another day we went over to Betsabes house after picking up some groceries and made dinner. I’m not sure I was a very good guest since I spent nearly the entire time getting my Internet fix. Still no word from Sheena, 5 days now, I wonder when the FBI will be wanting to ask me when I last saw her… :/
We spent the evening with a surfer and made dinner for her flatmate and boyfriend but when it got to 11.30pm we didn’t have a couch to sleep on and headed back to the beach we had scouted out earlier, but it was too close to the center of San Lucas and we couldn’t even say goodnight to Betsabe without being hassled for change. Not a good place to spent the night and we went back to our RV beach which we found packed with Mexicans partying on the beach in their 4×4′s. The music was pumping across the dunes at party levels and despite driving up tired as hell, by the time I got my tent up I was wide away and ready to dance, if not for the god-awful Mexican ‘music’ and their bloody trumpets! You’re on the beach for gods sake, buy some Bob Marley! They soon gave up though and we retired, happy to know the van would block the sunrise this time and the bulldozers nearby would be at morning Mass.
Gringos Locos
Day 156
Los Cabos, BCS, Mexico
The local friendly Canadian tourist information neighbour had some tips for us when we were making our coffee in the morning. She had 4 dogs and many complaints about the nearby puppy farm. I wanted to ask her why she had one of their puppies herself but didn’t dare. She was bigger than me. We went into San Lucas for a look around and come breakfast. Still loving those fish tacos. San Lucas was the picturesque tourist trap of the 2, a typical Mexican town resided behind the facade at the beach and we ate there. I bought some heavy duty hooks, now I just need a hammock. My eyes are open for a nice one from now on. We dutifully drove back into Cabo for our appointment with Mona but we got the cancellation text just after we parked up and had spent 10 minutes washing on the street and changing clothes. It was time to hit the beach then! We walked back through the harbour and headed for sandy gringo central. Across from the Arch in the bay were a long line of hotels. Maybe one of them would have a shower! It was 4 days now and I wasn’t starting to smell like a goat. We found a nice hotel and went and sat by the pool, white skin is sometimes useful, before going for a swim and a game of pool volleyball with our American cousins.o
There is swearing the the rest of this post, I was a bit drunk when I wrote it
Surfs up!
Day 154
The beach!
Wednesday 13th February
God damn sun woke me too early, but I was on the beach and the waves were just crashing into the bay and god damn its good to be alive! The milk was still cold in the now semi working cooler, so after cereal and coffee I really didn’t have an excuse to not walk down to the water, with my surfboard and to try not to embarrass myself again. On went the board shorts and I tip toed into the water. At least the water has the decency to wash over your fear just before you get out deciding its too cold. I always get up to my crotch in the water with no problem, but getting my chest and beck wet just never wants to happen. The brilliant surf soon took care of my ‘neshness’* and I got down to the challenge of getting my hair wet. Wait for a nice breaking wave and hurl yourself into the white froth and my hippy hair was soon bedraggled all over my sun screen plastered face.
Before getting in I had done my ‘jump up on the board’ prepatory exercises, just as my instructor in Byron Bay told me how to surf all those years ago. But its hard, so damn hard! I had a much smaller board than the one I had last been on in Cornwall so that didn’t help, although I do think I’m thinner than I was on that trip…. Its time for an embarrassing photo…..
Steady on girls, his friends reckon he’s gay… :p |
And the before… I have lost weight!! |
I messed around in the surf for a while longer but then I needed a drink, or a shower, or anything to get me out of the water. Life is so brutal for my readers, I’m able to go surfing but I’m just a bit too lazy :p I intended to have a productive (by my standards :p)day and got my guitar out and proved to Roland that, without doubt, I was a rubbish guitar player! :p I don’t play enough and I was starting to think I shouldn’t be distracting myself with literature when I could be singing/playing, learning Spanish, moving myself around a bit or chasing girls :p Oh and eating! Ah the 5 great truths of travel. No time to spend enjoying yourself, there is work to be done! I coaxed a couple of songs out of it eventually, which Roland reluctantly said were ‘not bad’ and then it was time to annoy everyone else on the beach properly.
My friend and I often say to each other, upon hearing the twang of nylon or steel on a fretboard “There’s always some twat with a guitar!” to which the standard reply is ‘Yeah, and usually its YOU!” and we laugh, but we retrieved the Frisbee from the car and attempted to act like Alpha Males. This was far worse than some random noise pollution which could be blocked with ear plugs or an ipod, we were throwing a deadly weapon! At least I could do my mis-throws into the car park, Roland would try his trick shots and nearly decapitate a gringo playing some dumb bag throwing game! We were joined by a third player in the form of a crazy dog who loved our toy. His owner came to tell us he wouldn’t bite, us or the Frisbee, and the dog would be safe, ba-tsssshhhhh! The owner, and the dog for that matter, was fascinated by hooplike Frisbee. He looked about 80 though and declined my offer of a game by telling me he had just broken 5 ribs. Nasty. He loved the thing though, I wonder where they’ve been hiding him…
I even got Eduardo, our camp neighbour, to give me a go on his skim board! (I was crap)
The day progressed with another surfing attempt for a while, but again my heart wasn’t in it and watching the other people have more luck was no fun, but I’ll be back at it, just wish it wasn’t quite so cold! We went over to the other side of the bay to watch the sunset and drink a beer. I asked our neighbour to watch our van and set off. Roland said something about rock scrambling and I guess I should be putting him off but he’s a big boy now. You could see the whales off the bay, loads of them and then we saw some breaching, leaping up towards the blue and red heavens before crashing back with the pull of gravity. Why do they do that? Probably the same reason I look at gulls flying past and breathe to myself ‘I wish I could do that…’. I will have to go paragliding again soon!
* Neshness: Stokie# word meaning ‘unable to take the chill of water cos he’s a big girls blouse’.
# Stokie: Someone from Stoke on Trent, my home town.
surfing/guitar/watching tents/surfing/sunset/whales/todos/no tacos/drive back/fire/halo moon
Time for the beach
Day 153
South of Todos Santos, BCS, Mexico
It was time to say ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to Mike and find some surf. Sheena was gone and she had left me with a German! But Roland was turning out to be more fun than Sheena and certainly less stressful. Stress is one thing I don’t need The plan was to head down to Todo Santos on the Pacific coast and find somewhere for me to surf and Roland to recuperate from his near fatal fall the day before. We read something about a surf camp where you could camp and they also had a BYOB-swim up bar! Sounds good.
Well it would be if it wasn’t nearly impossible to find. We went through Todo Santos and the beach we wanted was only 10km to the south but the surf camp was hidden somewhere. We saw nothing that looked likely as we drove and eventually stopped by a small shop but the guy sitting in the shrine next to it was either so wasted or crazy that we couldn’t get any sense out of him. Roland speaks Spanish fluently and had no idea what the guy was going on about. Luckily we picked up nearby gringo and in exchange for a lift he showed us where the surf camp was, on the main road and a few miles from the beach. It seemed pretty good but we wanted somewhere by the water and they didn’t have any palapa’s* left so camping under the sun would be hot!
* Thatched shelters
At least we got directions to the beach and turned off at the 64km marker to follow the sandy road down to the surf. There was quite a break and plenty of people surfing, boogie boarding and chilling out at the local bar. There were plenty of tents set up too and after a few enquiries discovered we could camp there for free! We set up near where we had parked the minivan next to a bunch of hippies. They were sitting around playing their guitar and I made a friend by loaning Chile the use of my guitar tuner. Nothing worse than an out of tune guitar….
After a paddle in the water I made the decision to try out the $25 Walmart boogie board I had carried all the way from Florida and never used. The water was, um fresh, and although there were lots of people in the water with wetsuits on there were also quite a few without so it couldn’t be that bad. The surf was strong and I was soon wet enough not to care. It only took 2 goes on my boogie board to run back to get my surf board and I was soon wiping out as though my week surfing in Cornwall was just a dream. I didn’t last long. Tomorrow though…
Roland wasn’t going surfing, he was still hobbling around from his fall on Monday but not too bad. There were no facilities on the beach, although I guess you’d have to buy a beer to use the bar’s toilet, I sneaked over to use the shower on the outside, trying to avoid the staff as I washed off the salt. Its not a bad life, we cracked open a couple of beers and waited for the sunset. Roland had chatted to the nearby hippies and they were planning a fire later on, we agreed to bring wood and beer!
Another Shitty Day in Paradise
Monica isn’t really two-faced…
* Thatched shelters
drive south/surf camp/weirdo/yank lift/camping/free/hippies/tacos/fire
Farewall yer salty dog! :p
Day 152
La Paz, BCS, Mexico
We dropped Sheena off with her sailor at noon as directed today, he seemed to still be a bit sick, I hope she’s ok.
Captain Scott, Roland and Sheena
Scott is sailing to Columbia and after sailing 6,000 solo from Hawaii obviously needs some help :p Sheena knows how to mix drinks though so I’m sure she’ll be fine :p
Roland and I took a drive up to one of the beaches north of La Paz, Balandria, or something. The water was azure blue and quite refreshing. I tried to muster the courage to get cold and go snorkelling, while Roland went rock scrambling, I offered him my biking helmet but he refused. He nearly lived to regret it…..
When he was up, he was up…
and when he was down, he was down (and lucky to be alive)
He only fell 2.5 meters but landed on his side, between some large and particularly sharp rocks! Crazy Germans! Roland is travelling for a few months in Mexico, and speaks Spanish, he’s a useful guy to have around. I would have to work on reducing this, expensive behaviour :p
Back at the car park, all bones checked for breakages, we discovered that my car door was unlocked…… uh oh. Some guy came to tell us someone was messing with my car and had just ran off. Nothing was taken so we were lucky. I really need to get all my windows tinted and an alarm…..
Lazy La Paz
Day 149
La Paz, BCS, Mexico
We returned to Super Tacos and this time they had Manta-ray, which was kind of weird. It had the consistency of cheap tuna all mashed up and I got the deep fried one which was a mistake. Around the corner we went shopping at the Pastry place Sheena had spotted as we drove in and bought a few tasty items which I then managed to get all over my face. Yum! Sheena set off to the harbour to see if she could catch a ride to the mainland and I went for a walk around town. That morning in the shower I discovered I had a rash and decided I should probably get it checked out. My lonely planet advised me that a Hospital in town had English speaking doctors and I set off in search of it. The road signs don’t exactly make it easy, half of them are missing but I eventually found it and stood at the reception until someone noticed me. No one spoke English but I knew enough to Spanish to say I needed a English speaking Doctor. The nurse mentioned some Doctor and waved in a vague direction making me think he had his own practice outside the Hospital so I set off looking for him. No use. After 20 minutes I was back in the Hospital and now everyone ignored me. I found the original nurse and after she finally understood I understood nothing took me to the Doctor who worked in the ER. Typically my rash was now gone but he gave me a prescription for an anti-fungal cream and sent me on my way. God help me if I need to go to Hospital for something more serious.
Mike said something about going to the beach at 3pm and I got back for that but he was too busy supervising the creation of his new gate post into the field he owned. He lives next door to a load of Mexicans and takes an interesting stance on his relationship with them. They will accumulate trash and pollute the area which he will then buy and pay to haul away so the place looks respectable again. He will also employ his neighbours if they have no work and he needs something doing, in this case building gateposts for his ‘nature preserve’. I stood chatting for a while and observing the work but it became obvious he wasn’t going to the beach anytime soon, if he left the work would end for the day but he would still be paying his $5 a hour. He was also having trouble getting his cleaner to come clean the place, she wanted paying for the time he wasn’t there and she wasn’t cleaning. It didn’t make any sense to me either.
I went to pick up Sheena in town and found she had maybe found a ride from a guy called Scott who was sailing his boat from Hawaii to Columbia. She had arranged to meet up with him again on Sunday. Apparently its that easy (if you’re a 25 year old girl).
super tacos/pastries/docs/back to mikes/wall/beach?/pick up sheena/boat/supermarket/dinner
Larento
Day 149
Larento, BCS, Mexico
The plan called for a 9am start to drive the convoy south but I still didn’t have a new tire. Leaving Sheena and Pat at the beach Drake followed me back up Mulege to get a new tire. The first place said they could get one for me if I wanted to wait 10 minutes. 30 minutes later they turned up with the wrong tire and we carried onto the place recommended by the owner of the bar on the beach. This met with more success and after trying one that didn’t work I finally got myself fixed up with a used tire for 400 peso’s. I was tempted to get a spare wheel with tire to replace the crappy spare but it was getting late and we had a long drive to Larento. More desert and another military checkpoint later we drove into Larento and started looking for somewhere to stay. There were no couchsurfers in this part of the world but after checking our mail learned that we would be able to stay in La Paz with a German documentary film maker called Mike so we were sorted for a few days. We found an RV campsite and negotiated a camping rate for the night along with a $2 charge for use of the Internet. I attempted to put up my tent but it was just too windy and I also discovered one of my poles had a split which needed fixing. I gave up and decided Sheena wouldn’t be sleeping alone that night…
In Larento town we had lunch with a couple we had chatted to at the previous beach and I finally picked up a Mexican sim for my phone. Telcel apparently have the best coverage and for 300 pesos I got a sim and 300 pesos of credit. They still have the retarded American system of paying for incoming calls though, but my T-mobile sim was hardly connecting anymore and I needed a reliable connection to the rest of the world.
up early/tire saga/drive south/larento/new sim/met other campers/rv park/dinner/no sleep for sheena
Mental Hangover
Day 148 Santiparc Beach Baja California Mexico
After the fun of the previous night we were all pretty wiped and spent most of the day lazing around doing nothing. I felt ok physically but was just annoyed all day at the weather. It was lovely and warm… in the sun. Under the shade it was kinda cold, I huddled in my tent and every 20 minutes the wind would pick up and try to lift it off and down the beach for a minute. I tied it down the previous day which stopped it. Sheena slept nearly the entire day which put paid to my plans of driving into town to sort out my flat tire, by the time she had gotten up and went for a walk I was dozing myself and the day was wasted. Every night we would be woken by the trucks passing along the highway and although it was forbidden, they would all use their engines as brakes. The sound of the throbbing engines would cascade down the cove like a huge passing dragon that was thundering past, roaring as it went and for some it would be too distracting to sleep a full night.
I had set up my solar shower but it didn’t even get luke warm all day. Pat, Drake and Sheena walked over to the Jimmy Buffet night for a hamburger and a drink while I sat in the car burning DVDs. They were soon back as the place was packed out. We fired up another couple of toxic logs and sipped hot chocolate and marshmallows before retiring to the van to watch ‘knocked up’….
Im on vacation!
Day 147Â Santiparc Beach, Baja California, Mexico
Pat and Drake had made friends with an Israeli couple that were cycling south; we passed them 2 days before and they came over to have a go on the kayaks. I was mooching around the van, gluing flapping parts and spraying WD40 on rusty bits and messing up Sheena bed in the back in the process. I had to have a bit of a tidy though, it was messed up. Its simpler for her though since all her stuff is concentrated in one backpack and my gear is stowed all over the place. The wind was blowing around, on and off, strong then soft, making it cold out of the sun and then too hot in it. It didn’t know what it was doing. We said we would give them a lift into town when they came back and figured they would be about an hour but they were gone ages! The wind was blowing right out from the beach though so they had a nasty headwind to overcome to make it back and we were just getting more worried when they rounded the headland and came into view. They were cycling around the world, I’m guessing a little breeze wouldn’t tax them too much…
We formed up the convoy and went into town, it was high time for me to do my laundry so I dropped it off and met the 3 others at a local taco place for some great cheap food, which was generously covered by Pat. Its a good job I eat fish now as the fish taco places are all over and cheap and delicious. I had some shrimp ones and they give you a case full of salad and condiments to drape over them. Really good stuff. I dropped Sheena at the Internet cafe and then went looking for a tire place to fix my flat. The only place I found couldn’t repair it and didn’t have any spares, I would have to find another solution as the spare was useless and also meant my insurance was currently worthless. The tire guy suggested a place 20km south of town and didn’t mention anywhere else nearby so I thought his was the only show in town… Across the road I filled up our containers and the solar shower as the campsite was ‘dry’, they only had long drop toilets and the hot showers were $3 each in the morning. Still, at $7 a night it was nice, there were only a few people on our section of the beach, the only slightly annoying thing was the irregular stream of Mexicans driving up and attempting to sell us all manner of tourist tat. I wanted a hammock but after asking for some of their prices on stuff decided I would be better off in a shop where I could walk away if I didn’t like the haggling. Besides I was on holiday and didn’t want people constantly offering me things which I almost certainly didn’t need.
| I took a quick swim before the sun went down and earned a beer from Drake in the process, he didn’t think I had it in me, and neither did I. I just remembered the warm solar shower waiting for me up on the beach. We walked over to see how the Israelis plan of cooking up the hundreds of clams was working out. Pat was determined to get completely shit faced and was drinking a $2 bottle of tequlia which smelt lethal. |  |
We loaded up on beer and walked across the bay to the other side, pausing to take a drink at Ana’s Restaurant on the way. Pat is sweet on the girl who works there and after drinking the gasoline/tequila above was knocking back the normal stuff like water.
Brett, Jack, Drake and Sheena.
The Israelis neighbours had found a huge stack of driftwood somewhere and were planning on burning it until 3am. They also had 72(!) beers to get through before heading back to the US and we had to give them a hand!
It didn’t look like the Scallops were going to be cooked but something started to happen in the ‘kitchen’ but it was decided we were too many people for only a big bucket of scallops and we should go and eat at the Restaurant.
Seafood is weird!
We gave Pat a chance to flirt with his girl and he proceeded to order a *load* of food. I felt kind of uncomfortable and admitted I had forgotten my wallet…. So had Sheena…. So had Drake…. Pat just said ‘Its ok, Im on vacation!!’ before ordering everyone beers and shot after shot of tequila for himself…
The Campers                                         Pats fav barmaid.
We were making real racket and it didn’t look like we were going to make it back to the party, but everyone else seemed to be having a good time regardless. We paid and got up to leave but then started talking to a group of American, Canadian and Australian Couples and then we were trapped for another hour. Drake was trying to charm the ladies and we thought at one point he was going to get into a fight when he split off one guys wife for a more private chat. We retreated to the bar for another final drink and we realised the big group had gone and Drake was no where to be found. We were about to head back to our camp site to see if he was there and finally he responded to our cries of his name. He was in a 80 year old widows RV and couldn’t escape. His gratitude was written all over his face and we headed back to the party to find everyone still there and the wood pile only halfway down.
I can’t believe I let Pat drive us all home. :p
Splashing around the SuperBowl
Day 146 Santiparc Beach, Baja California, Mexico
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I got my chance on the kayak in the morning which was great. The sea was calm, there was no wind and the water was clear enough to see a few fish. Drake had already headed out while I was eating breakfast so I was slightly unsure of where he would be but I made it to the first island and messed around there until I finally caught sight of him. We met up by a nearby rocky outcrop covered with sea birds and he offered me a beer. It was only 9.30am!! :pWe went north for a while and then Sheena turned up in her sweats, halfway through her morning run. Drake offered her his kayak and we headed back to the camp, pausing to admire the washed up dead fish. The beauty of a waterproof camera is being able to throw it to someone in another kayak and not mind when it falls in. I had to get it out! |
 Drake finds some beach kill |
 Fishing up my camera |
Back on the beach
Day 145Â Santisparc Beach
| We woke up to a miserable day, but at least I didn’t feel too bad. The owner of the tank campsite had finally turned up and he fired up the shower for us. Literally. It burned wood and the cold water from the tank flowed through to heat up. We said goodbye to the bikers we had eaten dinner with and set off to the south once more, destination, the beaches of Mulege. We paused in the center of San Ignacio to take a few pictures but it was cold and overcast, we didn’t linger. |  2 dirty objects of wonder |
It was only 2 hours or so down the pacific highway and eventually the sun made a reappearance, as made it to the Sea of Cortez. Hopefully the water was going to be warmer than the Pacific side and with high hopes we followed the coastal road down into Mulege.
A Whale of a good time in a couple of boats
Day 144
Guerrero Negro Baja California
We had left a note on the door of the tour office saying that we wouldn’t be making the 8am tour. I had made the executive decision to go at 11am and then we would head over to the cheaper campsite nearby for another night while I went surfing. With barely any time to remember stuff I was herded into the bus with all the other tourists and we set off towards the Pacific. First we had to pass through the salt factory which employs most of the people in Guerrero Negro. Our guide, Pedro, went on and on about it, constantly watching Sheena since he had learned we weren’t a couple. I think he might have a had a bit of a crush going on He recited lots of interesting information about the whole business of salt and went on about it so much I believe he is only working the whale tour until he can get a job hauling salt about in one of the big trucks.
The weather was too cold for surfing and after chatting to some people on the boat decided it would be better to head for the oasis town of San Ignacio, half way to the beaches of Mulege and a nice small town to spend the night. We went for some delicious fish tacos when we had picked up the van again and Sheena declared she wanted to marry a fish taco. I’ve been eating enough that I’m sure I’m turning into one, so you never know! :p
We made good time and were soon out of the desert and into the palm tree filled town in the desert. Following the directions of our friends on the boat we found the campsite which was basic and rather empty. A Spanish lady turned up and started chatting about the site and the cost. I only vaguely understood what she said but we were soon joined by a couple of American’s on motorbikes, one of whom spoke Spanish and he explained that she didn’t work there but the site was open and someone else would be along sometime to take our money. The cost? She didn’t know, but no more than $10.
Camping by the muddy lake
The bikers were going for dinner in town and we invited ourselves along. They met up with another couple of bikers that they had met only that day and we drove the couple of miles into the small town square and spent a pleasant evening drinking beer, eating tacos and chatting about our adventures. I learned Sheena was a professional traveller! We all drove back to their guesthouse where we broke out the tequila and vodka but the party wasn’t going to last long because they needed to close the gates at 10pm. Since that was one hour after Baja Midnight it was pretty late, but I didn’t want to spend the night trapped there, although it probably would be cheaper than the $10 at the campground.
We went back to the campsite and since it was on a small lake we decided to go for a spin in the supplied transportation. The lone working pedalo was not a good move, since it barely moved and only had one set of pedals. I was surprised that we managed to get it back to the shore, but we had better luck with the metal canoe that was pulled up. We got some beer and jumped in, admiring the milky way over head and trying to sneak up on the bikers tent. They were only talking about motorbikes…. still! But when you’re on a trip like that I guess you become a little obsessed :p One of the guys had crashed his bike earlier in the day and was probably lucky to be alive.
Beer and boats = not a good combination!
When it came time to get out we nearly met with disaster, I foolishly pulled the canoe up directly to the shore, but not alongside it. It was a sloppy, muddy bank and as soon as she stepped on it she started pushing the canoe away. I was certain she was about to take a bath but somehow she managed to jump back in the canoe and it didn’t tip up. She got a wet backside and I got an earful :p Personally I consider her lucky not to have put us both in the muddy lake, which would have made some even better photos :p
whales/pedro crush/change plan/fish tacos/scallops/empty camp ground/bikers/dinner/drinks with boys/locked in/canoe trip
Mad as a Coconut!
Day 141 La Mision Mexico
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We woke up with Rob gone but he left us a note telling us where he was so after a shower and some coffee we went to meet him at his local committee meeting at Arthur and Molly’s house down by the beach. Keith got a shocked laugh when he immediately asked Sheena to show him her tits, but everyone soon understood when she ‘got them out’ :p We chatted to the Mexican guy who worked for Arthur and Molly on the way out and I was somewhat pleased to say that I could understand most of the conversation. He talked slowly and clearly though which is always nice. We walked another 500 meters to the beachfront for breakfast. First we got to drink the young coconut juice, then they scooped out the flesh and blended it with shrimp, squid, lime juice and chili’s. Spicy and delicious! Only $6 too and well worth trying. We went for a walk after the food and went north along the beach until we reached the place where Rob teaches Spanish every Friday but sadly the owner wasn’t home. Rob told us he was the artist who drew Betty Boop! |
Yet another Couchsurfing party!
Day 137 San Diego, Ca
Joan had a voucher for $30 for a Indian Buffet place which she hadn’t cashed in 3 years and we decided it was time to use it or lose it. It was miles away though but this was America and driving for 20 minutes for food was a normal thing to do :p I just didn’t have an appetite though, I must have been ill or something but after some soup and nan I was nearly full! It was up to the girls to get their moneys worth since I was such a lightweight. Why did I eat breakfast!?! Joan took us on a round about tour of the beaches but she had to work and abandoned Sheena and I to our own devices for the afternoon. We had a CS pot luck party to attend too and after throwing a few ideas for food around decided the best option was to buy a big pie and ice cream and claim traveller immunity from cooking. We were on the road dammit!
San Diego rain
Day 135
Los Angeles
| Somehow I managed to get to the place Sheena was staying at for noon exactly. I warned her not to expect this ever again, although I had spent 15 minutes around the corner tidying up all my junk. She wasn’t completely ready anyway so I didn’t need to hurry. She wanted to see Venice Beach and I didn’t have the heart to tell her I had seen it the day before. The weather was just as crappy as the previous day and we wandered around, took a few photos and then went into Santa Monica to get some food before heading south. |  Even the palm trees have Graffiti in LA. |
Sheena was nursing a slight hangover and professed to be something of a party animal, something I was eager to test out! :p However it was too early for that and San Diego was too far away. She had arranged a place for us to surf with a girl called Joan and after huddling outside Panera Bread trying to keep our lunch dry we set off into a rain shower down the highway towards Mexico. I discovered she had nice taste in music which is good and that she wasn’t getting enough sleep as she nodded off halfway down. There wasn’t anything to see except the highway which I’d already seen and we arrived in San Diego after a uneventful couple of hours.
Joan was fretting over us finding her place but we got right up to the door thanks to my GPS, Mexico will require me to reacquaint myself with paper maps! Joan was fun, never shut up, talked all the time like a maniac. We decided to go out for dinner up in the “gay-berhood”. Not knowing each other very well and with no one wanting to take charge we wandered around 5 Asian places in the rain before I got made the decider and we went for Thai. Well I wasn’t going to eat American junk was I? As we sat eating noodles and curry the rain really started to come down. You could see all the drains overflowing outside in the street and then all the emergency services seemed to be driving past us every few minutes. San Diego gets rain, special report…
Taking a trip down memory lane…
Day 134
Los Angeles
Bonnie went to work but had supplied me with a key to the fire escape so at least I could come and go as I pleased. The weather was kind of cold and overcast but I set off to the beach regardless. I had lived in LA in 1994 for a couple of weeks at a hostel down in Venice and wanted to go back and see if it had changed much. I plugged the address into the GPS, or at least as close as I remembered and hoping my memory would guide me to the place I set off on the LA freeways. Thankfully the traffic was not gridlocked like my trip into city and I was soon passing by vaguely familiar streets and bars. The hostel was located on a open square near muscle beach and was easy enough to find. It still looked the same, shops and bars had changed and moved but the Subway where my friend Sally ate her daily sandwich and the hostel were still there. Some things never change I guess.
Kitchen
Living Room + shocked guest
The view to Sally’s Subway
I had a walk down the beach and the place was still a hang out for hippies and pan handlers. In spite of my better judgement I stopped for some food at a small cafe by the walkway and got a terrible falafel and coffee for $14. I sat reading and trying not to listen to the crazies waffle on about Vietnam and drugs. It was overcast and I was cold, I didn’t linger. I went up to Santa Monica for a wander around and for the second time that day had someone comment about my sideburns. Maybe I wasn’t being fashionable with them :p I picked up some free movie passes for the following Friday, unsure if I would get to use them, but they were free. A couple of places give away tickets for screenings in return for your feedback at the end of the movie. No cost, no con, you just have to turn up early to get a seat.
Back at Bonnie’s we sat chatting occasionally but mostly giving our full attention to the Internet before us, who knows when my next connection would be. Eventually we cracked and had to go and see something. I was leaving the next day and this was my last chance. The streets were pretty empty as we wandered around downtown once more. She showed me some hip bars, pubs, cafe’s and roof top clubs on the top of a hotel, but we weren’t drinking, just exploring, not at $10 a drink. I would have jumped in the warm pool if it wasn’t so damn cold and the place was covered with a sheen of recent rain. Down in the hotel toilets I found some interesting signs over the urinals…
The hotel toilets had adverts for escorts on the left and comics for kids on the right!
Bank holiday monday….
Day 133
Los Angeles
My car was safe out on the street for another entire day since it was a holiday and the traffic wardens were all presumably on the beach enjoying themselves. Bonnie had to return something to a sports store and on the way back she took me to a small Korean restaurant where, for $10, we ate a fantastic meal.
The stone bowl kept it hot until I had eaten it all and it was augmented by strange side dishes of vege’s and dried fish. Quite delicious. Afterwards we bought pastries from the cake shop around the corner and went shopping in a crazy Korean supermarket. To watch those housewives go mental over cheap Satsuma’s was fun but everything in the store was strange and Asian apart from a small western section. Bonnie was leaving on a trip on Wednesday to Kansas so elected to spend the night at Marsellus’, her boyfriend, so I had another evening to hang out and do my own thing. I rang and spoke to Sheena again and we arranged to meet on Wednesday at noon for the trip down to San Diego. I was slightly surprised she didn’t want to meet up with me before hand, and slightly disappointed as I was bored :p but at least I wouldn’t have to face Mexico on my own.