Mulege

We rode through a nice winding road along the Sea of Cortez and came to a pretty little beach with three walled huts made with palm leaves. They rent them each out for 3 dollars a night and the locals come to sell bread, water, fruit, and all sorts of little things. They are very polite and dont harrass you if you dont want to buy anything though.

I didnt waste anytime setting up my tent and getting to sleep because I was running a fever and feeling very weak. I jumped in bed right away (probably 7pm) and went into one o those 12 hour fever sleeps where you are drenched in sweat head to toe, moving around all night and not really ever falling asleep. I was having some wild crazy dreams but Im starting to think they were fever induced hallucinations asI never really fell asleep all the way. It was a very uncomfortable night and I was very hot with the fever so I felt terrible when I first woke up. My body had this dirty sweaty feeling all over so I decided to jump in the water for a minute to rinse off. The water felt absolutely wonderful and from that point on I started feeling better. I started drinking water and took some tylenol/ibuprofen so I could hit the road and head to cabo. I said goodbye to the canadian couple who was living there for the winter in their RV and wished my firefighter buddy a good trip. His two friends took off already and he decided to stay and camp in Mulege for a couple of nights.

The road to La Paz was nice, winding through the now half jungle/half dessert scenery that comes with the southern half of baja. A wonderful blend of rich green and deep browns with little specs of yellow dessert flowers here and there. I arrived in La Paz in the evening time and opened up my guide book to find a budget hotel. I ended up finding hotel Yeneka which is a very original junk filled place. There are a handful of men who sit out front in some carved wooden chairs and puff on cigarettes while they drink their home made margarita like cocktail. You walk into the lobby to be greeted by a guy just hanging out around the front desk with his yellow cat thats missing its tale. He happily informs you of the hotel room and bonus accomodations such as a double shot of tequila upon arrival, an hour of internet, and some coffee in the morning. They have about 20 dark rooms that dont feel completely indoors and the shower being hot is hit or miss. Its a little over priced at40 dollars per night but the company of the regulars and the creative decor make up for it. I unpacked and wheeled my motorcycle in so it could be safe and then came out and began chatting with the guys out front. All friendly people. Theres Miguel the magazine director, Jaime the lawyer, and the owner who is a doctor but I dont remember his name. Martine is the name of the guy who runs the front desk, and pretty much everything else in the hotel and he speaks excellent english as he was raised in california before being deported in 2001 or so.

I went out to have dinner by the beach, I hadnt eaten in almost two days because I was sick so I just wanted something light like a salad. I sat down outside at a resturaunt, overlooking the way and ordered a salad. They brought me some chips and to my suprise, they also sent out a mexican girl with one of those corn mashing bowls and small plates of vegetables. The girl hand grinded me some salsa right in front of my table which I could hardly believe. It was delicious of course...

After dinner I returned to the hotel and hung out with the guys out front for a few hours, chatting while Martine translated everything for us. The other guys would try to talk to me in english for practice but it was difficult for them. Wonderful bunch. A french guy rode up on his bicycle and it turned out he had ridden down from San Francisco. I didnt feel so cool anymore, heh heh. I spent the night hanging out with that guy and had some incredibly conversation. The guy just travels. He isnt rich but he has money, he has just been bumming around the entire world for the past ten years seeing and doing all. He works when he has to to make some cash as either a carpenter or painter or whatever he can figure out. The guys lived more life than anybody Ive ever met. Simply amazing. I could write ten pages on the stories he told me but Ill spare you. Maybe if your lucky youll bump into him one day. You will definitely know if you do.

I finally got my regular straight forward good nights sleep on the spongy mattress laid over a concrete slab. I woke up, had a lovely breakfast next to the beach and came back to finally hit
Cabo! I said my goodbyes (not expecting to come back 4 days later) and took off. Another nice ride (this place is full of em) and I had been riding so much the past 5 days I forgot I even had a destination. I came around a hill to find the beach again which sent a wonderful feeling over my body. Id made it to the end and it felt good. I had a huge smile at this point and picked up a slightly more spirited pace. I ended up pulling into the hotel right as my friends arrived from the aeropuerto (airport) and we got all checked in to our kick ass resort apartment sized room. Complete with a master bedroom, living room, full kitchen, washer and dryer, and a nice baja style fancy decor. Good times were rollin just as fast as ever. We got some margaritas, walked down the beach to the downtown area where we could get some food and party a little. It was pretty weird doing a 180 degree shift in my lifestyle. I went some desserted RV parks in the middle of nowhere to the lap of luxury, it was sort of hard to take it all in but obviously I got used to it pretty quick.

The next day we went around town, I bought some shorts and sandals so I could swim and stuff and we hung out by the pool and just relaxed. Nothing really exciting to mension, just a lot of relaxation in the sun. In the night time we had dinner and went out to party a little bit and then ended the night with some room service. The next day we went out to Lands End to see the arch thing and hung out at lovers beach for a couple of hours. Beautiful out there, of course. We went out to dinner at fancy mexican resturaunt that was supposed to be the best around. I wasnt that impressed after all of the kick ass taco stands Id eaten at for just a few pesos. They could do a lot better considering all of the hype about the place. The environment was kick ass and I had a wonderful time though. No complaints in the fun factor area. The resturaunt is called Mi Casa and I guess its worth seeing, I had fun.

The cabo trip flew by and I had an awesome time with my friends. Them coming down to join me was the absolute PERFECT intermission for my ride. I met some cool people and had some more good times down there. I even picked up a small stone off the beach at lands end for a souveneir. Just an ugly little stone, something to commemorate the trip. I did stand at the end for a moment and look off into the ocean to enjoy the accomplishment. I turned around and thuoght to myself that the trips still in full speed and I wasnt going to be home for another 6 days. I enjoyed wondering what sort of unexpected thrills I might find on the way back.