|
IN ENGLISH | EN ESPAÑOL | EM PORTUGUÊS
|
|
||
MESSAGE FORUM & BULLETIN BOARD soul trip california dreamin' knowledge is power aim for the sky love, man to your health seize the day capoeira my bloodline my buds my baby book life in club med SpRinG BrEaK kali kali kali random events ryanroweinrio Read Guestbook! Sign Guestbook! |
Ok, to be honest, I´ve been on the mainland for five days, I'll get my next update out pronto. Been having some computer problems. I have TONS of pictures. Click here and then click on SEE ALL PHOTOS to see the ones I have managed to get online. Baja California is big, beautiful, breathtaking, and, well, baja. Guess you could say that Alta California is the American state to the north. Truth be known, California actually used to be Mexican territory until the United States assumed control in the Treaty of Cahuenga in 1847 & the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. A bit more about the history of Mexico. I missed a really big party by arriving late on the 23rd. The 16th of September is actually Mexico's Independence Day (a celebration of independence from Spain in 1810). Flags are everywhere in this country. Mexicans are patriotic and proud to be so. For those who have always wondered, Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of a victory over France in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. I arrived in Mexico without much fanfare. The border is very easy to cross. Only a green light/red light system that decides whether you should be searched and verified or not. I had originally wanted to visit Tijuana, but upon the insistence of many that it was not worthwhile to do so, I skipped it and went directly to Rosarito. I arrived late by a taxi de ruta, and was overcharged for the voyage. It was a station-wagon style cab with about 6 other people inside. For my first experience in Mexico, I was a bit frightened by the driver's swarthy look, crafty smile, and beady eyes. Looks are obviously quite deceiving as I was driven straight to the door of the Alamo Hostel with no trouble at all. Rosarito Beach is not much to see. Famous for the filming of James Cameron´s Titanic, it now hosts one of the West Coast's only water-based movie studios, Fox Studios. Rosarito Beach is also a famous Spring Break destination for many US college students. In Mexico, like in Canada, you can drink at the age of 18. Good surfing here, but the beach is dirty. Many stray dogs are allowed to wander freely around town, and there is really no designated organization responsible for the care or cleanliness of these animals. I was busy trying to organize my trip to Ensenada when I met two lively girls from San Diego. Meg and Alexa had just moved to California from Chicago, and were visiting Mexico for their first time. We became fast friends and went for lobster in Puerto Nuevo. Be sure to visit this small coastal town south of Rosarito if you come here. Come during the off-season when you can command better value for your meal, which is sure to be delicious. Go to El Galeón, on Calle Anzuelo, and ask for Raymundo Alvarez (the owner). Alexa and Meg kidnapped me back to San Diego, insisting that I party with them for a couple of days before they returned me to Ensenada. This was fine with me as I hadn't visited San Diego since 1992. Unfortunately the Zoo (which is world-famous) was out of the question, too expensive. What did I do? Visited La Jolla (very trendy neighborhood), made a whole whack of new friends, got really really drunk on homemade margaritas, and then spent the day recovering on the beach at Windansea. Also swam with a sea lion, got snubbed by three Brasilian women, and met a really interesting world traveler named Will who had a story for every city or country you can think of. Oh, and then I snubbed them back. :) San Diego is a beautiful city, attractively landscaped, and the climate is comfortable. The people are so chill and laidback. And... we didn´t have to pay for parking anywhere. :) If you're ever in California, take the time to visit San Diego. If you like motorcycle trips, by the way, check out the endeavour that Alexa is organising: Finally, I made my way back to Mexico with Alexa where we found a campsite at a little coastal village named San Miguel. This was where my trip began for real. Camping on the beach in Mexico, pitching a tent in the blackness of the night, and you can hear the roar of the ocean only a few short metres from your tent. We built a campfire on the top of this hill near the cliffs, and cooked up some food up on the stove... This was Punta Banda, and the view is simply incredible located about a mile before you reach the town of La Bufadora. La Bufadora is a quaint little village which sports one of earth's geological oddities. It's a cave in the cliffs which sucks water in from the ocean, and blows it out through a "blowhole" in the roof of the cave. Mom says (she looked it up) the legend is that a baby whale swam into the cave in the evening. By morning he had gained 50 pounds and was unable to escape. As he grew up in the cave he became quite angry at being trapped. The 80 foot geyser is his spout and the explosion is his anger fulminating. Mulegé. Wow. HOT. TROPICAL. SMALL MEXICAN VILLAGE. They've sold themselves out to the tourists a bit, but there is still much of the culture there that I came to explore and experience in Mexico. I stayed in the Orchard Vacation Village for $5 a night, and I slept outside in a palapa (thatched-roof hut). The weather was easily hovering around 40 degrees Celsius while I was there. An experience I had: I was looking for a laundromat and a woman approached me and said she would do it herself. To top it off, she refused my money. I did end up leaving her a few dollars the next morning when I came to collect my clothes in her absence... Mulege has a prison in its midst that was closed in 1975, to image people living in these conditions is incredible. Be sure to take a look at the photos. I can't imagine the prison having been in any better shape only 30 short years ago. Walking through the town is a lot of fun. After you´ve overcome your nonsensical fear of being robbed or attacked by locals in small Mexican towns, you can really begin to enjoy them. The people are friendly, full of smiles and ready to answer your questions. My level of ability in Spanish has improved tremendously these past couple of weeks. The food is cheap, a meal of four or five quesadillas and a cold beer will cost about 30 pesos or US$3). In the sierras off to the west of Mulegé, you will find cave paintings from pre-historic times. One of the best is in Cañon de la Trinidad, too expensive for me to visit during the off-season (not enough people for a group). I skedaddled south on a late bus to La Paz, and arrived in that town early the next morning. Sacrificing money for safety, I took a cab to Pensión California and arranged a deal for two nights at 220 pesos or US$22). Quite a nice place to stay, safe, and right in the center of downtown. La Paz is an extraordinary city. I never expected what I found. Very very clean, modern, and all the amenities of a first-class town. Some interesting local history too, John Steinbeck based his novel "The Pearl" in 1941 on a local legend about this town. If possible, I might think about doing a second exchange semester in La Paz. It also has some of Baja California's best scuba diving sites. I intend to wait until I get to Honduras before I do that. To orient yourself, look at a map of Baja California. It's right at the southern tip. La Paz has waters that are layered in three different hues of blue. I can't explain it. You'll just have to go yourself. I encountered some cyclists in La Paz. Three from the UK, and two from Calgary, in Canada. Very friendly people. Had dinner with them, and drank muchas cervezas. Will and Chris have been cycling from Alaska to Argentina, and are doing it for charity. Their quest is to raise 50,000 pounds. Check out the website that is following them through: I skipped touristy Cabo San Lucas in favour of a camping excursion to Puerto Balandra, one of La Paz's most famed beaches. Pictured on postcards everywhere, I showed up and camped the night. I WAS THE ONLY ONE THERE. Amazing. Simply stunning. I saw the Milky Way from one end of the sky to the other. I saw more stars than I have ever seen before. You can wade out into the waters of the beach for fifteen minutes and not go deeper than your chest. In all directions. The fish collect on the bottom around your feet, wondering who the giant is, a human. Something they've never seen before. They're curious, unafraid, until you move a toe, or displace some water. They scatter, and return in seconds. The water is super-salty, you can float without any air in your lungs... Ok. I could go on and on and on, but then those of you who are reading this at work would never finish your spreadsheets, your payroll calculations, your plans for the next board meeting, or the afternoon's stock transactions. So. Should you visit Baja? If you like jaw-dropping scenery, friendly people, with the ability to render yourself isolated in the wilderness for days at a time, then it's for you. If you enjoy scuba-diving, snorkeling, or surfing, and want to do it in some of the best locales in the world, professionals are available to help you do it. If you want to do these things for a fraction of the cost that it would be in Canada or the U.S., be sure to skip Tijuana and Rosarito, and head farther south past Ensenada. Bus travel in Baja is reliable, Mexico so far has been welcoming and hospitable, and the weather is nothing short of wonderful, all the time (at least while I've been here and this is the beginning of the rainy season). Mexico has 31 states and 1 federal district, and I've only visited two of them so far. One interesting little tidbit. I learned something yesterday from this local named David, he told me that S.A. de C.V. (an acronym visible on companies all over Mexico), is a quality standard, something similar to ISO standards in Canada and the United States. If anyone knows what it stands for, I'd love to know... GO! Grab a cheap flight to San Diego. Take a bus through Baja and CAMP on your next vacation. You will NOT regret it. An eye-opening experience. TRAVEL. Do it before you lose your nerve! Alexa, Meg, and Tina: Thanks for introducing me to San Diego for real, for new friends, good times, and enlightening conversation. Raul: Thanks for showing me the way to Cafe Equinoxios in Ensenada... Teron & Shannon: I hope your kayaking trip around Isla Espiritu Santo went as well as you had hoped.. Too bad I couldn't join you this time... Will: If you're out there and reading this, I'm going to try and find you in 411 online and send you a postcard. Thanks for all the advice! |
|
