News from Baja
If you plan to visit a remote area or a Third World country, you have to expect and tolerate some inconveniences along the way. If you cannot, you should really stay home.
My wife and I made it to Loreto yesterday afternoon...2-1/2 days and 1500 or so miles of military check points, cursory inspections (none, actually), and some very interesting stories.
We made it to Ensenada the first day. We were going to go three more hours south to El Rosario, but we were tired. We sort of zipped through the border crossing; didn't give the Federales any eye contact so we don't know if they want to inspect us or not...we just merged in with the busy Tijuana traffic and headed south.
We stayed at the Joker Motel. That was our first mistake. It just seemed less-tacky than some of the other ones and it had a high, prison-like gate around it so no one would steal our truck. As we pulled on to their property, there were machine gun-welding guards. Hummm...maybe this WAS a prison.
Later that night, we knew why there were police at the hotel. Hundreds of party-goers (mostly drunk teenagers) arrived and went crazy. They were jumping in the pool, drinking, fighting, playing the loudest music you can ever imagine, and cheering on people doing things unimaginable. All night long, the Federales were hauling them into the room next to us. Apparently, this was the "jail"! Occasionally, we would hear them beating the hell out of someone. We left as soon as it was light. We did not get much sleep, but the entertainment was interesting.
Day 2 we made it to San Ignacio, a little Mexican village and oasis in the desert. The entire place is covered with date palms planted by the Jesuits in 1732. The Jesuits were forced out several years later, but the palm trees have stayed. The locals now make some sort of booze from the dates. I did not drink any.
We stayed at a unique bed and breakfast. It was a Mongolian yurt, purchased in Oregon by a Canadian couple who owned this unique "Yurt and Breakfast", in the middle of Mexico. This was quieter than the Joker, with the exception of the love-sick bull frogs who called for each other from one end of the yurt to another. A yurt is not your typical tent. It has a bathroom, tiled floors, shower, flush toilet, tiled bedroom, kitchenette with microwave and fridge, a huge skylight to see the full moon, and a hot tub outside. After the Joker, we wanted an upgrade. We went in to town to get dinner; some of the best and most garlicky scallops I have ever had. We wanted some date pie, but they were out of it. We bought a date pie from an elderly woman who lived next door to the restaurant.
While I was eating my scallops, a Mexican man walked by and gave me a friendly nod. He was carrying a pot with four pigs feet in them. He sat the pot down on the table beside us. The then went back to the truck and brought in the rest of the pig (minus those four feet) on his shoulders. He flopped it on the table and begin butchering it. You don't see that in often in the U.S. I don't know if you are supposed to tip the pig-butcherer or not. I asked him if he was making carnitas. "Maybe tomorrow," he replied in Spanish.
We basically had an uneventful trip down Baja. No one even looked in the back of the truck were we stashed our "smuggled" children's clothing (about a hundred outfits). We also brought our kayak and a gasoline power washer I was bringing down for my friend. We like to travel light. We originally had intended to bring about a thousand pounds of children's clothing, but were reluctant to do so because of a ban on used clothing. Millions of illegal Mexicans make it across the border each year. The drug cartels bring in tons of marijuana and cocaine. For some reason they weren't going to tolerate two Americans bringing in kid clothes for the orphans. Where is the logic here?
After milling it around for weeks, we gave the bulk of the clothing to a local church for their community fair clothing give-a-way. The rest we stuffed in three big suitcases for the trip to Baja. No one even searched our bags, so we didn't have to make up any stories to explain those clothes. We won't be so lucky on the way home next week. Northern bound cars are scrutinized a great deal. I will wear my clean shorts for the full body search.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: travel, Baja, Mexico, health and wellness
My wife and I made it to Loreto yesterday afternoon...2-1/2 days and 1500 or so miles of military check points, cursory inspections (none, actually), and some very interesting stories.
We made it to Ensenada the first day. We were going to go three more hours south to El Rosario, but we were tired. We sort of zipped through the border crossing; didn't give the Federales any eye contact so we don't know if they want to inspect us or not...we just merged in with the busy Tijuana traffic and headed south.
We stayed at the Joker Motel. That was our first mistake. It just seemed less-tacky than some of the other ones and it had a high, prison-like gate around it so no one would steal our truck. As we pulled on to their property, there were machine gun-welding guards. Hummm...maybe this WAS a prison.
Later that night, we knew why there were police at the hotel. Hundreds of party-goers (mostly drunk teenagers) arrived and went crazy. They were jumping in the pool, drinking, fighting, playing the loudest music you can ever imagine, and cheering on people doing things unimaginable. All night long, the Federales were hauling them into the room next to us. Apparently, this was the "jail"! Occasionally, we would hear them beating the hell out of someone. We left as soon as it was light. We did not get much sleep, but the entertainment was interesting.
Day 2 we made it to San Ignacio, a little Mexican village and oasis in the desert. The entire place is covered with date palms planted by the Jesuits in 1732. The Jesuits were forced out several years later, but the palm trees have stayed. The locals now make some sort of booze from the dates. I did not drink any.
Photo Credit: Rod Moser
While I was eating my scallops, a Mexican man walked by and gave me a friendly nod. He was carrying a pot with four pigs feet in them. He sat the pot down on the table beside us. The then went back to the truck and brought in the rest of the pig (minus those four feet) on his shoulders. He flopped it on the table and begin butchering it. You don't see that in often in the U.S. I don't know if you are supposed to tip the pig-butcherer or not. I asked him if he was making carnitas. "Maybe tomorrow," he replied in Spanish.
We basically had an uneventful trip down Baja. No one even looked in the back of the truck were we stashed our "smuggled" children's clothing (about a hundred outfits). We also brought our kayak and a gasoline power washer I was bringing down for my friend. We like to travel light. We originally had intended to bring about a thousand pounds of children's clothing, but were reluctant to do so because of a ban on used clothing. Millions of illegal Mexicans make it across the border each year. The drug cartels bring in tons of marijuana and cocaine. For some reason they weren't going to tolerate two Americans bringing in kid clothes for the orphans. Where is the logic here?
After milling it around for weeks, we gave the bulk of the clothing to a local church for their community fair clothing give-a-way. The rest we stuffed in three big suitcases for the trip to Baja. No one even searched our bags, so we didn't have to make up any stories to explain those clothes. We won't be so lucky on the way home next week. Northern bound cars are scrutinized a great deal. I will wear my clean shorts for the full body search.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: travel, Baja, Mexico, health and wellness
1 Comments:
Wow! That seems like a nice yurt. This summer I lived in a yurt while working as a camp counselor, it was really cool, but it was just 6 bunk beds around the yurt. There was not electricty.
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