Mexico - Arriving in the real Mexico

After a 10 hour busride from Loreto to San Jose del Cabo I arrive in the dark due to a 2 hour delay... I always try to arrive in daylight but sometimes this is out of my control... First I find WiFi and try to order an Uber, unfortunately there is no Uber available. Than I approach a taxi driver which I rather prevent but it is either a taxi or walking in an unknown city in the dark. When he asks 150 pesos and immediately lowers his price to 100 pesos after my initial response, I start walking towards the hotel. With Maps.me I always know where I am and can find my way easily in every city (I love modern technology), unfortunately it does not exclude quiet streets... I walk quickly and have had a good work out when reaching hotel Senior Manana. The hotel is close to the beautiful Plaza Central which is fully decorated for Christmas. Surrounded by Mexican families I order tamale (meet, chicken or anything else with corn dough steamed in a leaf) at a street eatery. Since I will be staying a few days and there is a kitchen in the hotel, I do my grocery shopping at the local market. The only way to eat healthy is by cooking yourself, unfortunately that is not possible in many places in Mexico. For the first time since arriving in Mexico it is raining, which is a nice cool down. I take a walk to the Wirikuta Botanical Cactus Garden which is a bit dissapointing. But walking back via the beach (which is completely empty) passing Estero San Jose (a wildlife reserve) makes up for it. My walk ends at the beach where the big all-inclusive hotels with loud music are located. Not my thing. After 4 days of relaxing in San Jose del Cabo it is time to move on. John and Jayne from the USA whom I meet in the hotel are visiting Cabo San Lucas and are so kind to take me with them in the Uber taxi. How comfortable to be transferred from door to door and for free :-)

Cabo San Lucas is a different level of tourism compared to San Jose del Cabo. The small town is overloaded with either very old Americans or young and drunk Americans. Food is very expensive and I am unable to find a (super)market. Which makes my cooking to be improvised. The Mayan Monkey Hostel is cheap and beautiful with a swimming pool but lacks a nice atmosphere. Probably a consequence of the type of poeple visiting here. The purpose of my visit is to see El Arco and after some negotiation I manage to get the price for the taxi-boat down to 300 pesos. I do get a marriage proposal in addition ;-) The harbour is full of expensive ships and just outside the harbour there is a big cruiseship housing over 3000 tourists. El Arco is nice and I see many pelicans and seal lions. The night before my departure I meet Lea and Olync from France who both work in Mexico City and are visiting Los Cabos for a long weekend. They are driving via Cabo Pulmo to la Paz. We share the gas and I join them in the car the next day.

Cabo Pulmo is reached via a dirt road. Here we meet three French guys and together with them we book a snorkel trip. The snorkling is fantastic, I especially love the big school of fish (I think tuna) which surrounds us, it is like being in a underwater movey! Unfortunately some jellyfish prevent us from snorkling everywhere... After 3 hours we are back and after having a late lunch we are back in the car. Unfortunately we do not manage to get back to La Paz in daylight... 20 km before La Paz bad fate hits us when the left front tire breaks due to a pothole in the road. Luckily Lea steers the car safely to the middle bank without further damage. However, it is very busy on the roads on both sides... We leave the car behind and walk to the nearby petrol station and I am happy we have all crossed the road safely. We are lucky to meet a mechanic that is waiting for his girlfriend. He and Lea go back to the care an he changes the tire to be able to drive the car to the petrol station. There it is clear the ax is also broken and there is no way we can drive with the car to La Paz. While Lea and Olync wait for the rental company I order an Uber. The Uber driver William is practising english and we have great fun on our way to La Paz. Also the hostel Casa Esterito is very welcoming and cozy (actually all that was lacking in Cabo San Lucas).

When I inquire for trips to Espiritu Santo on the Malecon (boulevard), I am told that the next few days the ocean is too rough. So I hurry back to the hostel to get some stuff and am just in time for the departure at 11 o'clock. The boat ride is long and rough but the snorkling with the seals is fantastic though also scary with the high waves and broken snorkle. One seal is circling around me and making eyecontact when I am surfacing. Very special! On a beach we are served ceviche as lunch. Where I normally try to stay away from raw fish while traveling, this time there are no other options and it is delicious. Luckily it doesn't cause any problems. At night there is a nice party with all the guests in the hostel, it involves Mezcal (a sort of tequila) :-)

Together with Lucy form the UK I hitch a ride from Luigi and Arturo from Italy to Playa Balandra. Playa Balandra is known for its rock in the form of a mushroom. When the guys are continuing on the rocky surface, Lucy and I return since it is rather painful on bare feet. After 2,5 hours waiting for them to return, we hitch a ride from a Mexican family back to La Paz after leaving a note on the car. On the Malecon we book a trip to see the whale sharks (after a fierce negotiation) the next day. The Italian guys join us for the boat trip and luckily we get some wetsuits last minute. The sea is rough and when we find a whaleshark (grey shade in the water) I have to jump in, I am really scared... This gets worse when I put my head in the water and am eye-to-eye with the whale shark. Though whale sharks only eat plancton it is a really scary sight and I do not know how to get out of its way with the high waves and accidently hit it with one of my flippers... After a second try and again being very close to the whale shark I am so scared and try to get in the boat. While swimming there in the high waves (you have to know I am not a good swimmer...) the boat drifts off and the whale shark follows me and Lucy (who also wants to get out). After finally being pulled in the boat I have the best sight of the whale shark when it lifts its head above the water on the side of the boat where we are just pulled in. This was a really scary experience! After spending an additional 2 hours on the rocky boat being cold and nauseous the conclusion is that the only nice thing during this trip was the handsome Italian climbing in and out of the boat... If you ever book this trip be sure the wheather is calm and that there are (almost) no waves (except when you are a good swimmer like the Italian guys). In the evening I leave towards the harbour and enter a hectic ferry terminal. The ferry is overloaded with Mexican families. Apparently it is the last ferry before the Christmas holidays... I meet Haani from Brazil on board and we have a nice time in between all Mexican craziness. After little sleep I arrive in Mazatlan, finally the main land of Mexico!

Together with Sue from the UK we find a golf cart for transporting us to the hostel for little money. Since it is early in the morning we head out together to explore Mazatlan. Mazatlan is very colourful and busy. The market is open while it is a Sunday and we buy fresh vegetables to prepare a fresh meal at night. The next day we split up again since I am heading North and Sue South.

Though it is a bit of a detour my friend Jolanda (my travel agent at home ;-)) convinced me I had to see Las Barrancas del Cobre (the Copper Canyon) when she forwarded an article on this area. First I take a bus to Los Mochis (6 hrs) and the busdriver is very helpful to kick me off at the bus stop for El Fuerte. In the early afternoon I already arrive in El Fuerte and have time to explore this nice little village with a church, square and street market. Here I buy avocados and mandarins for in the train "El Chepe" the next day. I did not book a ticket and travel in the Economy section where mostly local Mexican travel (they travel with discount, luckily since the ticket is very expensive!). The tourists on the train are almost all rich Mexicans. Only few western tourists of which Frederic from France is one. He is in my car and we spend a lot of time in the open doors to be able to make pictures. When the train stops in Divisadero for 15 minutes I stay on the train to be sure I do not miss it, however when Frederic comes back on board I start to understand that this was the stop to see las Barrancas del Cobre... Nobody told us... The train continues and I have not seen what I came for! A huge dissapointment....

In Creel Frederic and I stay in the same hotel, Hotel Posada de Santa Cruz, a simple but clean hotel for little money (200 pesos per night). The shower and toilet are outside which is less pleasant since it is freezing cold in Creel (altitude 2340 m). However the sweet family keeps the general area warm with a wood burner and the white Christmas tree brings the atmosphere :-). For the first time since travelling I feel I cannot do a morning run for two reasons, the altitude and the shock it would cause to the local people. I do feel that I am now in the middle of Mexico with almost no Western tourists, indiginous woman dressed in colourful skirts and men with white cowboy hats. To see the surroundings of Creel Frederic and I join a tour. The first visit is Cueva Petra, a cave where an old lady (Dona Petra) lives and which is perceived as a religious place. The Cascade de Cusarare is more impressive. Indiginous people and children are selling souvenirs and we are asked for pesos many times on our way to the waterfall... Rural life is beautiful to see, the colourful skirts are drying on the fences and cattle breeding seems to be the main farming activity. After a stop at Lago Arareko the next stop at Valle de los Monjes is most surprising. The valley is filled with long upright rocks, apparently the obvious name for this valley was later changed to Valle de los Monjes...Via San Ignacio we make a final stop at Hongos where there is a rock in the shape of a frog and a rock in the shape of a mushroom. Mexicans like to make rocks a place of interest and have a bright imagination ;-)

After another cold night it is time to finally see las Barrancas del Cobre. Frederic and I take the local bus back to Divisadero and walk to the Teleferico. Las Barrancas del Cobre is magnificent and incredible big. Frederic is a dare devil and takes the second longest zip line in the world. It seems horrific to me but he enjoys it...

And than it is time to head south. Together with Frederic I take the bus to Chihuahua from where we want to take a night bus down to Guanajuato. When we arrive at the huge busstation in Chihuhua all night busses are full and we need to wait for two days... We find cheap accomodation in the city centre next to a tipple zone... so there is enough social security ;-) Chihuahua (named after the dog which I have not seen here in town expect for one picture on a wall) has a nice square which is decorated for Christmas, a big cathedral and a nice market which reminds me of the Albert Cuypmarkt. The streets are crowded with Mexican families. Except for some musea there is not much to do so I finally have some time to send you this update. I do feel that after Baja California Sur I have now entered the real Mexico. A challenge wit my limited Spanish but luckily Frederic is fluent. My plan is to head South via Guanajuato, Mexico City, Oaxaca and Chiapas to Guatamala where I will meet my dear friend Suzanne in Antigua on January 27th. We will be travelling together for ten days in Guatamala and I am really looking forward to that! For Christmas I am not sure where I will be celebrating since tonights bus is not a direct connection to Guanojuato but hopefully we do manage to arrive there on the 24th.

I would like to wish you all a warm, peaceful, relaxt and loving Christmas and stay in touch.
Hasta luego!