It seems that with trip milestones, when it rains it pours. In the last few days I've finished the ride down Baja California, posted my biggest daily distance at 200km, crossed the Tropic of Cancer, crossed over to mainland Mexico and cycled more than 5,000 km. All of these add up to make one very happy Ant.
I'm happiest about having cycled through Baja and being on the mainland. I covered the 1,550 km of Baja in exactly two weeks and posted my biggest day of the trip on my way to my final stop in Baja, La Paz. La Paz is a lovely city that sits on a large sheltered bay over which the sun sets each night. With a poulation of 170,000 it's big by Baja standards and comparatively quite cosmopolitan. I think it had the first coffee shops I'd seen in Baja.
I got on the ferry from La Paz on Sunday evening and woke up on Monday morning in Mazatlan (well, I should say the last time I woke up on Monday morning I was in Mazatlan. A combination of thrift and the beautiful night sky meant I decided to sleep on the deck of the ferry rather than get a cabin. Problem is mexican ferry employees aren't shy and many of them, on realising it was a gringo asleep on the deck, decided to wake me up to practice their english and tell me thier life stories).
Anyway, the difference between Baja and the mainland is dramatic and was imediately striking. Everywhere you look here there is verdant greenery. On every hill, mountain and in every valley there's a deep blanket of trees, palms, bushes and grass and the river beds actually have water in them! When I look around at this landscape it says to me "Look at all the life I support". When I looked at the barren rocks and cactus fields of the Baja desert it would say to me "Be very careful Ant. Be very, very careful. If you slip up and get this wrong I'll have to properly f you up". I'm not denying the desert has it's beauty. It certainly does, but it was just a very difficult thing to cycle across and getting into a different climate has really highlighted that to me.
Not that the climate here is all that good for cycling - the temperatures are in the mid 30s and the humidity is high so it's very sweaty work - but it doesn't have the debilitating effect that the midday desert sun did. Another significant factor here is the population density is greater so there are more towns and cities and therefore the logistics of food, water and accomodation are that much easier. Overall, I'm really enjoying travelling through here. The scenery is beautiful, the food is excellent and the poeple are just fantastic.
Having cycled 5,000 km is also a big milestone, because it means I've crossed the halfway point of this trip. I expect to do a total of somewhere between 9,500 and 10,000 km: another 2,200 odd in Mexico and the remainder in the rest of Central America.
Still not having much luck uploading photos, but will keep trying.
Friday 24 July 2009
Saturday 11 July 2009
Bienvenidos a Mexico!
What a crazy place! And not for any of the reasons people told me it would be. I had no probems getting through Tijuana, the drivers have been excellent and given me loads of space on the road, I've met no corrupt policemen or soldiers and can't imagine anyone here getting worked up enough to make me feel threatend.
No, this is crazy because of the terrain and the weather. As I write this my thermometer is hovering around 40C and this isn't the peak heat of the day. I crossed the border early on the 4th July and for the first night I stayed at Ensenada which is on the coast and so a bit more temperate, but since then I've spent the rest of the week cycling through desert. Strangely, the heat isn't the worst thing on the bike. You obviously need to keep drinking to stay hydrated (and although places to stock up can be far between I can carry enough when needed). The the worst thing is on the bike you're in the open all day so you're exposed to the intensity of the sun which can be brutal, especially in the early afternoon. So I've modified my cycling tactics: I aim to set off around 6am each day and cycle hard to get where I want to be before the sun really kicks in and if I can't get there in time then find a shady spot to sit out the hottest part of the day and wait for it to cool down into the low 30s before finishing off.
But despite the weather and hilly terrain this I've been making good progress - I've covered 900km of the Baja peninsular in the last eight days and I'm now in the verdant oasis town of San Ignacio. In fact, it's probably because of the weather as I'm not all that inclined to hang around. Also, this is perhaps the first pretty town I've been through. Most are just a half shanty type sprawl along the main road, but San Ignacio has a lot more character and still retains some of the original town built by the Spanish Jesuit and then Dominican missionaries around 200 years ago. It's also very green and shady with date palms everywhere, which makes a nice chage to cacti. I can't upload photos easily here, but will put some on to give you an idea in the next major town I pass through.
So, although I'm not inclined to linger in Baja, overall I'm enjoying the experience of cycling here and I'm settling into the Mexico leg of the trip.
No, this is crazy because of the terrain and the weather. As I write this my thermometer is hovering around 40C and this isn't the peak heat of the day. I crossed the border early on the 4th July and for the first night I stayed at Ensenada which is on the coast and so a bit more temperate, but since then I've spent the rest of the week cycling through desert. Strangely, the heat isn't the worst thing on the bike. You obviously need to keep drinking to stay hydrated (and although places to stock up can be far between I can carry enough when needed). The the worst thing is on the bike you're in the open all day so you're exposed to the intensity of the sun which can be brutal, especially in the early afternoon. So I've modified my cycling tactics: I aim to set off around 6am each day and cycle hard to get where I want to be before the sun really kicks in and if I can't get there in time then find a shady spot to sit out the hottest part of the day and wait for it to cool down into the low 30s before finishing off.
But despite the weather and hilly terrain this I've been making good progress - I've covered 900km of the Baja peninsular in the last eight days and I'm now in the verdant oasis town of San Ignacio. In fact, it's probably because of the weather as I'm not all that inclined to hang around. Also, this is perhaps the first pretty town I've been through. Most are just a half shanty type sprawl along the main road, but San Ignacio has a lot more character and still retains some of the original town built by the Spanish Jesuit and then Dominican missionaries around 200 years ago. It's also very green and shady with date palms everywhere, which makes a nice chage to cacti. I can't upload photos easily here, but will put some on to give you an idea in the next major town I pass through.
So, although I'm not inclined to linger in Baja, overall I'm enjoying the experience of cycling here and I'm settling into the Mexico leg of the trip.
Adios USA
I spent my last two weeks in the USA with a week of surfing in San Diego and then a road trip through inland California to spend a few days at Yosemite national park. In San Diego I stayed at Pacific Beach in a hotel with a balcony overlooking the ocean, the beach and the amazing spectacle that is the boardwalk. This is one massive parade of beautiful people all trying to draw attention to themselves, but whilst trying to portray the image that they are in no way interested in anyone's attention. Quite a challenge, eh? I was definitely the odd one out with the intentionally scruffy beard and shaggy hair I'm trying to cultivate (so I look poor and not worth robbing in Central America). The surfing there was great though and after seeing so many people in the water all along the coast it was great to finally get a good board and join them for a few waves.
So, it's time to leave the US. In total I cycled 3200km through Canada and the USA in 40 days. In many ways I'm sad to be leaving. It's been an amazing experience - I've seen so much beauty and met so many great people all along the way, but the essence of travel is to keep the memories and move on to the next destination. And for me that next destination is a very exciting one - Mexico! I'm really looking forward to the culture change and can't wait to get into spanish speaking territorry...
(The picture shows local Carnies working hard on Pacific Beach a little bit more impressive than what I managed with a bottle of stove fuel, but not as impressive as what Leigh managed when he accidentally set a whole 6 foot by 3 foot camp table on fire :)
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