FEAR AND LOATHING IN LA PAZ

Statue in Lapaz Harbor Sunset in Lapaz , Sunset in La Paz

10-3-2006


I grabbed a handful of clutch kicked it down into first gear and started on my way south again to La Paz to arrange for a ferry ride across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan. We got a late start, and had to pack up our bikes in the mid-day sun. The temperatures are almost unbearable. If we were smart we would have got a much earlier start, but were not so we will just deal with heat. The motel in Loreto sure was a treat last night, I had the air-conditioned cranked so high you could of hung meat in our room, and I finally had a comfortable bed for the first time in a long time. The ride to La Paz is a long ride in that kind of heat, around 290 miles mostly in the interior of the peninsula. The best thing about a long ride is it gives you time to think about all sorts of things. I experience moments of clarity and ingenious thoughts flow through my mind. The only problem my thoughts are like a conscious backcountry hiker that leaves no trace, by the time I am through with my ride I can barely remember all my brilliant ideas. My train of thought today was why I am taking this journey, a thought many of you may be having yourselves. Here is my reason, are you ready? I have come to the conclusion that upon being born into this world it is inherently mine, the world that is, this may sound arrogant but I do share it with the rest of you though, it is as much yours as mine, if it was solely mine I would make some changes and maybe even tell some of you to leave. It seems like a huge waste to own such a hunk of acreage and not see some of it, and what better way than on a motorcycle. On a bike it seems you are part of the environment as you pass through, not just an observer tucked safely away inside some sort of vehicle. You fell the environment on your face you can smellthe countryside (not always such as good thing in Mexico). Anyway if I do retain any more of my thoughts I will be sure to share them with you in the future.

Carmaleta's roadside tamales, "my beuno", she fell in love with Jay

They let me park my bike in the hotel lobby in La Paz if you look closley at the picture you can see it.

10-04-06
About 10 miles outside La Paz is where you go to take the ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan. Our plan was to go purchase tickets for our bikes and ourselves for Friday and than go south to Cabo San Lucas and back the next day to catch the ferry. The problem was the ferry to Matalan was broke down and would not be back in service for several weeks. Due to my lack of Spanish this took a while and a lot of confusion to comprehend. So on to plan B, there was a ferry that goes to Topolobampo - Los Mochis that was leaving that evening, so our choices were to swim, drive all the way back up the Baja and go around or take the ferry to Los Mochis. Las Mochis it is, it isn’t that much further out of the way, just about 300 miles. The ferry is a huge boat carrying mostly tractor trailers and commercial vehicles and some passenger cars. Loading is very fast paced and confusing the trucks are flying all around trying to jockey for position to board the ferry, its hot, noisy and chaotic, and during this myself and Jay are weaseling our way through the long line of trucks to get ourselves on the boat. While we were waiting we met a guy named Carlos who was taking his car back to his home in Las Mochis, he has lived in the United States off and on for a while spending time in both Boston and Colorado, he recognized my Boston Red Sox sticker on my bike is how our conversation started. He is now a developer doing a project in Los Cabos. He was extremely nice and his English was excellent, he gave us a little history of the area as well as were he thinks its headed in the future. If your reading this Carlos thanks for everything. Once on the boat the interior of the ferry was very comfortable it had a lounge that was showing videos in English with Spanish sub-titles a restaurant and bar. The bar was full of truckers getting extremely drunk, first singing than later fighting, I said to Jay the road leaving the port in Topolobampo going to Los Mochis about 20 miles away should be interesting dark, no idea where we are and full of eighteen wheelers with drunk drivers. Once on the boat Jay and I both started feeling some intestinal dysfunction, we narrowed it down to either fish tacos or bad water, what ever it was it was taking its toll on the both of us. The ferry ride is about 6 hours long of which I spent about half the time in the bathroom and the other half on planning to go to the bathroom. I suggest to anyone with a lot on your mind to eat a bad fish taco for the next several hours all your troubles will leave your mind, all except one that is, enough about my bathroom philosophies. Our next dilemma is the ferry drops you off at the port at 2:30 in the morning and we have no idea as to where we are going. Our planning was to be in Mazatlan not in Los Mochis. Carlos was nice enough to call and arrange for a hotel that would take us at that hour and than led us in his car through the confusing city streets to the hotel, the city is pretty good size we would have had a hard time finding it or anything else at that hour.

10-5-06
Yesterday Jay and I both woke still feeling not quite right from our stomach disorders, not looking forward to the 300 mile run in the heat to Mazatlan. It was very hot but the good news is I didn’t shit my pants on the way. I came damn close though right after we crossed the Tropic of Cancer I had to run and I do mean run into a bathroom at a gas station. There are articles in the Geneva Convention prohibiting what I did to that toilet, good thing it is not a time of war or I could be tried for crimes against humanity. We got to Mazatlan and I got a nice hotel right on the beach, I was still feeling too bad to stay in a run down motel. Jay was worried about his budget so I told him I would pay for these two nights and he can pay for the next two in a motel of his choice and price range, he was happy with that arrangement. Our room was, located on the sixth floor of a typical resort high rise hotel. Upon returning to the room that evening I noticed the air-conditioner was not working very well. I went down to the front desk and explained or tried to explain to them of my problem. They finally sent a maintenance guy back up with me, he checked it out and agreed that it wasn’t working and just left. So back down I go to the front desk and asked to change rooms, they told me they needed time to figure out what to do, so I went back up to the room, after waiting a while in the room for a while I headed back down to the front desk this time they sent me back up with another maintenance guy who looked at the unit and also came to the conclusion that it was not working and he as well just left, so back down I go. (are you seeing a pattern developing here yet) I asked the front desk again for a new room and she said she would have a new one shortly, so back up I go, Jay is now starting to be very amused at my actions at this point, and now it was a personal battle between myself and the lady the front desk that I was now determined to win. I waited in the room and still no word of my new room so down I go once again this time I wasn’t leaving with out a new room. My new found nemesis and arch-enemy at the front desk gave me three room keys and told me to go check out the rooms. The first room had no air-conditioner at all, the second room the air-conditioner worked worse than the one I had now, and the third room was in the process of being painted and remodeled, so down I went, Upon returning to the desk the women now with a wily smile on her face and a smug look of victory asked me what I thought of the other rooms. Defeated I went back up to the room. I was about to accept my defeat but Jay convinced me ( I think just for his amusement) to not give up, so armed with my new confidence and my Spanish phrase book down I went. The front desk lady was surprised to see me return she was already celebrating her victory over me. I told the least they could do was to bring a fan to my room actually the least they could do was nothing and that I think was their plan. Before leaving the front desk I asked for one of the bottles of water that were stacked behind the desk, I was pretty thirsty from my eight or nine trips to the front desk, she handed it to me and as I started drinking it she said that it would be ten pesos or one dollar, again there was that wily smile. I had no money on me and I sure as hell was not going to come back down again. I eyed this evil women and said just bring the fan, and back up I went. I got to the room assured Jay that I had the problem resolved, several moments later there was a knock at the door and believe it or not a man with a fan. Thinking I may have lost the war but at least I won a small battle, The man than says to me “The lady at the front desk said I need to get 10 pesos from you before I give you the fan” curses and foiled again. I plugged the fan in and Jay looked over at me and said “you know if you just lie still for a while the temperature really isn’t that bad” and I responded shut the fuck up and off to sleep I went.

10-06-05
I dropped my camera on a tile floor and busted it so I had to purchase another. Mazatlan has a Super Wal-Mart so we thought it would be a fun experience to buy my new camera there. It isn’t that much different than the one in Avon Colorado, full of Mexicans and no one speaking English, although they actually had people working at the cash registers, almost made me homesick. Well I’m going to go enjoy the beautiful beaches of Mazatlan, maybe even sip on a Pina Colada or two.

Adios until next post