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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Nov 29, 2009 07:00 PM Crucero San Blas
Thanks to all of you who send me greetings and wishes - sorry I cannot answer all of them....
San Blas is now sleepy, little town on the coast, about 35 kms off the main road. I took a bus heading from Mazatlan to Tepic - 4,5 hours, 200 pesos - and asked politely driver to leave me at crucero /junction/ San Blas. It was already completly dark when he left me there. Hitchhiking in the dark is unsafe, but I did not have the other choice. Few cars passed by ignoring me. Finally I was lucky: I jumped on the last bus coming from Tepic.
San Blas is charming. Spaniards built here a little fortress to protect their ships anchoring in the mouth of the river. You can see romantic ruins - walls and churches. I found accomodation in the family-run Hotel Morelos. They charge 200 per room with fan and bath. From my experience it is not easy to find in nowadays Mexico something cheaper. Once I saw a room for 130 pesos but it was dump and not so clean... Bring mosquito repellent with you - flies are very nasty!
People are nice here when they recognize that you are not a rich gringo but a backpacker from far-away Europe...
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Nov 28, 2009 07:00 PM Second high lighthouse in the world
What I visited so far on my ´09 Mexican trail could be described as Mexican outback... Now it is the time to relax little bit and to enjoy the sun and the warm Pacific Ocean. Mazatlan is the first city on the Mexican Riviera I visit.
It was early morning when I was climbing the hill overlooking both - the long beaches of tourist Zona Dorada and the port. On the top of the hill they built in 1882 the second high lighthouse in the world - the light is on the level of 157 m above the sea. A lot of sweat, but the view is rewarding...
The highest lighthouse is in Gibraltar - I saw it years ago.
Mazatlan has interesting old town - narrow streets full of colors - very quite on Sunday morning. No cruise ships in the port so I had the old town for myself... Pleasure stroll... I stay in the beach hotel Sands - just 500 m walk from the camionera. It is still low season so they charge only 250 pesos for the huge room - it is really good deal if you have companion... To be on the beach just cross the street!
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Nov 27, 2009 07:00 PM Iron church and the junk ferry...
Gustave Eiffel designed for the World Exhibition an iron church... After exhibition they brought it to... Mexico. You can see it in Santa Rosalia. Small but interesting.
I decided to come back to the Mexican mainland - there in a little junk ferry sailing 4 times per week from Santa R to Guaymas. I paid 605 pesos and embarked the junk after obligatory double security control... Few passengers aboard - enough place to sleep in the salon on the seats in front of the TV...
Sea of Cortes was calm and in the morning I desembarked in Guaymas. Well - the town is here nicely located at the bottom of the red hills, the main attraction is the former jail - reminding rather city hall with a clock tower...
Then it was a long, 13-hours bus ride with a locals from Guaymas to Mazatlan. Distances are large in Mexico... A 1-litre bottle of coke cost 10 pesos in the supermarket, I consumed two...
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Nov 26, 2009 07:00 PM Hitchhiking to St Xavier... Broken bus...
Above Loreto - in the mountains there is old mission of St Xavier - one of the most interesting and very isolated.
No public transport. They offered me a car rental to get there (70 USD plus fuel). Sorry. It was 7.30 am - just after sunrise when I was already on the empty side road. 32 kms to the mission... No cars... I started to walk, enjoying great mountain vistas... ´One hour, 40 minutes... Two pickups passed by but did not stop... I was lucky to get a ride after 2 hours walk. The road t the mission is paved untis km 15. Then it is a challenge - gravel, stones, streams to pass.
St Xavier on the other side of the range is worth to see. In the empty stome church you will see 3 altars taken here in the 18th century on the mules...
I was lucky to get the ride back - it took me 1.5 hour, and in the afternoon I wanted to take an onward bus north. Bus arrived, but they announced that it is broken. Only 6 pax inside - I think they wanted to save fuel... Next bus arrived 2 hours later and I went again throuth the nice coastal scenery to Santa Rosalia...
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Nov 25, 2009 07:00 PM Landscapes of Baja California
Camionera - the bus station in La Paz is conveniently located on The Malecon - shore´ promenade dotted with picturesque palm trees - so it was not a long walk with the backpack from ¨Convento¨ where I stay to the bus. Ticket to Loreto costs 239 pesos... It is a long, 5 hours drive.
Baja California or Californian Peninsula is wide country - from Cabos to Tijuana is 1700 kms long... There were great views on the way - thousands of cacti per each kilometre. But the nicest landscape is in the area of Sierra Giganta range. You will see not only the mountains but also blue sea bays... The driver was polite and allow me to take a conductors seat so the pictures will be nice...
I disembarked in Loreto after 5 hours, left my pack in Salvatierra Motel and walked to see the oldest Spanish Mission in Baja located just 500 m away... Nice, old building with a museum attached. Entry to the churches is free but for the museum you have to pay 37 pesos. Great sunset...
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Nov 24, 2009 07:00 PM Los Cabos - Bahia California
Did you see the huge Californian Peninsula on the map? Here I am. I landed in the morning from the ig ferry in La Paz /do you remember my stay in Bolivia? - here is other La Paz/. I found the room in the Convento - cheap hostel located in the courtyard of the former little monastery - 200 pesos per room with bath. Then I took a 3-hours bus drive /120 pesos one way/ to the southern tip of the peninsula. It is nice route - thousands of cacti on the hills. Distant hills and lovely sandy beaches...
Cabo San Lucas is at the end of the route. What a difference... I saw there big American-style resort. Two cruise ships, many white tourists. It is easy to find a boat /10 USD/ for the 1-hour trip to the famous rock - The Arch... Nice place... I was surprised by the little colony of the sea lions living there - like on Galapagos. Dolphins, pelicans and cormorants were also around. Sorry, no sun today, but no rain and only 27 deg. Celsius...
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Nov 23, 2009 07:00 PM Cheated in the Mexican Bank
You will learn untill you will die - my grandpa was saing me... Maybe I trust people too much...
I had some euros left from Germany. Yes, I know that Mexico is The Kingdom of Dollar, but I spent too much money for the Barranca train I wanted to supply my budget. I went to the bank in Los Mochis. Sorry, zero English there.
I showed my euros and asked for the rate. 19.04 - she wrote. OK. She was smiling, she printed something, took a copy of my passport and paid me pesos. The receipt was small and not clear, but I did not think I must came to the BANK with my own calculator... In the evening I recognized that they apply the dollar rate -12,56, not much higher euro rate.
Sorry, no time to go back to the bank - I have my ferry to Baja California tonight...
But the Silver City of Alamos - 3 hours by bus from Mochis was very interesting to see...
Do not cry, my Friends - it was not a big amount of money...
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Nov 22, 2009 07:00 PM Barranca del Cobre
In the past in the press interview I put Grand Canyon on the first place on the list of my seven wonders...
Then I was reading that the is a canyon bigger then Grand... Regarding what? Did you hear about such a canyon? I wanted to go and see...
In fact it is combination of 20 smallest canyons... Only in 1961 they finished the railway line going from Chihuahua down to Los Mochis on the Pacific coast... There are two trains: express primera at 6 am and passenger departing at 7am. It takes 12 or more hours to get down 661-kms route. Tunnels, bridges, breathtaking views. In the most impressing point on the deepcanyoy rim they have 20 minutes stop so you can go 50 m to the rim of the canyon for the pictures.
Yes, it was great journey. El Chepe - thats what they call this famous train has already its own website so you can study schedule and prices -expensive for the backpacker but worth... But now I know that the lovers of the Grand Canyon can sleep well - it is definitely not the same scale...
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Nov 21, 2009 07:00 PM The highest waterfall in Mexico....
You know I am great waterfalls fan... It is not easy to get there... On early morning on the Chihuahuas camionera there were only me ant the seller of burritos... Sorry, dear - you want one dollar per one filled pancake?...
Bus arrived -I bought a ticket for 246 pesos to Basaseachi... 5.5 hours drive through the hilly landscape... In Basaseachi you have to walk from the bus stop on the road 16 through the village 3 kms /no signs/ to the car park in the National Park. Then 20 min walk... and you are on the rim of the deep canyon, on the footstep of the highest fall in Mexico... But from this viewpoint you cannot see much...
It took me 40 min more walking up and down to the Ventana viewpoit and this was THE PLACE...
Great view of the 246-m high fall... I was very sweaty but the sky was blue and the view was unforgettable...
Basaseachi Fall reminds me Angel Fall - four times shorter but still very nice... I hope to show you the pictures. It is funny, but this fall is the highest in Mex only now -in the dry season. In the wet season 8 kms away you can see another, higher fall... Tell me if you will see it and is it worth, please...
Blue sky
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Nov 20, 2009 07:00 PM El Paso and *Ah, Chihuahua!*
I spent a night in the Gardner hostel in El Paso - the hostel is located in the nice old building. Try almost century-old lift... and have a fun.
Then I put my backpack on and walked like a mile to the land border crossing from the USA to Juarez - Mexico. Remember to find US immigration post for the formalities - it is not easy...
Juarez has the very bad opinion to be the high-crime town. Drugs, smuggling... But what the soldiers were looking for just in my backpack?...
I took few pictures of the old mission and the much younger cathedral on the green but small Plaza the Armas and went by junk city bus /6 pesos/ to the camionera. What is camionera? In Mexico they almost never say -bus station- they call it camionera...
One ticket to Chihuahua please... 310 pesos...
One dollar is worth 13 pesos...
After 5.5 hours drive through the picturesque half-desert I disembarked in Chihuahua.
Ah Chihuahua... They have nice little hotel in the old town worth to recommend - El Jardin del Centro... 280 pesos per great room wih hot water and TV. I do not care about TV but no other choice... I had still enough time to visit the house-museum of Pancho Villa - bandit and the national hero, who knows?... Very busy but what a great day...
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