Holy Topes!

Streets of Barra de Navidad in the morning.

Fish Monger

We were kind of planning a day off in Barra de Navidad to update the blog and get some laundry done. We managed to get it all done before noon so we headed out for Playa Azul. What an awesome motorcycle road that was! There were lots of hills and corners (lots of 2nd and 3rd gear for anyone who cares) and nice views of the ocean. Hwy 200 in Mexico seems to be the rough equivalent to Hwy 1 down the US West coast. We're not making time but we're getting to see a lot of rural areas as well as the smaller communities. Playa Azul is a popular area for Mexicans on holiday and it was very busy. We're eating lots of seafood washed down with appropriate liquids and it's really good. We're finding that if we go to the places where all the locals are eating we get really good food and service for very cheap. 60 to100 pesos for breakfast of coffee, juice, fruit, toast and eggs to your liking.

View from one of the very few road side stops.

After Azul we thought we'd head for Acapulco thinking it would be easy to find a hotel somewhere. Also it wasn't far so we'd be into town in good time. It looked to be about 370 km or so. Easy. We stopped for a drink somewhere around 3:30 and figured conservatively that we'd have another hour. I have never seen anything like it! The traffic downtown was bizarre! I had to laugh many times because it was so outrageous. Intersections were jammed with everybody doing what they thought they had to do to get through traffic. We were right in the middle! Horns honking and everybody cutting everybody off. Traffic lights were useless. Not a cop around. Really wish I had a helmet cam. We managed to get through downtown onto the south side of town and it looked like a hotel area along a beach so I led Neil down there. Wrong. More gridlock. By this time the bikes were over heating in the 35 degree heat. We toughed it out and got through that but now it was dark and the only hotels we could find were either full or too scary. I have to admit I was a bit uncomfortable walking down some dark alley in a marginal area. Somehow Neil spotted a hotel sign so we pulled in. $950(pesos) for the night. Crap. We looked a little more but ended up going back there. Turned out it was a good move. We got a decent room with air conditioning. The owner and his son also opened up the back gate so we could park the bikes in the safety of his back yard. He also lowered the price to $900. And he also volunteered his son to go with us in a taxi to get dinner. We had to draw the line there. By this time it was after 8 pm so we had chips and beer from the local OXXO store for dinner. The hotel owner even wanted his son to go with us to the store to keep us safe. Nice neighbourhood.

Find this in the dark.

Safe and sound

Good-bye from our new friend.

We headed for Puerto Escondido in the morning and found a room at a reasonable hour. We were all toped out by then anyway. In case you don't know, topes are speed bumps in every populated area. They're in every village along the highway. Every once in a while they throw one in at some random location just to keep you on your toes. We're also finding that 400 km in the heat, traffic and topes is about all you want to do. It's also so busy with Mexicans on holidays that getting a room at the end of the day can be a chore. We're paying premium prices right now but we're hoping that will end soon, in Guatemala hopefully.

Along the road to Escondido.

After taking a break in the 35 plus heat.

View from near the restaurant in Escondido.

The Escondido area is famous for surfing and the Mexican Pipeline comes in a few beaches down the road. No sightseeing pictures of that, sorry. Maybe try National Geographic.

Tonight we're in Bahia de Huatula. Another resort town but we got a room for two nights because we need to change our engine oil after cooking it the other night in Acapulco. Also, we'll be guaranteed a place to stay on New Years Eve. More blog in a day or so.

                              Felize Ano Nuevo! 
                                                                                                (or something like that)

So the ferry schedule said it left at 8 PM but we noticed our tickets said 10 PM. However we were supposed to be there at least 3 hours prior to departure. Hmmm... So being conservative we showed up at 4:30. Neil ended up talking to a local John Deere mechanic who said that yes, the ferry is supposed to leave at 10 PM but when it actually leaves is anyone's guess. We also spoke to a retired corrections officer who spent his 24 year career working at Fulsom State Prison. He was cycling his way from California to Panama. He told Neil he had done three 200 km days that week, riding from 7 am to 12 pm. Pretty nuts when you see how narrow the roads are and how fast everyone goes.We loaded at about 6:30 and got our room. The loading for us was easy but you don't actually wait in line to board or unload. When you're ready you go. There were a lot of trucks that needed to be backed into position. A bit of a show. The ferry was very nice, almost like a hotel or cruise ship. We wandered around a bit then headed for the bar. The ferry left after about 2 margaritas (10:15 I think).
In the morning when we got up there was still no sight of land. However we also now had know idea when we were supposed to get to Mazatlan. So I went for a coffee. HA! I waited in a long line for a while to find out the only coffee machine was broken and there was no hot water. Okay, fine. So we waited for a while longer to have breakfast only to be told that there probably won't be enough food so forget it. Okay. BC Ferries is looking pretty good right now. We finally got into Mazatlan and unloaded by 12: 20 or so.
Getting out of Mazatlan was pretty painless but we got a bit of help from a taxi driver who was very helpful. Driving through these busy streets is where I wish we were set up for taking video from our bikes. Very colourful and busy. You think you must be going down the wrong street because it's so narrow and run down but it's actually a main drag.
We went to Playa Novillera for Christmas Eve. It was barely a village but we found a decent hotel on the beach and a good meal across the street.
Christmas Day we headed for Guayapatis which was a very busy town where mostly Mexicans go for the Holiday. We treated ourselves to a nice steak dinner for Christmas (and a few margaritas).
We're now in Barra de Navidad. It's another touristy town with lots going on. Very festive right now between regular gringo tourists and Mexican families on vacation. It's interesting to wander the streets at night and during the day. The riding has been awesome. We've been traveling the secondary highways so we get a lot of variety in both the riding and the sights.
Here's a few pictures.

Nice beach near La Paz, Baja C. Sur

Not our ferry but just like it.

Coming into Mazatlan

Tug boats had to put the ferry into dock

Free-for-all unloading

Lunch on the side of the street.

Not Christmas carolers but kind of.

Very busy beaches.

Typical beach vendor.

Cool chopped Bug

Beach at Sayalita

Another hawker

The other heritage twins.

...what did you call me?

Lush hillsides south of Puerto Vallarta

Lots of agriculture

Pizza anyone?

Oh yeah, the Spanish is getting better but I must have said something wrong to the girl at the front desk of our hotel when we checked in last night. She is pissed at me for something; won't even acknowledge me. Anyway, I'll practice a bit before I speak to her again. Talk about pressure!
Hasta Luego

Miles and miles of miles and miles.

After breakfast we left Guerrero Negro across Desierto de Vizcano which was kind of bleak, even for a desert. Probably more bleak as it was quite cloudy and cool. We stopped in Santa Rosalia for a break and some gas. We also chatted with a Canadian who had lived there for 16 years after moving down for a mining related job, exploration drilling I think. He says business is booming for him as the Mexican government is very mining friendly. We continued from there down the road to Loreto. The vistas of Bahia Concepcion from the highway were spectacular. One thing we're noticing though are the non-existent highway shoulders making it difficult to to pull off the highway and get photos where you want to.
Loreto was very nice. It's definitely a tourist area but very beautiful. Prices for rooms and meals are more (double) but still reasonable at about US$80 per night right on the beach in a very nice room.
We left Loreto on the morning of the Birthday of the Public Security Force (Policia). This cost us a few pesos at every town until we figured out they would give you a receipt after you donate. Duh! Today was more riding across desert with one stretch of about 80 km in a straight line. The speed limit here seems to be a very rough guideline at best. Some Suburban blew by us like we were standing still. I think we were doing 120 kph. I think most are doing 130 or so in the 80 zones.
Into La Paz we got another awesome room on the beach for pretty cheap. The lady at the front desk looked at me like I was idiot when I told her we hadn't bought ferry tickets to Mazatlan yet. We keep forgetting it's Christmas and the ferry is very busy. She was very nice and phoned the ticket office to let them know we were coming. She gave us good directions (who needs a stupid GPS?) and we got fixed up with tickets and back to the room before 6 PM. She saved us a couple of extra days in La Paz although that wouldn't have been the end of the world. It's very nice here. Our ferry doesn't leave until 8 PM tonight (Thursday 23 Dec) so we did a bit of walking around and shopping for sunscreen and stuff. I got more of those "You Idiot" looks when I tried to ask for things Spanish.I'm getting used to it and pretty soon I won't be embarrassed by my espanol at all.

Lots more of this.

On the way to Santa Rosalia

The harbour at Santa Rosalia

The road to Loreto

Our room at Loreto

Historic area of Loreto

Sunrise in Loreto

Mission Loreto built in 1600's

South of Loreto

More of this

Nice to come home to

Downtown La Paz

Downtown La Paz at night.

Regular patrols for topless bathers I think.

Baja Backroads

We left Sandy's house in San Diego (thanks for the awesome dinner and hospitality Sandy) on Saturday morning and headed for Tijuana for the crossing into Mexico. We were met with a long line up at the border but at least it wasn't raining. The paperwork at the Border went well but mostly because of the patient and English speaking people there. We took the toll road to Ensenada and decided to hang out there as it seemed too late to go anywhere else. Remember? Don't ride at night. We ended up at a small local bar where there was live music and a wedding reception going on. It was pretty cool. Once the word was out that we were from Vancouver Island and heading for South America on our bikes we didn't have to buy any more drinks. They were very nice people. On Sunday we had a slow start (the free drinks; remember?) but headed across the Baja on Hwy 3 and 5 to San Felipe. It used to be a small fishing town but is getting popular with Americans and there are lots of real estate developments on the go. It seemed most people spoke English which doesn't help our Spanish.
Today, we didn't get out of San Felipe until 9:00 am because we kept running into other bikers and getting road info from them. One of the guys told us the road we were planning on using would be perfect for our bikes. I took it with a grain of salt as he had just finished second in his Class and 6th overall in the Baja 1000.  We continued south from San Felipe and ended up on a somewhat rough road. It was absolutely awesome. I couldn't believe we were riding that Baja backroad. It took us 3 hours to go the last 80 km on the dirt. I finally figured out how to ride a little better in sand. We ended up on Hwy 1 where we continued South.We had to buy gas from a roadside vendor who was conveniently parked where the gas station used to be. Were not sure how much we bought but he had the corner on the market. We are in Guerrero Negro tonight. Not much here but the hotel is nice and so is the owner.
Here's a few pics.

San Felipe at Sunset

Hwy 5 South of San Felipe

There was lots of this.

Beautiful.

Taking a break.

More of this.

Mobile gas station on Hwy1.