Just a short stay on the beach
Zipolite, Mexico
I spent the day just hanging out, exploring the town or rather village. The water was semi fierce, safer than Puerto Escondido though and it was famed for its liberal attitudes to nudism. If middle aged ugly people want to get naked that’s fine with me, I can always look at my book.
This was in the local supermarket. Does anyone buy this stuff afterwards?
I checked out another few places since the hotel I was in really wasn’t doing it for me. Lino floors which stay wet from the sea spray tend to have that effect. I had pizza on the beach and got talking to a girl from South Africa called Paula who was staying for a while. She read me my fortune and we arranged to meet up the next day.
So much for staying 2 days….
Back in the USA
Day 220
New York, NY
Thankfully felt a lot better after my trouble on the plane and managed to get my bags, onto the train into Penn Station and into a hostel. I didn’t feel like wandering all around Manhattan so looked up a hostel in Starbucks and wandered the few blocks to get to it. $48 for a 4 bed dorm! Might have been better value if I could have gotten up for the breakfast but it didn’t happen. I wandered around for a couple of hours and had an early night.
Next day I packed up my bags and jumped onto the Subway to where I would be spending my second night in NY, the floor of a Daniella’s hotel room. She was over for a course for a couple of days and generously let me share her room. I dumped my bags and set off on a mission to buy a new camera lens. My 17-55mm was good, great in fact, but I was constantly finding myself wishing for more reach. A 70-300mm would suit the bill perfectly and despite the fact that B&H, the best camera shop in NY, if not the world, was closed for passover the prices were pretty much the same all over the city. I walked up past Union Square, which I didn’t even recognise in the sunshine and walked west along 17th Street to the Camera store of the same name. $400 poorer I could now stalk celebrities! After a lunch of falafels and snapple I decided to wear out some shoe leather and try to find something interesting to snap. Sadly the track of my route will never be published as I had managed to lose my GPS tracker! It was my own stupid fault for attaching it to my belt and then putting on my backpack. Bleh.
I headed east and then south, ending up under the brooklyn bridge and finding I could photograph birds with some success at last!
I also checked out the World Trade Center site again, and although construction has started on the new towers it still looked much the same as it did the last time I was there in 2002. A bloody mess!
It was a nice afternoon walk back up to the hotel, I was absolutly knackered but I had arranged to meet Dani when she got off her bus…. I took my laptop out to the local Starbucks but for some reason didn’t bother checking my mail…. duh!
I sat waiting from 11pm until 1am and she didn’t show up. I tried in vain to call her but just ended up shouting at the stupid phones in frustration. Her bus broke down and she finally turned up at 2am. If I had checked my mail I would have had a nice sleep :p
wander past union/can’t find shop/17th str photo/wander west/photo bridge/WTC/walked north/use net/meet Dani/2am/sleep on floor.
Planet earth is slowing down
Day 211
Veracruz, Mexico
God its been hot! After my day at the pyramids outside Mexico City I headed over to the gulf coast, something I haven’t seen since Naples in Florida back in October. No dolphins this time though. My vague plan was to spend the night in Tuxpan and then cruise down to Veracruz, visiting some other Pyramids on the way. I never found them. It was 36C by the time I drove past where they should have been and after shouting and cursing the lack of road signs I went by them and kept going. You can keep your damn Pyramids I’m not interested!
In Veracruz I found a cool little town on the coast with plenty of plaza’s with things going on. Bands and dancing, people out enjoying the evening, music and life. No tourists either really, at least none that I could spot in my wanderings. I found a nice little room at the top of a cheap hotel with the benefit of a breeze blowing through it to supplement the ceiling fan but the disadvantage of a direct audible route to the local Mexican Indie Rock Pub. Normally this would be a plus, but the bands they seem to feature don’t seem to be able to write any good songs. All I hear in noise, try some damn chord progression and melody…
I feel like I’m killing time. I just read a lot. I managed ‘To kill a mockingbird’ in 24 hours which is fine since I will now forget it and get to enjoy it again in another decade. I remember watching it as a play with my old friend Spec when I was in college but all I remember of it was seeing one of the actors get spat in the face.
There is a nice little vegetarian restaurant where you get a good set meal for 45 pesos which i have been eating at. You get a choice of dishes but nothing is written down so I have to guess at what I’m getting, its usually a pleasant enough surprise.
I should have left for Peubla today I guess but since I hadn’t packed up the night before it was unlikely I would get out and get off. My inaction and generally lack of motivation is not too serious, its been so bloody hot that I have hardly been able to move. Today was better though, just high twenties so the fan gets a well earned rest. I’m now constantly aware of the fact that I have one week left, but its more like a week in England than being in Mexico. Since I booked my flight I feel like I have been unable or unwilling to stray too far from Mexico city, if I drove 2,000km I would only have to drive them all the way back. So I’m trapped in a small circle of states, waiting, just waiting…
Merry Easter
Day 188
Guadalajara, Mexico
I woke with a jerk this morning. Or should I say this afternoon.
I’ve been in Guadalaraja for over a week, just wandering around in the day, eating at a nice cheap veggie place I found, sitting in the plazas reading and learning Spanish, playing my guitar, but sleeping later and later. I set my alarm and just ignore it. Its a hard habit to break. I was going to leave today but yesterday, when I eventually got up at 2 PM, found all the car parts places were shut due to ‘Semana Santa’ or Easter as its known here. I can’t go driving without mirrors so I was stuck. But I’ve been paying for my room and playing it by ear, they asked how long I wanted to stay at the start and I said ‘Quién sabe’ or ‘Who knows’… They don’t speak English here though, but I know enough Spanish now to let them know when the light stopped working or that I didn’t need the woman cleaning my room every single day. I’d just prefer it if they bought a toilet seat and killed the mini cockroaches in the bathroom. :p
But the owner was hammering on the door just before noon and just before my alarm sounded. He had shown me sign yesterday that said checkout was at noon, which I knew, but I wasn’t checking out… I was reading in my guidebook that you should book ahead for Easter in some places but I didn’t think much of it, apart from when I got woken up and then he wouldn’t take my money for another night. Great. I understood enough to work out the room was already booked, probably for the weekend. What was I going to do now? Well, there is always the beach… only 5 hours drive away.
Guadalaraja is nice, lots of old buildings and ambience. Its been getting busier in the run up to Easter though. Yesterday the center was pedestrianised and it was bedlam, people everywhere and impossible to walk around. I had set off towards the west side with a map in my head and an address, always the best way to find somewhere. I wanted a cable to connect my flash to my camera, since I lost my wireless receiver on day 5 of my trip. They didn’t have any, but I still had to go off to see some upstairs who spoke English so the assistant could ask ‘why? It connects on the pins’. The assistant only works in a camera shop, its not enough for him to understand that Canon sell them, I want one, ‘why’ doesn’t come into it. I guess I should have told him to go to www.thestrobist.com but its all in English.
I started packing my stuff, took down my mosquito net, which is now saving me from daily ravishments by the local insect population (I put it up when I woke to find my forehead bitten a dozen times…. I must buy some anti-malarials soon too….) and got my shit together. I went down to talk to the owners wife, she was either afraid or liked her distance as she kept backing away from me :p She explained I could move into the little room on the rooftop. Fine with me. I finished packing my stuff and then she comes to tell me I don’t need to move after all. Kind of even better, despite the fact that I’m ready to go.
At least I saw a Easter miracle today. I rose from the dead in the morning 
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
The Three (drunken) Amigos!
Day 161
Los Mochis, Mexico
Even though it was Saturday I had to get up and move my van from outside Roberto’s office. I shouldn’t complain since he was kind enough to lock it up for me overnight but I hate to get up, especially since I had won the toss with Roland and snagged the bed. I should have sensed trouble when Roberto backed his car out to take me over there right into the front of a truck behind us. This wasn’t the only crash we would be facing this Saturday…..
After a shower and not much of a breakfast we then had to wait for the local plumbers to fit the kitchen. Roberto had recently separated from his wife and was now going through the painful process of not only living 400km from his 4 year old daughter but setting up a new bachelor pad for himself, the kitchen was just a shell and needed filing out. When the kitchen fitters had finally arrived and had gotten to work we went off on our mini-tour of Los Mochis. I’m not sure you would put it down as the cultural and architectural center of Mexico but it gets a steady stream of tourists all hoping on or off the train that heads up through the Copper Canyon, Mexico’s version of the Grand Canyon, and an arguably better version of the same. We went for a walk around the botanical gardens, which was a hot walk in the middle of the day. I’m not quite sure why Roberto though we were interested in plants but it was a nice enough place, and free, which is always a bonus. It just looked like a park to me though, if the fact that it had plants in it made it botanical so be it. Roland took up the challenge of jumping over one of the irrigation ditches which was good of him, but the photo would have been much better if he had fallen in, as I hoped :p
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We did pick up an interesting snippet of information though, we learned that there was a baseball game on later on and since Roland used to play baseball a lot, and I’d never been to a game, it would be nice to check out. Best of all the tickets were only $3. Always thinking in the correct way, Roberto took us to a Taco place which he knew sold tickets and proceeded to demolish a load of food while I sat nursing my soda. Telling the average Mexican you don’t eat meat usually garners the equivalent response to saying I had castrated myself, they are horrified, couldn’t understand it and feel sorry for you… My life, my choice…. There was problem with the kitchen and we had to go back. Trying to save a few pesos, Roberto had hired some Mexican Cowboys and they didn’t have the right tools to connect up the gas and water. At least he had worktops instead of nothing as he did before.
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We had a while to kill before the game and Roberto now confronted me, saying he was very worried about me. I hadn’t eaten since the night before and this was a cause for concern. I did remind him that I only eat vegetables and seafood and we had only been to places that only serve meat, besides I am perfectly capable of going several days without food and not feeling any ill effects but this didn’t assuage his concern and we set off in search of a ‘Subway’. I quickly reminded him I would rather eat fish tacos and happily he knew a good place that might still be open next to the 24 hour disco. Why it seems impossible to get seafood in the evening is still a mystery to be solved, as well as the 24 hour disco conundrum but at least I got something to eat. Roberto would be remiss to allow me to eat alone and joined in with gusto.
Before the game we quickly went to check our mail at his office and I rapidly uploaded all my missing blog posts that I had spent so much time on the beach writing. I still didn’t have enough time and was transmitting them from the car as we left. There is always another connection though, and 15+ posts at once would have to do :p
I have never been to a baseball game, the majority of my experience with the game is playing it on my Nintendo Wii, so at least I had some idea of what was going on, but then not much. I quickly gathered that the main objective was to drink at least one beer per inning.We took it in turns going off looking for ‘Senor Cervesa’ but with each trip up the steps to our seats I took my turn to be concerned as our host was panting like a car trapped dog, and the stadium was tiny…. For some reason we had chosen to sit right behind the local band and infrequently they would start belting out some random tune at breaks in the game. The guys played away but as no one was bothering to update the scoreboard no one knew who was winning. I soon lost interest and started reading my book, trying to ignore the annoying samples of music they would keep playing and the nearby band. The most interesting action came from the girls who would appear and start throwing promotional items into the crowd. Like plastic cups and key chains… To see the locals go after these was like watching refugees chase a UN food truck, I thought people would start fighting if they didn’t get something. I guess baseball isn’t my sport :p
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My First Baseball game, possibly my last…  |
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One of the teams won, I have no idea which, nor did most of the crowd, and we made for home. Roberto had managed to snag one of the big beer cups and was now on double portions of beer, I gave up after 4 beers and a trip to the disgusting cockroach infested toilets but my Amigos were both on double figures and were miles from home. I knew I shouldn’t have gotten in the car, I tried to persuade him to let me drive by admiring his car and asking how it handled but it was no good. It seems the idea of letting the person who has had the least to drink handle the driving is as alien as not getting completely wasted in the first place. Roberto assured me he wouldn’t go too fast, but the speed kept creeping up and thankfully the roads were quiet. He didn’t think it was a problem since he was a lawyer! Of course, you have the other drunken drivers to worry about too… ‘
By now our Mexican friend was hungry but he had a pescatarian guest to consider, luckily he knew a place that did potato tacos and we somehow managed to get there. I had 4, and probably would have had more if I had known they were only 2 pesos each! Bargain! Suitably full we went back to the apartment to get ready for an evening of drinking… it was close, we made it. Roland had set off searching for cigarettes despite my attempts to dissuade him and after smoking one agreed that is wasn’t a good idea, but there is no rolling tobacco in Mexico.
Roberto is a big Sopranos fan, as am I, and he put it on for Roland hoping to get him interested. Perhaps I should have gone to watch as well, then we might have stayed at home and lived, but it was not to be. They soon got bored and then insisted I get out my guitar, which I did. We had half an hour of painful shouting to various Beatles tunes before I had enough and succumbed to asking if we were going out. We got changed and set off to a good club Roberto knew of, after first checking we didn’t have any illegal drugs on us. A few more beers while hanging out kept the mood going and Roberto was in fine spirits as he cruised around looking for the club, telling us only the poor drink tequila in Mexico and his adventures in Amsterdam. Perhaps he should have been concentrating more on the road as he nearly killed us all by starting to turn left into the path of an oncoming car. Only my girl like screams of terror averted disaster and we pulling into the parking spot without a sound.
And we had to drive home….
The ‘club’ was empty, just a few locals in cowboys hats standing around outside so we went next door to shoot some pool and drink more beer. I’m ok at pool but its just a game, not a competition of wills, but Roland and Roberto were pretty drunk so it was a simple matter to keep playing for me. I was bored though, and soon gave up and started reading my book. By now I had gotten to the 7th book in one of my favourite series and there was a whole new novel waiting to be read, much more interesting that beer and pool I have to say. After a few hours of this the club must be busy now? We paid our tab and went out to check, I saw inside before the bouncer quickly closed the door, it was still empty but now they wanted 100 pesos to get in! Oh well at least I would be able to get started on my new book since it was too loud to talk and I doubted we would be dancing… Some Saturday night this was!
We got back in the car and went looking for something, finally spotting some police cars outside a club and calculating that if the police were there it must be good… Well it wasn’t the best place in the world, but it was busy, people were dancing, occasionally a load of teenagers would get up and play some pretty appalling music which the crowd seemed to appreciate. I wasn’t being an old fart, the music was awful, but I was still bored. I thought it hilarious to see Roberto finish his beer and then stand waving his bottle around for 10 minutes trying to attract the attention of a waiter while the bar was only 3 meters away :p Eventually the DJ kicked in and Roland and I went off to dance. Roberto didn’t want to dance with us, apparently that’s a bit gay, but eventually he came over to sit nearby while I hoped and prayed to go home to bed…
getting van/crash/shower/kitchen wait/botanical gardens/jumping Roland/tacos/baseball tickets/kitchen install/fish tacos/office&uploads/baseball match/panting Roberto/too drunk to drive/10 beers/cockroach/potato tacos/cigarettes/sopranos/drug discussion/Beatles/drive/near crash/empty club/pool/not caring/reading my book/100 pesos empty club/police club/kids/terrible band/reading again/waving bottle when bar so close/dancing/Roberto not happy/interesting girl/drive home
Looking for a puncture
Day 161
Los Barilles, BCS, Mexico
God it was hot! Happily I had camped closest to the wall and didn’t have too much sun on my tent in the morning, but I woke as usual at 9.30am and prepared myself for the day. After 4 days of being stinky I had another shower but only for pure enjoyment of being clean. We had kind of decided to stay another day. There wasn’t really anything to do but there was a beach nearby and a pool. When Roland finally rolled out of his blue oven we started chatting about trying to find the puncture in my air mattress in the pool and that became the activity of the day, although not in the pool. We blew it up and found one large hole using water but no more. The pool + facemask idea would have been better I’m sure as it was still leaking. We also removed everything from the van in an attempt to discover what had happened to the bottle of vodka Roland had bought in San Lucas the week before but it was gone baby, gone. Someone is going to have a nice surprise at one of the 2 campsites we dropped it at 
I had solved my GPS marker problem and then started looking at compressing the tracks a bit better. I was also terribly out of date in my blog and despite a few days effort was still 12 days behind. Roland fell asleep and I took advantage of the nearby electricity outlet to try to get back up to date.
Eventually hunger called to us both and we took a walk into town to fix our appetites and Internet addiction. We went for Tacos at La Curva Restaurant and had simply the best tacos yet. First they heaped fresh nachos and salsa in front of us, with guacamole to die for, and then we had fish and shrimp tacos which were piled high for only 20 pesos each. Simply stunning food and just the thing for my appetite. I got another car key cut while Roland checked his email; we had found a place to stay in Los Mochis, the next town after Topolobampo where we would get off the ferry. It seemed likely we would try to get the ferry the next day and Roland gave Roberto in Los Mochis a ring to confirm. We enjoyed our last evening in Baja by revealing to Roland my video game emulator collection on my laptop and he spent a few frustrating hours trying to get Street Fighter to play properly with my cheap gamepad. When he eventually gave up and went to bed I stayed up far too late watching Gone Baby, Gone which was pretty good (8/10) and then despite my previous loathing for Family Guy watched Blue Shift, their Star Wars parody and enormous fun. It looks like I’ll have to start downloading all of them again soon, if only I could find a decent Internet connection….
lazy/puncture/shrimps at la curva/gone baby gone/blue shift
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
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
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 |
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
Chillin’ by the beach
Day 135
La Mision, Baja California, Mexico
Rob took us for breakfast at a local place he knows, where they speak English and have good Mexican food, we volunteered Nathan to drive and afterwards he took us a few k’s into the mountains to see how the rain had turned everything green. The sun shone for a while but then it turned miserable again so we went back to Robs and watched Eddie Izzard on YouTube until it was time for him to go to work, Rob not Eddie. I drove him down to the hotel where he worked and said we would be back later to pick him up if he wanted. Sheena took the chance to catch up on some sleep so we missed out on happy hour with Nathan and his dad. It was cold and rainy, I was happy just to huddle inside, drinking coffee and reading. We got it together later on and went to pick him up and got a free Margarita out of the deal before returning to drink beer and watch insanely funny videos on YouTube. The Kelly shoes and lend me that top ones just slayed me and I love the one semester of Spanish Spanish love song….
breakfast/drive/eddie izzard/dropped rob at work/picked him up &Â nighth cap/kelly video/sanish love song
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! 
Kind of exploring Tucson a bit more, at least the 80′s disco bars….
Day 126 Tucson Az
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Lashel agreed to take me out to see more of the center of the city and we ended up going for lunch on 6th street at The Casbah, a lovely vegetarian organic cafe with a middle eastern flavour. I ended up ordering far too much food but it was all really delicious, if a little slow in coming. Lashel is a doctor in waiting and instead of studying for her exams was letting me distract her from her important studies, but I was happy to have the company, she’s great fun even if she does think she’s insulting me all the time and apologising. That certainly makes a change We wandered around the shopping street and you can tell you’re in a cool student town from all the crusties with dogs on string and tattoo parlors. I had heard nothing from Tamara and was now wondering what I should do, head to Mexico alone or maybe go to California for a while. I suddenly remembered that I wanted a tattoo and San Diego was the place to do it… |
Another Couchsurfing Party
Day 125 Tucson AZ
Happy that I didn’t wake with a hangover I hung out on the couch for a few hours taking advantage of the girls Internet connection until their friend Patrick came over and suggested a late lunch. Leshel was mortally ill in bed and couldn’t get up so just the three of us went out for a great curry at a nearby Indian Restaurant called Gandhi’s. Patrick is a funny guy and when given a good foil like Grace even better. I learned later that they had sadly toned down their conversation for my benefit. I want the uncensored version dammit! Back at the house we learned that Leshel felt much better and was up for going to the Couchsurfing gathering that was already taking place in Tucson. I was happy I wasn’t going to have to go on my own and we even dragged Patrick along. We had hardly gotten through the door before we were engaged in a circular introduction that went on for 20 minutes, the place was pretty full and they even had some surfers instead of the usual 95% hosts and just me. We got there quite late and stayed until 9pm which is when it was due to finish. I forgot to suggest we all go to the karaoke afterwards :p We headed over to the local video place called Casa Video which was simply awesome and the only place I have seen that could fill out my missing movie knowledge. We ended up renting Crash which Patrick and Grace hadn’t seen before crashing on the sofa for the night….
Skiing in the States
107 Thursday Ruidoso, NM
Lilys brother slept downstairs in the living room and woke up me up a couple of times moaning and talking. It sounded very weird! Everyone eventually dragged themselves up and stated the purpose of today was to go skiing. That sounded fine but when you looked outside there was no snow… I dressed myself up in all my appropriate clothes, such as they were and piled the teenagers into the back and headed up to the mountain. At least we had an hour of decent music on the way. We followed the winding road and a few cars and at around 2pm we made it to the Ski Apache field. There was snow, not a massive amount, but most of the lifts were shut. It certainly felt cold enough to go skiing. I wasn’t going to bother but Dani’s dad offered to pay for my gear for the day so I had a dilemma. The lifts were due to close in an hour or so, so a half day lift pass would probably be a waste of money, by the time we got our gear sorted. I said I would give everyone a ski lesson and we got kited out. It was pretty much a waste of time though, it was about -6 degrees, no one was wearing the right clothes, or even enough of the wrong ones. We were going 50m down a slope and then having to walk back up. Stephi and Dani were doing surprisingly well though, I didn’t watch Raphi since he said he had been several times before. We did about an hour and gave up and went for hot chocolate.
On the way back we went via the local Indian Reservation Casino, more for a look than to gamble, but it looked just as crazy as the vegas ones. I should know better but a Star Wars slot machine caught my eye and before I knew it I had blown another 6 dollars on 2 spins of the wheels. It was the only way to win the $1.5m prize, but I’m a sucker and after 2 spins with multiple chances to win at least something I got nothing out of it. What worse is that I didn’t have any change so put $20 in knowing I could cash out and get a redeemable voucher. When I came to get my $14 back the stupid machine broke and we then stood around for 20 minutes waiting for someone to give me back my $14. I’m never gambling again!
Santa Rampage!
Day 101:Las Vegas
We went back to Macys for breakfast and had some nice waffles and oatmeal for breakfast. We figured it was about 5 hours to Las Vegas give or take and we would gain an hour at the Nevada border. A guy called Leon had replied to our couchsurfing requests but made the offer on the provision we would come out to the Las Vegas Santa invasion with him. Since I missed the one in Austin this was fine by me, and might help to keep me out of the casinos… :p The walls at Macys were covered with prints from a local photographer, I was amazed anyone could charge $2300 for essentially a large poster. I guess you can tell I wasn’t overwhelmed by the pictures. Certainly not for that much, but I guess if he can charge that much people might pay it. On the way to Vegas we went looking for a ‘Ghost Town’. There is a website dedicated to such places and after checking for somewhere on the way we went to a place called Chromium or Chlorine or something. After bouncing down a bumpy dirt road for 15 minutes we found a normal town. There were even people! So much for the Ghost towns of the west. Tempting as it was to kill a few locals to try to make it a bit more authentic time was pressing and we had to get a move on. No one else had offered us a place to stay so it looked like we would be getting santafied tonight.
Did you hear about the dyslexic devil worshipper?
He sold his soul to Santa….
97:Santa Fe, Nm:Day trippin’ in the cold mountains.
Santa Fe is an artists town and I had now realized this was where Mel-Mel was based but since she was now enjoying herself in Thailand wouldn’t be available for drinks. The place is full of galleries but we weren’t looking to buy a load of paintings, we’d rather concentrate on seeing something cheap. We took Mikes suggestion and had a drive up to Taos which was a small road with lots of character and spectacular scenery. Heading north we finally arrive in town which was coated in a light covering of snow and pulled up to the tourist information place for some maps and ideas of things to do. There was plenty of suggestions but highest on the list was the local Pueblo where the local Indian people live in traditional dwellings still. There was also the 3rd highest suspension bridge in the US nearby as well as drives around the snow capped mountains and trips up to the local ski fields. It looked like they we about to have a good season too but we were hardly prepared for skiing. That would have to wait.
95:Roswell, Nm:The truth *is* out there, but I’d rather sit in the warm drinking coffee…
We woke up in the wal-mart car park feeling like we’d been abducted by freaks. Stumbling into the bathroom for a wash and teeth clean the people in Carlsbad looked liked they’d been breeding with Aliens or something. I’m guessing we might have looked just as weird to them but I’ve never seen such a sorry bunch of hill-billies in my life. Shallow faced, slack jawed, limp haired crazy folk wandering around pushing trolleys full of plastic from china. I needed a coffee if I was to escape this episode of the twilight zone I had strayed into. Carlsbad is famed for its caves. Huge caverns formed millions of years ago and only just discovered. Massive natural cathedrals of rock filled with natural wonders and formations of lime, stretching for miles into the earth. We got to the exit of the car park and neither of us could be bothered. Sod the caves, let’s go look at imaginary Aliens in Roswell!! :p
94:Carlsbad:The end of the road?
When I got up my headache was still throbbing in my skull but at least I could see and think straight, everytime I bent over my forehead would feel like my brain was trying to slosh out of my head. Still I had a job to do and it was the last day of my crazy writing tour of the South, one final line south and then the road to victory north. Daniella would finally be free to direct me as she would, preferably somewhere warm. We left Ozona temporarily to head down towards Mexico but before we made it to the Rio Grande I did a u-turn and the final line was in the making. Could you see my trip from space I have been asked? Probably not, but then it depends on how many pixels wide it was.
92:Somewhere in the heart of Texas:Im not going to Graceland, in Memphis Tennessee
The weather was shockingly bad when we woke up, rainy and very cold. We had been watching the weather reports and it looked like the front of snow would just miss us but we still had a few miles north to go. We left Abilene and followed the road until it was time to go east at Haskell, abandoning my original route. It was grey and dull, and we stopped in Newcastle to have a coffee and a sit down. Bad mistake. The coffee was awful, the people eating the ‘food’ looked like they had escaped from a mental institute but we amused ourselves by reading the local paper which was 4 pages of drivel and trying to make the tiny amount of milk the waitress gave us fit into 4 coffees. ‘Y’all come back now’ she mumbled as we left. I think I would rather die.
Now I had the horribly boring job of driving the 50 miles back to Haskell and onto finish the T in trousers which I set to with a dull resignation. Graceland would have to wait.
91:Abilene Tx:Time to face the music…
We were woken by the rangers truck. I sank deeper into my sleeping bag and advised Daniella to pretend to be asleep. He only stuck a thing on the window though reminding us to pay before 9am. I doubted we would be that efficient. After breakfast, showers and the long overdue washing of my cooking gear we went over to the office to face the music. I was slightly concerned when they said ‘we were just talking about you’ and expected to be tazered or worse for my previous crime so I quickly explained I had driven off without paying at the previous place and they could hardly believe it. Hardly believe that I was owning up to it, its apparently a very common occurrence. They called the other park up while they took my details and payment for the night before and I then had a nice chat with the ranger about what to do. He gave me the address of the head office and said I should send the money with my details and they would sort it out. He also advised me that I could have been arrested but that they didn’t link the park information so if I hadn’t said anything they never would have known. He was extremely impressed that I ‘fessed up. Apparently they have lots of people doing the same at the South Llano River Park too.