Guadalajara, PV, and Home

After New Year's in Puerto Vallarta we headed inland over the
impressive Sierra Madre mountain range to the big city of Guadalajara
(GDL).  A very old city with buildings dating from the sixteenth
century, Guadalajara is steeped in history.  We stayed in a little
hotel in the city's historic centre and spent our days exploring by
foot.  José Orozco's murals, in the former government palace and the
Instituto Cultural Cabanas, originally an orphanage, were a pretty
powerful sight, especially when explained by our flamboyant Mexican
guide.

The food in GDL was fantastic, perhaps as good as any during our time
in Mexico.  The city, although a charming place to explore for a few
days, is big dirty and the air is thick with raw diesel and gasoline
exhaust.

Before flying home we returned to Puerto Vallarta to Mark and Karli
Picketts' home for one final night of fine tequilas and beer.  On our
last day in we headed to the beach nearby and spotted a 3-4 metre
crocodile just off the beach.  Walking down the beach a bit we came
upon a volunteer run turtle release organization and were thrilled to
be handed two olive ridley sea turtles hatched just a few hours
earlier, definitely another of the many trip highlights.

Sayulita and Puerto Vallarta

After Christmas at the surf camp in San Blas we were chauffeured by
our two Swiss friends in their huge converted camper van to Sayulita,
an hour's drive north from Puerto Vallarta.  Sayulita has been
"discovered" and we arrived during probably the busiest week of the
year.  Almost every hotel was fully booked but we eventually found a
really nice room one block off the beach.  The town is very cool and
it is easy to appreciate why it has become so popular with travelers,
thankfully there are no large hotels or resorts nearby to ruin the
town.  Accommodation prices were considerably higher than in other
places we've visited in the country but food and drink was about the
same.

Sayulita remains a surf destination but the waves were really big and
the surf totally packed with expert surfers so we didn't get out on
the water as we did in the more inviting San Blas.  We met up with
Mark Picketts, his wife Karli and their little ones Ollie and Ella as
well as Karli's family from San Francisco, who were staying at a huge
beach side house in town for the week.  Mark had very graciously
offered us the use of their home in Puerto Vallarta while they were in
Sayulita so after a few days we continued south, again in the back of
the Swiss van, into PV.  PV is well into the tropics and it was hot
and humid, luckily Mark and Karli's house is right by the
neighbourhood pool!

New Year's Eve was spent whale watching on a huge but crowded trimaran
off PV with a pretty great display from the humpback whales and a nice
surprise upon boarding to find it was an open bar trip!  Afterwards,
we headed to a Canadian owned and sports bar jam packed with Canadians
to watch Team Canada beat the US in the World Juniors despite playing
absolutely terribly followed by the Flames easily beating the Oilers
yet again.  We capped off the night with a pretty good fireworks
display launched from a number of locations along the waterfront of
Puerto Vallarta.

We had been planning on busing to Tijuana in order to catch our train
from San Diego back into Vancouver, however, due to the holiday
traffic bus tickets were almost sold out and we were only able to
secure tickets to take us in one leg from PV to Tijuana rather than
breaking the trip up into 2 or 3 days as I had hoped.  The bus was
scheduled to take almost 40 hours ... unexpectedly WestJet had seats
on sale for $127 from PV direct to Vancouver with no charge for bikes
(unlike Air Canada and the American carriers).  I had been looking
forward to the train trip but the bus journey sounded worse than
awful, for me it was a pretty easy decision to fly, especially since
it was less than 1/4 of the cost of the bus and train journey.

With the change in travel plans we now have an extra week in Mexico
before we head home so we have left the peace and quiet of Mark and
Karli's place and headed into over the mountains to Tepic, a pretty
nondescript large Mexican town.  Tomorrow we'll head into Guadalajara,
Mexico's second biggest city at over 8 million people and said to be
the "most Mexican" of the cities, whatever that means!

Attached are some photos of the last little while:
Our tree house palapa in San Blas, the crowded beach in Sayulita, the
pool outside Mark's home, humpback whale spy hopping, and New Year's
fireworks lighting up the sky.

Last Days

Almost time for the big return trip. Hard to believe that even without flying, we will be able to cover the entire distance home in four or five days, via bus through Mexico and train from San Diego to Vancouver. Just a little bit faster than the three months that it took us to get here!

We are now in Sayulita, not far north of our final destination, Puerto Vallarta. Sayulita is overrun with tourists, but it is probably the busiest time of the year. It's easy to see why foreigners are attracted here - it's a beautiful little town with perfect beaches, lush surrounding forests, and a laid-back attitude. It being our last few days, we decided to skip the campground with dirty toilets and party scene, and are staying in a (very, very nice by our standards!) hotel. It has been a treat to be able to sleep in near silence on a comfy bed with clean sheets. Maybe we are just getting old! Or maybe it's just time to go home.

We've been talking about where we would bike next if we were able to go touring again. Across Canada was the consensus, and I've decided that I don't have any desire to travel by bike in developing countries; I'm just not that hard-core! But I admire those who are. Here are two links to cyclists we have met along the way who are in it for the long haul, and have fantastic websites: http://www.going-south.tv/ (we met Fin and Alex in Mazatlan and spent xmas with them in San Blas; their documentary sounds really exciting) and http://www.davestravelpages.com/ (Dave is an amazing adventurer who we have seen off-and-on since Washington).

Tomorrow, John and Aurun, two Swiss guys we stayed on the beach with in San Blas, will be generously driving us in their big traveling van to Puerto Vallarta, as they head east to Mexico City. And Brydone's friends Mark and Karli (and their two, too cute kids) have offered us their house in PV to stay at for the few days that we will be there. Thanks guys!

With love,

Rill

The Beach Life

Leaving Mazatlan was a bit tougher than expected as the buses were
chock full for much of the day. We finally got onto a very nice first
class bus at 2 pm but as the traffic was terrible and the going slow
we arrived into the city of Tepic after the last bus to the beach side
town of San Blas had departed for the night. Next to the bus depot
was a very basic hotel so we settled in there and sought out a yummy
full roast chicken for dinner. It was relatively cold up in the hills
in Tepic at night, cold enough that we were glad to be back on the
coast at San Blas the next morning.

Since arriving we have been staying in a tree house type cabana just
behind the restaurant's large palapa at a surf camp. It would not be
too much to call this place heavenly. We were reunited with two
cyclists currently on a arctic to Panama trip while filming their
travels for a documentary. We'd met them in Mazatlan and have had a
good time hanging out, surfing, playing beach volleyball, and making
spectacular meals of prawns and fresh fish caught nearby. We also
have two Finnish girls, a Germans couple, and two Swiss guys in our
entourage at the surf camp; it is a very nice atmosphere so we'll all
be spending Christmas here.

Yesterday the Germans and the Swiss joined us on a boat tour of the
mangroves located behind the town. We were delighted to see an
amazing array of birds, crocodiles, turtles, fish, iguanas, crabs,
orchids, and other forms of life, all so very close to the boat. The
tour was about 4 hours on the boat and was a great deal at only 80
pesos, about $6.25 CDN. In addition to a couple dozen wild crocs we
visited a crocodile breeding centre; where juvenile crocodiles are
bred for release to the wild. There were a few 7 metre long monsters
there. The largest wild croc we saw was 4 metres or so; in other
words BIG.

Tomorrow, for Christmas, we'll probably spend the day on the beach,
surfing, lounging, and perhaps go via boat out for some whale watching
or paddle the surf boards out amongst the dolphins which frequently
come by during the day.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

Hello from Torill....I don't really have much to add...except to wish
you Merry Christmas!

This is my first Christmas away from family. It's a little strange not
to be at home, but it also doesn't really feel like Christmas - must
be because of the beach. Maybe also because we'll be home soon!

Mazatlan

We're now settled into the warmer more humid mainland and are really
enjoying it so far. The ferry ride turned out to be a good deal of
fun as we teamed up with an Aussie on a round the world motorbike trip
to raise awareness about prostate cancer
(http://www.riderightround.org/) and another motorbiker riding from
Calgary to Panama and back. The Aussie brought a big bag of balloons
and we all tried our hand honing our street busking skills. Who knew
it was so darn hard to blow up one of those things! Beers on board
were reasonably priced at $2 CDN which really kicked things off.
Unfortunately, Rill was pretty tired so she missed out on a spirited
late night card game. The ferry was only about 1/4 full so there was
lots of space to spread sleeping bags and mats for a nice long sleep.
In the morning we saw a large pod of dolphins playing in the boat's
wake; what amazing creatures they are (shocking that the Japanese are
slaughtering so many of them each year - we watched "The Cove"
tonight. Go rent it tomorrow). There were also a few whales about
and lots of rays and sea birds.

The last two days were spent exploring Mazatlan, a fantastic old city.
Well actually only part of it is fantastic and the other part, out by
the expensive Western hotels, was absolutely awful. We headed north
out of the old city in order to spend the day relaxing in the swimming
pools along the Zona Dorado (Golden Zone). As we made the 10 kms walk
from the beaches of the city centre we were, for the first time in
Mexico, being harassed to buy crappy shirts, get a temporary tattoo,
take a taxi, buy an ugly hat, or shirt, or whatever else it is that
tourists inexplicably buy when they leave home. Also, everyone was
talking to us in English in a super sleazy manner typical of tourist
traps worldwide. The pools were lovely but, wow, what a terrible
change from our experience so far in Mexico where we are treated with
such kindness and warmth rather than attacked as prey. As the section
of the Baja (Los Cabos) is meant to be exactly the same type of
tourist destination as the Zona Dorado I am so glad that we decided to
skip it entirely. Back in the city, with our much cheaper and better
food and surrounded by Mexicans going about their non tourist trade
focused lives, things are so much more relaxed, enjoyable, and most of
all, real. I feel sorry for those who come to Mexico and return home
forming an opinion of the country based so wrongly on the touristy
areas; those areas are so far removed from the Mexico I'm loving.

Our little hotel is just five blocks from the beach in the palm tree
picture and five blocks in the other direction from a bustling market.
If you need an entire cow or a sweet piñata this is the place to
go. This afternoon we headed to the south end of the old city to hike
up to what is purportedly the second highest elevation lighthouse in
the world, although a brief internet search did not seem to agree (see
pic of the lighthouse from ferry). From the top there is a
spectacular view in all directions.

Tomorrow we head to San Blas, a small beach town. It should be a nice
relaxing place to spend a few days. After that we'll likely visit
Chacala, Sayulita, and Puerto Vallarta over our final two weeks in
paradise.

Only a week to Christmas, I bet Jack is getting crazy excited!

Diving Photos

Southern Baja

Hola from La Paz.

We head out tonight on the overnight ferry to Mazatlan on the
mainland. Last week we cycled 90 kms south from La Paz to Todos
Santos and Los Cerritos before turning the bikes around and returning
to La Paz. We initially had thoughts of cycling through Cabo San
Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo, two mega resorts towns on the southern
tip of the Baja. As we neared, though, the traffic became heavier and
heavier and the tourists far more frequent. Los Cabos (as the area is
known) is filled with expensive resort hotels and no cheap camping or
lodging options, not the kind of place we are really interested in
checking out, especially on a low budget trip like this! Aiding our
decision to return to La Paz the way we came was the state of the
highway between Todos Santos and La Paz. The road was fantastic for
cycling with a new divided highway sporting a huge paved should in
both directions, the only stretch like it in all of the Baja! Even
better, the final 15-20 kms into Todos Santos was still under
construction with one side of the highway closed to traffic but
perfect for two bicycles. On the return trip we encountered our first
significant head winds since northern Oregon but this did not dampen
our spirits on this nice stretch of the Baja.

From Todos Santos we explored the gorgeous but rather inaccessible
beaches on the Pacific coast. We spent one afternoon watching grey
whales breaching on the horizon, a few flying completely out of the
water. Closer in to us land creatures hundreds of rays were leaping
out of the water and countless huge sea birds fished all afternoon.
It was another fantastic Baja wildlife viewing experience.

We returned to La Paz on Saturday and back into the same friendly
hotel we stayed at earlier in the week. The place had filled up
considerably with a pretty fun mixed group of travelers and an when
older lady with a tiny dog announced it was her birthday and she was
throwing a party for herself complete with free margaritas things got
even better. I posted a photo of Dave (who is cycling from Alaska to
Argentina and who we have seen off and on since Westport Washington)
pouring margaritas from the "jug". They were delicious and
contributed greatly to a good time that night.

On Monday I went scuba diving. The first two dives were out in the
deeps looking for hammerhead sharks. I saw one shark on the first
dive and two on the second. The third dive was alongside a sea lion
colony and featured abundant fish, some corals, moray eels, octopus,
and some extremely close encounters with the curious sea lions.
Luckily, the only other diver on the trip has underwater camera
housing for his Canon G10 (the same camera I am using) and he gave me
his photos from the dives. I also have a video of the hammerheads on
the second dive and one of some of the sea lions underwater, I'll try
and post these as well. We also attempted to swim with dolphins but
once we jumped into the water they were nowhere to be seen.

Time to check out of the hotel and head to the beach until we depart
at 8pm. I'll miss the Baja but will certainly be back again another
time. Next time, though, I would plan to come with a vehicle capable
of accessing the countless difficult sand and rough dirt roads up and
down this still very undeveloped peninsula. Also, I'd want to have
supplies of food and water, kayaks, snorkel gear, and perhaps surf
boards to really explore the Baja.