We woke up late (and by that I mean that I did) and took of for Bahia de Los Angeles on the eastern part of Baja near the Canal de las Ballenas on the Sea of Cortez. We were given an estimate of about six hours and we made it in about that. Luckily before nightfall. But the ride was amazing, through the mountains of Baja into valleys with towering cacti and boulders the size of four story buildings. It went on forever with nary a sign of civilization other than the road in sight. We began to get worried about this pleasant primitivism as we noticed that our gas gages were on empty. Luckily we came across a friendly man selling gasoline by the jug on the side of the road. We filled up. Then Josh’s motorcycle wouldn’t start so I had to push him for a good hundred yards before it got going again.
Just at dusk we finally spotted the Sea of Cortez through a mountain pass and descended to the shore and sought shelter. We’ve been planning on camping but hadn’t been planning on how sore and tired you are after battling cross-winds for six hours on a motorcycle so we found a place right on the water for cheap (the cheapest in town in fact since it didn’t have HBO thankfully.) We went to a little taco stand which looked slightly deserted and grabbed a six pack to wash town the Baja Tacos de pescado y camaron. Here we came to learn that the town power is shut off at 11:30 but that due to tourism many upgrades are on the way including a new main road (under construction now with streetlights to boot) a brand new Marina at the point appropriately titled La Gringa and twenty-four hour power. Although the owner of the taco stand looks forward to a bit more business she really moved here for the tranquility which will then become a thing of the past as los gringos take over.
But above all the most fortuitous meeting was when a local Italian by the name of Mauro showed up with his friends Martin (Americano) and Francesco (Italiano) to buy dinner for his family and guests. Turns out that Martin is a bohemian traveler and writer that has been freelancing, Francesco doesn’t talk much, and Mauro has recently finished a hostel up the hill and has gone around the world a few times by motorcycle sponsored by something along the lines of the Italian government in the form of the Olympic Committee and motorcycle manufacturers. He just happens to be having a christening fiesta of his hostel the next day up the hill. Apparently it’s also quite a dirt bike ride which is perfect for Josh’s KLR but might be a bit of a far reach for my R1100 GS and skill level.
*Notirabasura is a common sign that is alongside the highway that means Don’t Through Trash but which is normally separated as “No Tira Basura” but some frugal signsmith decided to put it all together to save some space.
