Day 62 ? Rolling Plains and Desert Climbs - 98.64 km
The day started out nice and easy today out of Camalu. There were rolling hills through fields and even somewhat of a shoulder for part of the road. On the way to San Quintin I passed by many fields as well as a large number of greenhouses. It reminded me of being back home, as we have a town nearby called Leighmington in which there are also numerous greenhouses which grow a variety of vegetables.
I made it to the town of San Quintin, where I decided to take an internet and lunch break. I try to take a break between the hours of 11 AM and 1 PM as it is scorching hot outside, and basically not the most pleasant weather to bike in. Although San Quintin isn?t exactly a large town, I still managed to count six internet cafes. I shouldn?t have a problem finding internet here, it?s just that it?s going to cost me. If anyone does have wireless internet around here they have a password on it, it seems they are much more sensitive about people using their wireless internet connections around here.
One thing that surprised and scared me today was when I saw, and I kid you not, an eight year old child jump into a van and drive away. I guess that if your feet can reach the pedals your old enough to drive over here. Its times like these that make me think twice about riding a bicycle on the roads around here!
Satisfied both technologically and gastronomically I moved on. The road from here to El Rosario was rough. I passed through miles upon miles of desert and sharp hills with nowhere to re-supply on water. Whoever designed this road must have hated bicyclists as it basically went straight to the top of the largest hill in the area. Dehydrated and tired I passed by a military checkpoint with relative ease and then finally made it to the town of El Rosario.
I decided it would be wise to stop here for the night since for the next 400 kilometers I will cut inland and experience the worst deserts thus far on my trip. The first motel I stopped at wanted a crazy 350 pesos from me, which is about $33. I didn?t even both haggling and moved on. The second motel supposedly had a campground, which I enquired about. Unfortunately the ?camping? is only for RVs, but I did manage to haggle a price of 180 pesos for a room, which is about $17. Not too bad if I must say so myself!
The day started out nice and easy today out of Camalu. There were rolling hills through fields and even somewhat of a shoulder for part of the road. On the way to San Quintin I passed by many fields as well as a large number of greenhouses. It reminded me of being back home, as we have a town nearby called Leighmington in which there are also numerous greenhouses which grow a variety of vegetables.
I made it to the town of San Quintin, where I decided to take an internet and lunch break. I try to take a break between the hours of 11 AM and 1 PM as it is scorching hot outside, and basically not the most pleasant weather to bike in. Although San Quintin isn?t exactly a large town, I still managed to count six internet cafes. I shouldn?t have a problem finding internet here, it?s just that it?s going to cost me. If anyone does have wireless internet around here they have a password on it, it seems they are much more sensitive about people using their wireless internet connections around here.
One thing that surprised and scared me today was when I saw, and I kid you not, an eight year old child jump into a van and drive away. I guess that if your feet can reach the pedals your old enough to drive over here. Its times like these that make me think twice about riding a bicycle on the roads around here!
Satisfied both technologically and gastronomically I moved on. The road from here to El Rosario was rough. I passed through miles upon miles of desert and sharp hills with nowhere to re-supply on water. Whoever designed this road must have hated bicyclists as it basically went straight to the top of the largest hill in the area. Dehydrated and tired I passed by a military checkpoint with relative ease and then finally made it to the town of El Rosario.
I decided it would be wise to stop here for the night since for the next 400 kilometers I will cut inland and experience the worst deserts thus far on my trip. The first motel I stopped at wanted a crazy 350 pesos from me, which is about $33. I didn?t even both haggling and moved on. The second motel supposedly had a campground, which I enquired about. Unfortunately the ?camping? is only for RVs, but I did manage to haggle a price of 180 pesos for a room, which is about $17. Not too bad if I must say so myself!
i wonder how much he pays to travel and stay over at places, he must have made a detailed map. well , good luck.
It's been 3 days, I sure hope Muttsa is okay. There are some real lonely stretches coming up.
edited to add: Do you put your bike and all belongings into the tent with you?
edited to add: Do you put your bike and all belongings into the tent with you?
Day 63 ? Desert Oasis ? 120.48 km
I?m not going to lie, today was a really rough day. In the morning I went to the restaurant near my motel in order to grab some breakfast so that I would have plenty of energy for the day. I have found that it is useless to start biking before 8:30 AM or so as it is simply too cold outside. At 9 AM I headed out, and for the next 40 kilometers I wouldn?t see anything.
These 40 kilometers consists of climbs and drops, over and over again. When I would get to the top of a hill and look around, all I would see as far as the eye could see is desert and road. And they say that Mexico is overpopulated? Hardly!
Deciding to bicycle through a desert in the middle of the summer definatley wasn?t one of the greatest ideas I?ve had in my life. I wish I had a thermometer to be able to tell you exactly how hot it was, but alas I don?t. Take my word for it though, being outside all day in the blazing desert sun while riding a bike isn?t exactly enjoyable. I don?t think that I?ve ever felt as hot as I did today.
Relief came when I stumbled upon a restaurant which was literally in the middle of nowhere. I initially thought it was a mirage, but luckily it was real. Exhausted and heat stricken I stumbled into that restaurant and ordered myself a refreshing Coca-Cola. Costing me a mere 10 pesos, or 1 dollar, it was probably the best tasting Coca-Cola I have ever had the pleasure of consuming. Fortunately these oasis?s in the middle of the desert could be found every 15 kilometers or so for the remainder of the road.
I had to take stops often and my speed wasn?t exactly stellar today. I passed through miles upon miles of sands, cacti, and rocks. The views were beautiful, but it was terribly hot. I actually counted up how much liquids I drank today. My total: 4.5 liters of water, 1.3 liters of Coca-Cola, 1 liter of Fanta. That?s almost 7 liters of liquids in a day, yikes!
I eventually made it to the town of Catavina at around 5:30 PM. I first headed to a restaurant in order to grab something to eat. There was a soccer game on at the time, Mexico versus Chile, which of course everyone was watching. I must say it was quite strange to see two police officers and seven soldiers in this restaurant watching a soccer game, especially since they were armed to the teeth with guns. Nether the less, I enjoyed my quesadilla and of course watched the soccer game.
Since I made it here early I decided to find an internet café so that I could update you all back home. Small problem, there isn?t one. In fact, no one here has internet. Actually, your quite lucky to even get electricity at all, since all that?s available here is solar generated! With that idea gone I headed to a campground in town and set up camp for the night.
Since I had so much time before it was going to get dark I decided it would be best to do some bicycle maintenance. I adjusted my rear brake as it was brushing against my brake pad and also cleaned up anything I could around my chain. These two things happened with no problems. While adjusting my brakes I noticed that my rear wheel was slightly out of true, and decided to try my hand at truing a wheel. For those of you not familiar with bicycles, this is basically tightening the spokes to make sure the wheel turns without wobbling. This is where things got real ugly.
It turns out that while truing my wheel I was turning my spoke wrench the wrong way and thus loosing spokes as opposed to tightening them. I ended up with a rim which was totally wobbling from side to side. I thought for sure that I would need a new rim and be stranded here in this town in the middle of nowhere. Much pain, suffering, stress, prayer, and one and a half hour later I managed to get my rim back in fairly good condition. It was quite possibly one of the most stressful experiences of my life, thus I don?t plan on trying to true one of my wheels again any time soon.
I am actually the only person staying at this campground tonight, which is quite strange since it has room for about 60 RVs. I tried to pay the $6 that they are asking to stay here, but unfortunately could not find anyone here. In the four hours I was outside I didn?t see anyone who is in charge of this place. I hope to find them tomorrow so I can pay them, the last thing I want is trouble with the Mexican police force!
Day 64 ? The Day of Unquenchable Thirst - 147.65 km
Today in the morning I once again attempted to pay my camping fees, but alas there was no one around. The office was empty, and I wasn?t just going to leave money lying around, because the next person walking by would take it. In order not to feel guilty I went across the street and spent the same amount of money to buy supplies.
I hit the road once more. Today?s road was also terribly hot just as it was yesterday, but it was not as bad. I knew what to expect in terms of heat, and the road was not as hilly. It was by no means flat, but it wasn?t as bad as yesterday. Additionally since I fixed my brake yesterday I didn?t hear a screeching sound every three seconds. There were once again desert oasis?s all along the road, which I visited quite frequently.
Although I didn?t eat breakfast today, I wasn?t hungry even after many hours and riding over 95 kilometers. However, I was thirsty as a fish. I just kept drinking and drinking water as if I were a sewer drain. No matter how cold water is when you buy it, it will reach near supernova temperatures out in the desert. I have found that placing bottles in my bag helps to slow this effect down slightly. Even so, hot water is quite refreshing when you?re dying of thirst.
Today I once again witnessed first hand the kindness of the Mexican people. As I was painfully making my way up a steep hill someone pulled up beside me and asked if I wanted some cold water to drink. I of course replied yes, and while on the go I was passed some water from the car window. I wish I had more time to properly thank these people and give them my card with my website. I tell you, I never knew that water could taste so good.
It turns out that between the towns of Catavina and Guerro Negro, a distance of 230 kilometers, there is not a single motel or campground. There actually isn?t a gas station here for a stretch of 340 kilometers! In order to solve this problem there are people selling gas out of the back of their pick up truck, although I?m not sure I?d want to trust that. Since there was no way I would ride 230 kilometers, I decided to simply ask to camp somewhere. I stopped at a restaurant and asked if it would be possible to camp here. One very confusing conversation and $5 later I was led out past a gate and into a field.
I currently have horses running circles around my tent, cows mooing in the distance, and donkeys doing whatever it is donkeys do. It should make for quite an interesting night! Tomorrow in the morning I plan on eating breakfast at the restaurant here and plan to make it only to Guerro Negro tomorrow, a distance of 80 kilometers or so. Afterwards I have planned stops such that it will take six days time to make it to La Paz.
I?m not going to lie, today was a really rough day. In the morning I went to the restaurant near my motel in order to grab some breakfast so that I would have plenty of energy for the day. I have found that it is useless to start biking before 8:30 AM or so as it is simply too cold outside. At 9 AM I headed out, and for the next 40 kilometers I wouldn?t see anything.
These 40 kilometers consists of climbs and drops, over and over again. When I would get to the top of a hill and look around, all I would see as far as the eye could see is desert and road. And they say that Mexico is overpopulated? Hardly!
Deciding to bicycle through a desert in the middle of the summer definatley wasn?t one of the greatest ideas I?ve had in my life. I wish I had a thermometer to be able to tell you exactly how hot it was, but alas I don?t. Take my word for it though, being outside all day in the blazing desert sun while riding a bike isn?t exactly enjoyable. I don?t think that I?ve ever felt as hot as I did today.
Relief came when I stumbled upon a restaurant which was literally in the middle of nowhere. I initially thought it was a mirage, but luckily it was real. Exhausted and heat stricken I stumbled into that restaurant and ordered myself a refreshing Coca-Cola. Costing me a mere 10 pesos, or 1 dollar, it was probably the best tasting Coca-Cola I have ever had the pleasure of consuming. Fortunately these oasis?s in the middle of the desert could be found every 15 kilometers or so for the remainder of the road.
I had to take stops often and my speed wasn?t exactly stellar today. I passed through miles upon miles of sands, cacti, and rocks. The views were beautiful, but it was terribly hot. I actually counted up how much liquids I drank today. My total: 4.5 liters of water, 1.3 liters of Coca-Cola, 1 liter of Fanta. That?s almost 7 liters of liquids in a day, yikes!
I eventually made it to the town of Catavina at around 5:30 PM. I first headed to a restaurant in order to grab something to eat. There was a soccer game on at the time, Mexico versus Chile, which of course everyone was watching. I must say it was quite strange to see two police officers and seven soldiers in this restaurant watching a soccer game, especially since they were armed to the teeth with guns. Nether the less, I enjoyed my quesadilla and of course watched the soccer game.
Since I made it here early I decided to find an internet café so that I could update you all back home. Small problem, there isn?t one. In fact, no one here has internet. Actually, your quite lucky to even get electricity at all, since all that?s available here is solar generated! With that idea gone I headed to a campground in town and set up camp for the night.
Since I had so much time before it was going to get dark I decided it would be best to do some bicycle maintenance. I adjusted my rear brake as it was brushing against my brake pad and also cleaned up anything I could around my chain. These two things happened with no problems. While adjusting my brakes I noticed that my rear wheel was slightly out of true, and decided to try my hand at truing a wheel. For those of you not familiar with bicycles, this is basically tightening the spokes to make sure the wheel turns without wobbling. This is where things got real ugly.
It turns out that while truing my wheel I was turning my spoke wrench the wrong way and thus loosing spokes as opposed to tightening them. I ended up with a rim which was totally wobbling from side to side. I thought for sure that I would need a new rim and be stranded here in this town in the middle of nowhere. Much pain, suffering, stress, prayer, and one and a half hour later I managed to get my rim back in fairly good condition. It was quite possibly one of the most stressful experiences of my life, thus I don?t plan on trying to true one of my wheels again any time soon.
I am actually the only person staying at this campground tonight, which is quite strange since it has room for about 60 RVs. I tried to pay the $6 that they are asking to stay here, but unfortunately could not find anyone here. In the four hours I was outside I didn?t see anyone who is in charge of this place. I hope to find them tomorrow so I can pay them, the last thing I want is trouble with the Mexican police force!
Day 64 ? The Day of Unquenchable Thirst - 147.65 km
Today in the morning I once again attempted to pay my camping fees, but alas there was no one around. The office was empty, and I wasn?t just going to leave money lying around, because the next person walking by would take it. In order not to feel guilty I went across the street and spent the same amount of money to buy supplies.
I hit the road once more. Today?s road was also terribly hot just as it was yesterday, but it was not as bad. I knew what to expect in terms of heat, and the road was not as hilly. It was by no means flat, but it wasn?t as bad as yesterday. Additionally since I fixed my brake yesterday I didn?t hear a screeching sound every three seconds. There were once again desert oasis?s all along the road, which I visited quite frequently.
Although I didn?t eat breakfast today, I wasn?t hungry even after many hours and riding over 95 kilometers. However, I was thirsty as a fish. I just kept drinking and drinking water as if I were a sewer drain. No matter how cold water is when you buy it, it will reach near supernova temperatures out in the desert. I have found that placing bottles in my bag helps to slow this effect down slightly. Even so, hot water is quite refreshing when you?re dying of thirst.
Today I once again witnessed first hand the kindness of the Mexican people. As I was painfully making my way up a steep hill someone pulled up beside me and asked if I wanted some cold water to drink. I of course replied yes, and while on the go I was passed some water from the car window. I wish I had more time to properly thank these people and give them my card with my website. I tell you, I never knew that water could taste so good.
It turns out that between the towns of Catavina and Guerro Negro, a distance of 230 kilometers, there is not a single motel or campground. There actually isn?t a gas station here for a stretch of 340 kilometers! In order to solve this problem there are people selling gas out of the back of their pick up truck, although I?m not sure I?d want to trust that. Since there was no way I would ride 230 kilometers, I decided to simply ask to camp somewhere. I stopped at a restaurant and asked if it would be possible to camp here. One very confusing conversation and $5 later I was led out past a gate and into a field.
I currently have horses running circles around my tent, cows mooing in the distance, and donkeys doing whatever it is donkeys do. It should make for quite an interesting night! Tomorrow in the morning I plan on eating breakfast at the restaurant here and plan to make it only to Guerro Negro tomorrow, a distance of 80 kilometers or so. Afterwards I have planned stops such that it will take six days time to make it to La Paz.
Well, I usually stay at the absolute cheapest places I can find, so the rooms aren't exactly stellar, lol
I don't even sleep under the covers of my bed, I use my sleeping bag instead
They're not filthy or anything, but it's nothing like in the United States
If you've ever travelled in areas like this you'll know what I'm talking about!
Yup, I try to mention where I stay at night, and how much it costs me
Lodging down here is much cheaper, I'd say food is about 1/2 the price what it is up in the States
I just bought myself a detailed road map, when I can I try to buy a tourist map which lists where hotels etc are
Have no fear, I am alive!
Some places in the desert here barely have electricity or gasoline, let alone internet!
And yes, I keep all my stuff in my tent
My bags and stuff go inside, and my bicycle goes underneath one of the vestibules of my tent (one of the 'wings')
I've been reading up on your upcoming ferry crossing to Mazatlan, looks very complicated and apparently sells out quickly.
The native ppl of Mexico are a fine lot once one is away from the border and turist areas.
Cold water while on the go, must have been fantastic! Another $50 from me once you reach Panama. Best to ya!
http://www.parktool.com/repair/ might come in handy.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html is the simplest tutorial on building and truing. Do not run loose spokes.
I know this is after the fact but I did find these several weeks ago and just might buy two of the flax bags at page top for cool water w/o refrigeration.
http://www.lifestylestore.com/ls_survival_water.html
Cold water while on the go, must have been fantastic! Another $50 from me once you reach Panama. Best to ya!
http://www.parktool.com/repair/ might come in handy.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html is the simplest tutorial on building and truing. Do not run loose spokes.
I know this is after the fact but I did find these several weeks ago and just might buy two of the flax bags at page top for cool water w/o refrigeration.
http://www.lifestylestore.com/ls_survival_water.html
If you need any help with Spanish phrases or translations PM me or I can give you my home and cell number. My wife is a native speaker and I am fairly fluent.
sygyzy
Lifer
- Oct 21, 2000
- 14,001
- 4
- 76
She's fluent in English and I'm fairly fluent in Spanish. I can't say there is *never* communication problems, but typically it is a contextual or minor thing. Like -- pronouncing "drawer" or what some things are called. It is mainly a vocabularly issue. She knows quite a few more words than the average 12-14 year old, but she doesn't know all the household words, words for a car and/or technical words. As a whole, there's not an English speaker that couldn't hold a conversation with her. My Spanish is probably several years behind her English -- if not more, but that's because I've been learning only about a year -- but I've spent considerable time in Colombia, and I'm around native speakers quite a bit here in the US -- Peruvians, Mexicans, Colombians, etc.
Guys, I don´t know what to do, I have a problem with my laptop and no access to a windows CD
I get the following error (I can´t get the symbols to work with this keyboard)
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
Windows root/system32/hal.dll
Please reinstall a copy of the above file
I get the following error (I can´t get the symbols to work with this keyboard)
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
Windows root/system32/hal.dll
Please reinstall a copy of the above file
vailr
Diamond Member
- Oct 9, 1999
- 5,365
- 54
- 91
"ntldr or hal.dll missing" error:
Rebuild command:
1. Boot from XP setup CD & enter Recovery Console
2. Enter: attrib -h -r -s c:\boot.ini
3. Delete the file (del boot.ini)
4. Run: bootcfg /rebuild
5. Run: fixboot
If there's no bootable Windows CD available, then a bootable Knoppix CD or possibly bootable USB thumb drive or floppy may also work(?)
Or, see if booting in F8/"Safe Mode with Command Prompt" will work to allow above operations.
Thanks for the help, however I didn't have time to find a Windows CD, I did manage to find a boot disk and play around
I tried fiddling with the MBR, partitions, etc
Finally it seems that chkdsk fixed the problem, definatley carrying backup cds now!
Indeed it is! I never knew that water could taste so good!
You have no idea how much I wish I had one of those flax bags right now, it's brutal out there in the desert
I'm hiding my water deep within my bags which helps to lessen the heating effect slightly
Slightly more, but not by much, food in California turned out to be very expensive, however camping was very cheap due to those hiker biker sites, so it balances out
I could just camp out in the middle of nowhere out here, but I really don't want to due to safety reasons
Thanks for the offer, but really not necessary
Little did you all know that along the way to Mexico I was listening to Spanish audio lessons as well as using my trusty Rosetta Stone software, so my Spanish isn't terrible
I also have a phrasebook that I use, so I'm actually getting by very well here
Thanks!
Day 65 ? Time Travel - 82.67 km
In the morning I quickly packed up my tent and headed over to the restaurant that I was camped near. The reason I don?t just camp out in the middle of nowhere is that should anyone find me there, well, I might never be found again. I?m not sure about you guys, but I sure don?t want that!
For a mere $4 I received an impressive breakfast of eggs with ham, beans, macaroni salad and of course tortillas. No matter the meal here in Mexico, it will always include either tortillas or tortilla chips, with salsa of course. One must be really careful with the salsa around here however, since it is quite potent.
Since I eat at the same restaurants the locals would eat at I always end up engaging in a conversation with someone. Since my Spanish is less than stellar, this is not easy, but always fun. Today a man traveling with his family from Mexicali, which is another border town with the United States, happened to talk with me. He gave me some tips for the road ahead and I told him all about what I was doing, all in Spanish of course! We then proceeded outside where I posed for photos and was forever archived on a Mexican home video explaining in my broken Spanish who I was, what I was doing, and some other interesting facts. I guess my Spanish isn?t so bad if I can do an interview!
The road to Guerro Negro itself was fairly easy. A flat road with little traffic, my only obstacles were terrible road conditions, winds, and a military checkpoint. At these military checkpoints they are generally looking for people who are smuggling narcotics. They don?t really give me trouble since I guess they don?t think I could carry that much anyway!
Right before Guerro Negro I passed the 28th parallel, which signified two things. The first being that I was going from the province of Baja California to Baja California Sur, and the second being that I was now changing time zones to Mountain Standard Time. I found it quite strange that there was no sign or anything you to change your clock. In the United States and Canada there would be bold ten foot high poster boards everywhere just to make sure you didn?t miss it. The concept of time here in Central America is an interesting thing in itself. When making an appointment with someone it is understood that it is perfectly acceptable to be even half an hour late. If you want someone to be on time you have to explicitly state that you want to meet at a certain hour of ?English Time?.
Guerro Negro is a town of approximately 11,000 people in which the two main attractions are a very large salt time and whale watching. Seeing as I have seen both of these types of things in the past, they didn?t really interest me. I am staying at the ?Motel Las Ballenas?, which literally translates to ?The Whales Motel?. Although it wasn?t the cheapest place in town (they wanted $24 but I talked them down to $17), the other places for $12 in town discouraged even me. I would stay in them if there were no other option, but I determined that the extra $5 was a very worthwhile price to pay for at least some comfort.
I should find it worthwhile to mention that in all my worldly travels the worst motel I have stayed in was not in Europe, Peru, China, Central America, or even Cuba, but rather in the country of the United States. It was a motel run by an Indian man near Death Valley, and the only reason we stayed there was because everything else for 150 miles around was full due to the flowers in Death Valley blooming and a inconveniently scheduled dog show. Let?s just say it was quite scary and leave it at that.
Day 66 ? Drenched In The Desert ? 144.76 km
Today?s road was absolutely mind numbingly boring. For nearly the whole distance I covered a flat, straight road which was absolutely scorching hot. There were not even any interesting things to take photos of! Once I reached the town of Viscaino I decided to take a lunch break in order to avoid the hottest hours of the day. I decided to try quesitacos tacos, which are basically tacos with cheese inside them. The food here I must say is very good, I just hope it doesn?t turn out to be not so good for me!
It was here that I noticed that one of the water bottles that I had put in my bag had sprung a leak. More specifically, the cap had somehow come off. Needless to say this means that half the stuff in my bag got drenched. This means that I have to dry all this out today, otherwise it will start to smell funny, or worse!
From Viscaino to San Ignacio the road looked exactly the same as it did for the 70 kilometers to Viscaino. Unfortunately, little did I know there would be absolutely nothing for 50 kilometers from Viscaino. Eventually I stumbled upon a small restaurant, in which I pounced upon their supply of semi-cold beverages.
The change in environment when I reached San Ignacio was truly surprising. The landscape went suddenly from dry desert and cactuses to green palm trees. It turns out that San Ignacio is a true desert oasis due to a spring of water nearby. The town of San Ignacio itself is also quite beautiful. It is a small, older town with a very welcoming atmosphere. Towering over the town is the Mision San Ignacio de Kadakaaman. Missions were constructed all throughout Mexico and California during the colonization years by the Spanish in order to help bring religion to the indigenous people as well as help them with growing food. The missions turned out to be chaotic as they brought European diseases which killed off vast numbers of indigenous people. Thus, most missions have been destroyed, however a select few such as the one here remain intact.
In the town of San Ignacio was a cybercafé where I intended to update you all from, however they would simply not let me connect my laptop. I tried to explain that all I need is a cable to plug in, but they would not permit it. Alas, the update must wait!
I am currently camped amongst palm trees and beside a lagoon about one kilometer from the town. Today?s price for camping was a mere 30 pesos, which is roughly $2.85 USD. At this campground I met several Mexican men fishing. They started talking with me and of course offered me ice cold beer, how could I refuse? We ended up talking for about two hours in a mix of Spanish and English, depending on who knew which words. We talked about everything ranging from how cold it is in Alaska and how big the fish are there to how many kids they have. I found out that they work at a large ranch around here which grows various fruits and vegetables and that they are currently catching fish for dinner. It?s always great to talk with the local people, not only do you find out about the lifestyle here, but I always brush up on my Spanish a little!
In the morning I quickly packed up my tent and headed over to the restaurant that I was camped near. The reason I don?t just camp out in the middle of nowhere is that should anyone find me there, well, I might never be found again. I?m not sure about you guys, but I sure don?t want that!
For a mere $4 I received an impressive breakfast of eggs with ham, beans, macaroni salad and of course tortillas. No matter the meal here in Mexico, it will always include either tortillas or tortilla chips, with salsa of course. One must be really careful with the salsa around here however, since it is quite potent.
Since I eat at the same restaurants the locals would eat at I always end up engaging in a conversation with someone. Since my Spanish is less than stellar, this is not easy, but always fun. Today a man traveling with his family from Mexicali, which is another border town with the United States, happened to talk with me. He gave me some tips for the road ahead and I told him all about what I was doing, all in Spanish of course! We then proceeded outside where I posed for photos and was forever archived on a Mexican home video explaining in my broken Spanish who I was, what I was doing, and some other interesting facts. I guess my Spanish isn?t so bad if I can do an interview!
The road to Guerro Negro itself was fairly easy. A flat road with little traffic, my only obstacles were terrible road conditions, winds, and a military checkpoint. At these military checkpoints they are generally looking for people who are smuggling narcotics. They don?t really give me trouble since I guess they don?t think I could carry that much anyway!
Right before Guerro Negro I passed the 28th parallel, which signified two things. The first being that I was going from the province of Baja California to Baja California Sur, and the second being that I was now changing time zones to Mountain Standard Time. I found it quite strange that there was no sign or anything you to change your clock. In the United States and Canada there would be bold ten foot high poster boards everywhere just to make sure you didn?t miss it. The concept of time here in Central America is an interesting thing in itself. When making an appointment with someone it is understood that it is perfectly acceptable to be even half an hour late. If you want someone to be on time you have to explicitly state that you want to meet at a certain hour of ?English Time?.
Guerro Negro is a town of approximately 11,000 people in which the two main attractions are a very large salt time and whale watching. Seeing as I have seen both of these types of things in the past, they didn?t really interest me. I am staying at the ?Motel Las Ballenas?, which literally translates to ?The Whales Motel?. Although it wasn?t the cheapest place in town (they wanted $24 but I talked them down to $17), the other places for $12 in town discouraged even me. I would stay in them if there were no other option, but I determined that the extra $5 was a very worthwhile price to pay for at least some comfort.
I should find it worthwhile to mention that in all my worldly travels the worst motel I have stayed in was not in Europe, Peru, China, Central America, or even Cuba, but rather in the country of the United States. It was a motel run by an Indian man near Death Valley, and the only reason we stayed there was because everything else for 150 miles around was full due to the flowers in Death Valley blooming and a inconveniently scheduled dog show. Let?s just say it was quite scary and leave it at that.
Day 66 ? Drenched In The Desert ? 144.76 km
Today?s road was absolutely mind numbingly boring. For nearly the whole distance I covered a flat, straight road which was absolutely scorching hot. There were not even any interesting things to take photos of! Once I reached the town of Viscaino I decided to take a lunch break in order to avoid the hottest hours of the day. I decided to try quesitacos tacos, which are basically tacos with cheese inside them. The food here I must say is very good, I just hope it doesn?t turn out to be not so good for me!
It was here that I noticed that one of the water bottles that I had put in my bag had sprung a leak. More specifically, the cap had somehow come off. Needless to say this means that half the stuff in my bag got drenched. This means that I have to dry all this out today, otherwise it will start to smell funny, or worse!
From Viscaino to San Ignacio the road looked exactly the same as it did for the 70 kilometers to Viscaino. Unfortunately, little did I know there would be absolutely nothing for 50 kilometers from Viscaino. Eventually I stumbled upon a small restaurant, in which I pounced upon their supply of semi-cold beverages.
The change in environment when I reached San Ignacio was truly surprising. The landscape went suddenly from dry desert and cactuses to green palm trees. It turns out that San Ignacio is a true desert oasis due to a spring of water nearby. The town of San Ignacio itself is also quite beautiful. It is a small, older town with a very welcoming atmosphere. Towering over the town is the Mision San Ignacio de Kadakaaman. Missions were constructed all throughout Mexico and California during the colonization years by the Spanish in order to help bring religion to the indigenous people as well as help them with growing food. The missions turned out to be chaotic as they brought European diseases which killed off vast numbers of indigenous people. Thus, most missions have been destroyed, however a select few such as the one here remain intact.
In the town of San Ignacio was a cybercafé where I intended to update you all from, however they would simply not let me connect my laptop. I tried to explain that all I need is a cable to plug in, but they would not permit it. Alas, the update must wait!
I am currently camped amongst palm trees and beside a lagoon about one kilometer from the town. Today?s price for camping was a mere 30 pesos, which is roughly $2.85 USD. At this campground I met several Mexican men fishing. They started talking with me and of course offered me ice cold beer, how could I refuse? We ended up talking for about two hours in a mix of Spanish and English, depending on who knew which words. We talked about everything ranging from how cold it is in Alaska and how big the fish are there to how many kids they have. I found out that they work at a large ranch around here which grows various fruits and vegetables and that they are currently catching fish for dinner. It?s always great to talk with the local people, not only do you find out about the lifestyle here, but I always brush up on my Spanish a little!
Day 67 ? Closed, Closed ? 136.07 km
In the morning I headed out onto a long and treacherous road which included strenuous climbs and scary descents. I began by passing by a volcano called ?Las Tres Virgenes?. Had I the time I would of course love to climb it, but that would unfortunately take me three days. The road up to the area near this volcano was hot and steep. The way down was simply scary at times it was so steep. I was not surprised to see many crosses beside the road.
In this area there are many vultures. They sit on cactuses and fly overhead looking for any carrion they can find. When there is something lying dead near the road there may be even thirty or more of them around. Luckily they weren?t circling over my head, that would be a bad instance of foreshadowing!
Finally out of the mountains I arrived at the shore of the Golf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortes. One very strange thing about this area is that they have black sand beaches, definitely not something I?d want to walk on! Here I nearly immediately arrived in the town of Santa Rosalia, a town of about 11,000 people. Santa Rosalia is by no means a pretty town. It is an old mining town in which most of the buildings have been prefabricated and simply assembled there. It contains a church designed by Gustave Eifel (designer of the Eifel tower in Paris), which is likewise not very impressive looking, but famous for the way in which it was constructed.
Before leaving Santa Rosalia I once again re-supplied on water and grabbed some lunch. I decided to go to a nicer restaurant today where lunch cost me $7, this included an ice cold Coca-Cola. This restaurant was the first air conditioned building I had been in since California. Going through those doors felt as if I were walking through the pearly gates of heaven itself. Going back out into the blistering heat is another story.
Although the next 60 kilometers or so were not excruciatingly hilly, it still wasn?t enjoyable. This stretch was likewise desert, but what made it bad was the humidity. The road is located right next to the Gulf of California, and this it makes the area very, very humid. Apart from much suffering and one large climb before Mulege, the rest of the road was uneventful.
The town of Mulege, home to 3100 people, is nestled between mountains not from the coast. It is considered by many to be one of the prettiest cities in the Baja, and I must agree with them. It has a very pleasant feel to it with its narrow roads and its old buildings. I visited the mission here, which was unfortunately closed. However, from the outside I can say that the mission in San Ignacio was more impressive. I walked up and down the streets of the town to make sure I didn?t miss anything, but there really wasn?t much else to see.
My next order of business was to find an internet café in order to update all my loyal readers back home. This proved to be a problem. Since today was a Sunday, practically everything in town was closed. Here in Mexico and Central America, if it doesn?t have to do with food or drink, you can pretty much bet it will be closed on a Sunday. Both of the internet cafes in town were closed. There was a hotel which had internet access in it?s lobby, however they would not let me connect my laptop. I pleaded and even offered to pay extra, but they would not let me. It seems that people who don?t know much about computers are afraid to touch any cable connected to them for fear of them blowing up. I searched up my down the streets with my wireless hotspot finder in order to try to connect to someone?s wireless network, but there was no hope. It looks like I?ll simply have to wait until tomorrow.
I am currently staying at a small yet pleasant motel in the heart of Mulege. I managed to negotiate a price of $14 for a room. For $23 I could have a room with air conditioning, which I passed on. I?ve survived this long without it, so it is by no means essential. Tomorrow I plan on visiting an internet café in the morning and then heading off to the town of Loreto, a distance of 134 kilometers. It should be a fairly rough road once again due to the strenuous heat and the high humidity.
Day 68 ? White Sand Beaches to White Sand Deserts - 135.48 km
In the morning I headed to the internet café across the street in order to try to update you all. Despite both mine and the owners efforts we simply couldn?t get my laptop to work no matter what we tried, and we both weren?t sure why. I took it as a sign that internet must wait and I should move on. Due to this I got a fairly late start, but nothing too terrible.
The road to Loretto was quite simply rough. I wasn?t expecting it to be too bad since it runs fairly close to the sea, but oh was I wrong! The area here is truly beautiful as it contains mountains which simply plummet into the sea. The beaches are sandy white and the water is crystal clear with an enchanting color; beautiful to look at, but not so pleasant to ride on. Due to the nature of the area, the road is winding and constantly weaving up and down. This, along with the fact that it is dreadfully hot and humid, made my day quite painful.
Later on in the day the road cut away from the coast slightly inland where the situation was just as bad. I had one short stretch of relatively flat riding, but apart from that it was all hills. I was exhausted and dehydrated, but intent on making it to Loretto early in order to be able to visit a cybercafé as well as see the city a bit.
When in the town of Loretto I finally managed to find an internet café after a half hour of asking around town. Once inside and setup I powered on my laptop, and then practically went pale as a ghost. My computer went into Windows and then gave me the infamous blue screen of death. When I powered on my computer afterwards I got a nice error message in white letters on a black background. Great, just great. I didn?t think to bring any of my diagnostics disks or even a Windows disk with me. I downloaded and burned a repair utilities CD using a computer at the café.
Unfortunately without my laptop I am grounded. Due to this unforeseen even I will be taking a day off tomorrow in order to sort out this mess. My first impressions of the town are very positive, it seems to be the nicest town I have seen in Mexico. Hopefully tomorrow I can resolve my problem quickly so that I have more time to see the town, however the prognosis does not look good.
In the morning I headed out onto a long and treacherous road which included strenuous climbs and scary descents. I began by passing by a volcano called ?Las Tres Virgenes?. Had I the time I would of course love to climb it, but that would unfortunately take me three days. The road up to the area near this volcano was hot and steep. The way down was simply scary at times it was so steep. I was not surprised to see many crosses beside the road.
In this area there are many vultures. They sit on cactuses and fly overhead looking for any carrion they can find. When there is something lying dead near the road there may be even thirty or more of them around. Luckily they weren?t circling over my head, that would be a bad instance of foreshadowing!
Finally out of the mountains I arrived at the shore of the Golf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortes. One very strange thing about this area is that they have black sand beaches, definitely not something I?d want to walk on! Here I nearly immediately arrived in the town of Santa Rosalia, a town of about 11,000 people. Santa Rosalia is by no means a pretty town. It is an old mining town in which most of the buildings have been prefabricated and simply assembled there. It contains a church designed by Gustave Eifel (designer of the Eifel tower in Paris), which is likewise not very impressive looking, but famous for the way in which it was constructed.
Before leaving Santa Rosalia I once again re-supplied on water and grabbed some lunch. I decided to go to a nicer restaurant today where lunch cost me $7, this included an ice cold Coca-Cola. This restaurant was the first air conditioned building I had been in since California. Going through those doors felt as if I were walking through the pearly gates of heaven itself. Going back out into the blistering heat is another story.
Although the next 60 kilometers or so were not excruciatingly hilly, it still wasn?t enjoyable. This stretch was likewise desert, but what made it bad was the humidity. The road is located right next to the Gulf of California, and this it makes the area very, very humid. Apart from much suffering and one large climb before Mulege, the rest of the road was uneventful.
The town of Mulege, home to 3100 people, is nestled between mountains not from the coast. It is considered by many to be one of the prettiest cities in the Baja, and I must agree with them. It has a very pleasant feel to it with its narrow roads and its old buildings. I visited the mission here, which was unfortunately closed. However, from the outside I can say that the mission in San Ignacio was more impressive. I walked up and down the streets of the town to make sure I didn?t miss anything, but there really wasn?t much else to see.
My next order of business was to find an internet café in order to update all my loyal readers back home. This proved to be a problem. Since today was a Sunday, practically everything in town was closed. Here in Mexico and Central America, if it doesn?t have to do with food or drink, you can pretty much bet it will be closed on a Sunday. Both of the internet cafes in town were closed. There was a hotel which had internet access in it?s lobby, however they would not let me connect my laptop. I pleaded and even offered to pay extra, but they would not let me. It seems that people who don?t know much about computers are afraid to touch any cable connected to them for fear of them blowing up. I searched up my down the streets with my wireless hotspot finder in order to try to connect to someone?s wireless network, but there was no hope. It looks like I?ll simply have to wait until tomorrow.
I am currently staying at a small yet pleasant motel in the heart of Mulege. I managed to negotiate a price of $14 for a room. For $23 I could have a room with air conditioning, which I passed on. I?ve survived this long without it, so it is by no means essential. Tomorrow I plan on visiting an internet café in the morning and then heading off to the town of Loreto, a distance of 134 kilometers. It should be a fairly rough road once again due to the strenuous heat and the high humidity.
Day 68 ? White Sand Beaches to White Sand Deserts - 135.48 km
In the morning I headed to the internet café across the street in order to try to update you all. Despite both mine and the owners efforts we simply couldn?t get my laptop to work no matter what we tried, and we both weren?t sure why. I took it as a sign that internet must wait and I should move on. Due to this I got a fairly late start, but nothing too terrible.
The road to Loretto was quite simply rough. I wasn?t expecting it to be too bad since it runs fairly close to the sea, but oh was I wrong! The area here is truly beautiful as it contains mountains which simply plummet into the sea. The beaches are sandy white and the water is crystal clear with an enchanting color; beautiful to look at, but not so pleasant to ride on. Due to the nature of the area, the road is winding and constantly weaving up and down. This, along with the fact that it is dreadfully hot and humid, made my day quite painful.
Later on in the day the road cut away from the coast slightly inland where the situation was just as bad. I had one short stretch of relatively flat riding, but apart from that it was all hills. I was exhausted and dehydrated, but intent on making it to Loretto early in order to be able to visit a cybercafé as well as see the city a bit.
When in the town of Loretto I finally managed to find an internet café after a half hour of asking around town. Once inside and setup I powered on my laptop, and then practically went pale as a ghost. My computer went into Windows and then gave me the infamous blue screen of death. When I powered on my computer afterwards I got a nice error message in white letters on a black background. Great, just great. I didn?t think to bring any of my diagnostics disks or even a Windows disk with me. I downloaded and burned a repair utilities CD using a computer at the café.
Unfortunately without my laptop I am grounded. Due to this unforeseen even I will be taking a day off tomorrow in order to sort out this mess. My first impressions of the town are very positive, it seems to be the nicest town I have seen in Mexico. Hopefully tomorrow I can resolve my problem quickly so that I have more time to see the town, however the prognosis does not look good.
Originally posted by: ravana
I was asking muttsta
Muttsta, is the computer problem another one or the same one that you referred to earlier?
Different one, first one was due to my HDD cable not connecting properly, this one was due to a damaged file system
Hopefully I don't get any more or these, they aren't pleasant
At least now I have a boot cd to work with
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