October 2005

MEXICO,
Baja California,
and . . . . .

Everything different – everything new!

At Wednesday the 5th of October I start form Las Vegas.

First to check out Joshua tree National Park in California where the cactus grow like forests and Sandstone formations give their best in this unusual landscape.
At night I drive around Los Angeles and San Diego to see Shane at Thursday at 6th of October 2005 in Ensenada / Mexico.
The 2 Californian Cities I can visit at a longer stopover on a different journey or as a last minute deal.

At 4 am I’m at the border to Mexico.
The lady in uniform shows me with her torch (flashlight) where to stop.
She asks me about the camping gear and that’s it.
I look out for the border control, immigration office and so on, but that was it…..
No stamp in my passport – nada!

The city face changes immediately. Primitive, nasty houses, weird people wondering around the streets and even the smell reminds me of a ‘2nd or 3rd’ world country.

Moldy smell and the smoke of burnt trash sneak in to the car.
Nasty barking dogs I hear all the way to Ensenada.
With the first day light I made it around all this potholes in the roads to the meeting point.
6 hours to go.
First a nap and 3 hours later to an insurance office.
I buy the expensive 4 month insurance and walk across the street to change some money.
The rate is not too bad and I own now some Mexican pesos.
With the passport stamp it turns out to be a bit more difficult.


First I see the Kiwi…here he is, with broke pride & a backpack full of stuff.

After a tough week of trouble he is more then happy to see me.
We pack everything in to the car and drive to the immigration office.
For 20 USD I get a 6 month visa.

At the campground close to the buffadora (blowhole) Shane gets a hair cut.
2 days later we drive with a new front wheel on Jimmy south.

At an other campground we meet a nice couple which joins us on the way south for the next 2 weeks.
They are from Tschechoslovakia and easy going.

We are traveling through little oasis, dry land and on and off we pass little villages.

South of La Paz we find a great spot.
We camp right at the beach.
During the day we swim and snorkel in this beautiful water.

The reef which reaches the beach offers all sorts of colors and fishes – we count over 40 diff. Types.
From turtles to rays.
The best fun are the ‘fish schools’. 100 – 1000 fishes twist and shoot in the water and I am right in the middle of them.
At night the coast control scared the shit out of me.
First we could hear the sound of engines., then we see man with weapons walking towards us… heavy boots and….
Shit I was scared.
The moonlight shows their shadows and then we find out that this were military guys with protect the area.

After a quick ride through San Jose & Cabo San Lucas we leave this American Hotel & Condo stuff behind us and drive towards La Paz.
Todos Santos is a must!
There is the famous Hotel California where the ‘Eagles’ sang about.

Of course a Tequila at the bar before we keep on going.

We meet Oliver, that’s a German motorcyclist on a BMW riding south, Usuhaia is Argentina is his destination. – aaaah, I get homesick after my bullet. I miss Fusae badly – I know, I cant have everything.




At the ferry to Topolobampo we say good by to our Baja California travel friends and enjoy it to travel as a couple.

With the legendary Copper Canyon train we wind up to Creel.

This little town nestled in the high mountains of Mexico is a welcome temperature change.
At night it gets really cold and in the morning we can see the frost on cars and in the grass.

Nice hikes before we take the train back and dive to Mazatlan.
After a little ‘look’ around we are in Santa Cruz.
We need 2 days to relax after that long ride and would loved to stay longer, but we counted one morning over 500 insect bites on us so we decide to leave and drive back to the mountains.

We drive to the town Tequila, where the main road is lined with distilleries & Tequila stands.
No samples for the driver – let's travel save.

Late evenings we reach the campground at Guadalajara.
How nice, such a spot of peace, freedom and green close to this 2,25 mil (total over 4 mil) habitants city.
There is a lot going on.

The easy and cheap public transportation brings us quick to downtown.
1000s of people try to find their way round.

Music bands, costumed dancers, clowns, city crowd and noise, horse & carriage, taxis and a lot of history.



In deed it is a busy ad bustling city, but still nice, green and good to get around.


Guadalajara is a world city with is worth to visit!