Woke up early, about 4 am, and couldn’t get back to
sleep, being a bit concerned whether I had everything ready for taking a right
hand drive, Australian registered, heavily stickered car into Mexico ! So read a bit more about the process to make
sure my old brain had it straight, tried to finish posting my blog (Motel 6
rooms may have been frosty cold, but by 9 pm when all their visitors were on
the internet, their wifi just didn’t work at all – even slowly !!), and started
packing the car. At 6 am the heat
outside was already horrible (and the car was in the shade !!) so I was in the
room cooling off, then dashing out to load something, then back inside to cool
off. Anyway, all done eventually, and
breakfasted and made a cup of tea, then at 8 am it was time to head south.
Back up the freeway about 5 miles then turned south down
Hwy 111 (the Lotus Elise road !) to Calexico and Mexicali – The former on the
US side, and the latter on the Mexican side. I had no pesos so stopped at a
Cambio (money changer) on the side of the road – There are hundreds of them,
and all quite legitimate. Got my pesos,
stashed everything in appropriate places prior to customs, and headed on south. Eventually a sign said “International
Border”, and another said “Last chance U Turn” – which I ignored and headed
through a tent-like cover over 4 or 5 concrete separated lanes for trucks,
cars, RV’s etc, then round a corner and there was the border. Lots of soldiers in desert camouflage
fatigues with automatic rifles slung over their shoulders, and with not much
traffic in the lines (so no one else to copy), I didn’t know whether to stop or
go ! No one seemed very interested, and
no one pointed a gun at me or anything (my friends in Houston had really put
the wind up me last week !!) so I just drove through slowly !!
The details of getting my paperwork has already been
written, so I will jump here to “heading south”. Tom Tom and I eventually found
Hwy 5 heading towards San Felipe fairly easily, although we did argue about the
route a couple of times. Well, I did –
As usual, he didn’t answer back. And it
was pretty normal for Mexico – Lots of little wooden cantinas and stalls beside
the road. The biggest thing I noticed
was how quickly everything changed from reasonably formal, clean, and organized
to completely informal, less clean, and certainly less organized. Just chalk
and cheese – So you get no chance to assimilate – One minute you are in one
world (English speaking as well), and the next minute “poof” and you have been
teleported into a totally different country.
Normally you get a long plane or train or ferry ride to adjust your
brain, but here it is 30 seconds and 100 yards ! Don’t get me wrong, I love it, and instantly
felt at ease here – apart from the heat.
The missing inspection plate on the sidewalk was just something you
stepped around; the tooting taxis and drivers calling out to see if you wanted a
ride (a simple “No, gracias” and a smile saw them continue on); and the locals on
their way to work, sitting outside stalls at plastic tables on the pavement
eating (presumably) tacos and tortillas were no different from most other
places in the world. I love it !!
Anyway, heading south, we were soon out in the desert,
with mountains to my right (I think the Sierra de San Pedro), and very flat
flats to my left, leading down to the Sea of Cortez that stretches to the east,
separating Baja from mainland Mexico, the road just went on and on. Occasionally a few little passes between the
rocks to keep one’s attention, but always the flats on the left and the hills
on the right. There is one stretch of
dead straight road for about 50 kms with absolutely no where to stop at all,
just steep edges 10 ft down from the tarmac to the sand on either side. And it was hot – These temperatures over the
past few days have sent all sorts of my electrical (and other) gismos
crazy. The fridge, which in Alaska sat
on 3 deg day after day now oscillates between 6 and 8 degrees, and pumps out a lot more heat in
doing so. I have had to move things from
around it to improve the airflow, and even blow the fan on it sometimes. My outside thermometer seems about right, but
then jumps around occasionally as if crying out “I can’t work properly in this
heat !” Also a couple of the digital
numbers on the screen have gone out – But they work OK when it is cool !! Then I have had stick-on velcro on the back of my phone for 4 or 5 years so
it attaches quickly to a pad on the dashboard – It survived Australian summers,
it survived Alaska in 2012 and 2014 – But yesterday, driving across the plains
of Mexico, they self-sticky bits just let go and my phone fell to the floor
!! And I was left with a residual gooey
mess on the phone to clean up ! Same
thing on a few of my police medallions from my trip – The glue on the velcro
pads holding them in place just melted in the heat and they let go !!
Ever since I left the outskirts of Mexicali there has
been hardly any traffic – Less even than much of Alaska – Sometimes 15 or 20
minutes without a car going the other way.
After the hectic crowds and speed of the main US freeways where everyone
is doing 75 or more mph, and it’s like being on a race track, always with lots
of traffic all around you, this was just SO relaxing. And I was able to just pootle along at a very
comfortable 90 kmh / 55 mph, listening to my music, eating apples or suck on
boiled sweets, instead of being forced up to 70 or more just to avoid being run
over by everyone else !! And in Mexico, there
is always some old camiones going slower, so I occasionally got to overtake
people – Something I hadn’t done in several days !! My left indicator got a real shock when I had
to use it !!
I was looking for the turn off to highway 3 which goes
west across to Ensenada, and after 140 kms I found it. But there was a Military Checkpoint visible
just after the turn off – Being my first checkpoint, I wondered if I was
supposed to go straight on to the checkpoint and then come back to my turn off
– I mean, it’s like turning down a side road when you see a booze bus ahead – They
are watching for people who do that !!
Anyway, I took the turn-off, and of course, there is another Military
Checkpoint 100 metres up my road !!
Silly me – I mean, if they had moved the checkpoint just 200 metres back
up the road before the junction, they would have only needed one checkpoint,
and half the personnel manning it. Maybe
too obvious ? !! Viva Mexico !! I love it.
Anyway, I coast up to the soldiers at MY check point,
once again in full desert fatigues with rifles, and as there is no other
vehicle there, they all wander over to me to have a look at this strange
vehicle with no one in the driver’s seat. Couple of smiles and comments about
the car and missing steering wheel, and then one wants to see in the back. So I open it up, and he enjoys watching me
first of all swing the spare wheels (and bicycle) out of the way, then opening
the back doors. He looked inside and
started pointing to cupboards and things so I told him “Food”, or “clothes” as
appropriate – Using hand signals to clarify my poor Spanish !! Then he saw the
little 12 v fan I had just bought a couple of days ago (to hopefully counteract
the heat at night) , and wanted to know what it was – So I plugged it into the
power outlet in the back and he laughed, and held it near his face and called
all his mates over to see him sitting in the back of Troopie, in the heat,
cooling himself down with this gringo’s fan !!
They all had a good laugh over that one ! Then he wandered round to the front driver’s
seat and poked around underneath, pulling out my razor – Ah, Entiende. After that, we had a conversation with all of
them about the route written on the side, and they pointed to Australia on the
map, and asked if I was going to Argentina, and that was it. Gracias Senor’s. And off I went. I saw a big sign in English as I drove out –
I managed a quick photo because another vehicle had pulled in, distracting all
the soldiers, so you can read it for yourself.
I stopped in a pull-over just up the road and made a wrap for lunch and
took a couple of pics looking back at the post, and then headed west.
A few days ago, somewhere in Texas, I chatted to a couple
of guys on BMW bikes who were stopped where I was. They had told me to go to a place called
“Mike’s Sky Rancho” high up in the mountains in northern Baja – A place not to
miss. Apparently it is not only a
favoured location for off road bikers,
but is also on the route of the famous annual Mexican off road race, the
Baja 500. I had called them a couple of
days ago to make sure it was OK to visit, and they said yes, so that was where
I was headed. I thought that now I was
finally in Mexico, and in no hurry, a couple of nights peace and quiet and
afternoon siestas would help me relax and get into the spirit of Mexico ! I also had a few minor things to do to and
in the car. Google Mike’s to find out
all I knew – But it wasn’t much – “Turn left at sign on Hwy 3 and go about 19
miles on steep and winding dirt roads and across rivers etc – 4WD and high
ground clearance recommended” – Sounded right up Troopie’s alley !! From the turn off at the Military checkpoint,
the road started rising quite steeply, and within about 50 miles we were at
about 1000 metres, and I found the turn off sign, so off I went. Easy enough dirt road to start, through rural
dry bushland (ie cactus !!) and then you start climbing and dipping and
crossing (mostly dry) river beds, on and on, with no signs. It really was a 5 wow drive, up into and through
the mountains, narrow dirt road, amazing scenery, now at about 1500 metres – I
was loving it. Then I started to wonder
why I wasn’t there yet !! Hmmm – Were
they talking miles or kms ? There were a few forks off to the left or right,
but basically I followed my nose. After
about 20 miles I had seen nothing and nobody – I had thought it was only 20.8
miles to the rancho. Had I taken a wrong
turn ? Then suddenly I came to a really
bad section of road and spotted a grader, and a truck came past me – It was
about the only wide bit of track that I had seen. So I stopped the truck and asked if Mike’s
Rancho was up there, and he just pointed the way I was going and said “Si,
Derecho, Derecho”. So off I went again, until once again I was wondering if I
had missed a turn off to the right somewhere.
Obviously this is where bikes and 4 WD vehicles play, as there are
trails and wheel tracks off into the bush everywhere !! Finally, after more than 30 miles, I came
into a little clearing, and there was a building up on the hill. A local family were camping beside the river,
and their boys were on an ATV, so I stopped them and asked if this was
Mike’s. “Si, Si” they said, and pointed
up the steep hill to the buildings, so up I went. And there, in the middle of nowhere, at 1500
metres, was an attractive white building with a swimming pool and Baja 500
stickers covering every single wall and window !! So I pulled up and spoke with a senorita
called Celia, (I think), and asked if I could stay. Yes, $70 a night, which isn’t too bad for
such a lovely spot. “Camping ?” I asked
? No problem - $10, and park anywhere
you want !! So I went back down the hill and found a shady spot under a tree
near the small river, near where the Mexican family were, and set up. It was still hot at about 3 pm when I
arrived, but there was a glorious breeze blowing, so just sitting under the
shade was very comfortable. So nice to
be away from that oppressive and breezeless S California desert heat for a
while.
Once I was set up, the excitement of the day caught up
with me, so a siesta was in order – Just perfect, under the shade of a tree,
with the breeze blowing. Still hot, but
the breeze makes it very bearable.
Later, as the sun went down, the temps dropped
beautifully, and by the time I had my supper (the other filet mignon !!) it was
getting both cool and dark. I turned in
soon after, and was asleep in 5 minutes.
At 3 am I woke up freezing !! And smiling about it !! I used the blanket for a while, and when that
wasn’t enough, I got my sleeping bag liner out to add to the sheet and the
blanket. That was “just right”, and I slept through till
about 8 am, when I was woken up by the sun coming in the end window of my
pop-top, and the day warming up.
Breakfasted, and did some of the chores I had to do for a
couple of hours, including making sharp knife covers for 3 knives that are
starting to cut holes in my cutlery roll. I then wandered up to the buildings
to see Celia and check if they would serve me supper tonight, so which she said
“Si”, had a very nice shower in a not very nice bagno, and felt refreshed for
the day. I can stand the hot weather
when it cools off at night – Even more so when there is a breeze in the day
time.
Only one odd thing about Mike’s Sky Rancho at the moment
- As it is out of season, not a soul is
here !! Baja was last month, and I don’t
know where Mike is, but apart from the other family camping (who left this
morning) it is just me. This is why the pool is a bit green – They let it go
during the hot summer when no one is here.
Hopefully I will find out more tonight when I get some supper up there –
I have food her of my own, but I think it is time to have a taco or tamale or
something now I have here in Mexico for 24 hours !!
Siesta time now………………………………..
Right. Good siesta over, so did a few more minor chores
and read my book in the early evening breeze !!
Tough life. I have now just been
up to the main rancho, and had a cold cerveza and they fed me. As I was the only person there I was hoping
for Mexican fare – But ended up with steak and chips !! That was what came –
Set menu ! They are obviously used to
having Americans here ? Anyway, it came
with tortillas and refried beans, so at least it had a local flavour to it !
Now time for bed, and it is already cooling down
nicely. I have the sleeping bag out and
ready tonight !! Hopefully it will get
REALLY cold !! I am going to get back on
the road tomorrow, and once out of the mountains, head west across to Ensenada,
and then head south on Hwy 1 down through Baja, to see what there is to
see. I have really enjoyed my stay at
Mike’s Rancho, even if I was the only one here. I have had a chance to gather
my thoughts after several hectic weeks of driving and staying with people, and
to read up on what’s ahead and formulate a few rough ideas in my head before I
hit the road again. Mike is apparently
in Tijuana this week, so unfortunately I have missed him, but given he has no
customers here at the moment, he has gone home for the week ! Onwards down into Mexico ………………
All pics are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0068ElCentroToMikeSSkyRancho?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLLv-O53_Ok-QE#
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