Mexico burning roads

Thursday, 7th of july

Early morning departure for Mexico, Bahia de Los Angeles. We hit the road at 4am and I fell asleep right away... didn´t see anything of the road until we got to the border. We pass with no problem following the bus of students that are heading down to Bahia de Los Angeles for two weeks of summer class.
The USA side of the border is already mixed. We drive by the biggest line of car in the world. Kilometers of cars waiting on passing the border to go work in USA, hours of waiting... to get closer to the "American dream".
Desertic landscapes, square colourfull houses with concrete roof, giangantic Jesus Christ, fish tacos and dirt everywhere, no shade. We crossed "forest" of cactus. The colors are ocre, and the sunset light soften it all and turn the hot environment into a beauty... We arrived in Bahia de Los Angeles after the sunset... there is still some light and I can see the Sea of Cortez. The island of the bay are amazing, like flooded mountains, the surprise is breathtaking...

My little house by the beach is cute and confortable, I sleep under the stars with the view on the islands.
I wake up with the sun slowly coming out of the horizon behind the island, swim with shark whales, see bottle nose dolphins, almost touch them, snorkle on a white granite sandy beach, turquoise water with a desertic mountain on the background, boat trip to the islands and more shark whales, rays jumping out of the water...

Tuesday 12th of july. I decided to hitch hike south to go surf. A little over 1000 km to get to Cabos from where I start, in the middle of nowhere, in the desert. The morning is fresh and I even feel cold. I set up a confortable place to hitch hike, an use tire where I sit or lay in. I quickly figured out which car will take me and my surfboard... not much. Trucks won't take me and small cars neither. I start to read to no get impatient. The pages goes and goes and still no car... I start to worry but it will be ok, shouldn't be that late... A car finally pull up. A mexican man, going to the next town, 130 km away... well it´s a start. We exchange some word. He used to live in USA and work there but didn´t like it. So he moved back to Mexico, with less work but he could enjoy life better. Time went by since Jose dropped me off at 6am. It is 1pm when Juan drop me off where I can have the most luck. It touch me, and straighten my feeling that we are all one in this world... I gave him two oranges and I took a picture of him...
Realizing how much more I have to hitch hike, I get on my feet and stood for 5 hours before I decide to catch the bus. Hitch hiking is not my thing... I don´t have time to do it, I rather go surf than spend time on the road... The bus ride was just perfect. I enter and sat on the front row, paid 1000 pesos (around 90 USD). I was full of dust and never felt so wrecked before... I fell asleep as I felt better and in security knowing where I was going. Hitch hiking is definitively out of my wish list... It was a great experience though and don´t regret anything, laughing about it. The bus arrive in La Paz around 5am the next day. I had a good sleep and the bus driver helped me around.. I guess I really looked wrecked !! haha.. I bought my ticket to San Jose del cabo and jump in the next bus. Sun rise thru a foggy desert, mango trees here and there, waves hitting the shore... I´m getting closer to my goal.
I try to get off the bus on the first surf beach I see but I have to ride it all the way to the terminal. I get off, find a rental car and drive to the beach. Nice waves but it´s so hot, unbearable... The session was good, I had a lot of fun. I came out after may be 5 hours and new that I was sun burned. I went to the panoramic site to look at the surf from above and just chill. Drove around town to find water, food and internet. I´m planning on sleeping in my car. I meet a mexicain men, Roberto, at the panoramic, he is a handcrafter, painting on shells and selling it to tourists. Even though I´m not interested he comes back to me and we start to talk. He is from mainland and lives between Ensenada and Los Cabos to work. The season haven´t been very good for him but he offers me a painted shell before he leaves and tells me to take care... Right after his departure, a young man ask me about renting board. His girlfriend speaks french to him so I start to speak to her. Nadia and Ismael, they are maroccan but lives between San Francisco and Vancouver since a couple years. We talked about my travels and and we ended up swimming at the beach together under the moon light. They invite me to their hotel so I can take a shower. We swim at the pool, slide ride and jacuzzi. They insist on having me sleepin on their couch and I accept. It was such a nice evening, getting to know their beautiful love story. I felt blessed being with them and meeting them. They made me feel like I was part of their family for the time spent with them... I slept like a rock exhausted from the great day I just had.
I woke up around 8.30 and drove to the airport to figure out a better deal for a renting car. I decide to keep the one I have and come back to the beach. I sat by a wall full of vine, the only shady place I found. I fell asleep there and wake up hours later... It felt very good. A surfer walk by and ask me if the nap was good. I smile.I watch the kids skimmimg and the surfer. I decide to not surf as it was too crowded and drive to town to find a place to stay... may be there is a cheap room for rent. Internet search, I buy my ticket back to Seattle for the 18th and I ended up in a room at a hostel in the center. 250 pesos (around 21 USD) not the cheapest but I can do it. It felt so good to have a room, a shower and I fell asleep right away in peace.

I went to check the waves when I woke up and it was perfect. Cloudy and no wind. I surf a new spot and get out of the water around 3pm... even more sunburned but I can´t do anything about it.

I met the locals surfers and Spencer from Los Angeles. He went to Tahiti and Huahine many times and kept a good memory about his trip. He invite me to stay at his place, in a trailer but I feel like going back to the hostel, just need to be alone, I enjoy quiteness and having somewhere I can call my room... I miss having a place... It has its cost but it's worth it as it makes me happy...

Love

Poema