Yeneka

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February 13 –Los Cabos to La Paz – Today I got up about 6 and packed up for my trip to La Paz from Los Cabos. Bob and I were planning on taking the Colectivo bus at 8 to the bus station to take the 9:15 bus to La Paz. We got on a Colectivo bus that had Soriano in its list of destinations and I told the driver “El centro autobuses Aguila”. Probably not perfect Spanish but he understood me. When I saw the Golden Palace Office complex just north of the intersection of Miguel Hidalgo and Hwy 19, part of which houses the main bus station for Cabo, I went to the front of the bus and the driver pulled over and let us out at the Pemex Station across the street.

The ticket going the “long way” to La Paz cost 210 pesos (about $16). It went via San Juan de Cabo bus station and Los Barriles on the East side of the Baja Peninusla. I made sure to tell them I wanted to go to the "Tourista Terminal" in La Paz. I wanted to go to the Tourista Terminal on the Malecon and not the main bus terminal in La Paz.

I had hoped it was a scenic route but it was actually rugged desert. Looking out over that rugged landscape it really brought home how difficult travel must have been before trains, planes and auto’s. I couldn’t imagine trying to ride a horse or walk across that landscape.

We went by a Mission called Buena Vista and I understand now that when I asked the lady at the desk in the bus station in Cabo if the long way was a Buena Vista ( meaning to me beautiful view) she took it to mean did the long way go by Mission Buena Vista.

The trip to La Paz was uneventful and when we got there a guy with a cell phone met the bus at Hero’s de La Independence Street and must have told him there was no one to pick up at the main terminal so we went directly to the Tourista Terminal on the Malecon, which was nice.

This was right where we wanted to be. It is on the promenade along the bay and just a few blocks from the budget hotels in the area. We walked up the hill to Madero Street and took a right and down about half a block to the Hotel Yeneka. It was definitely a unique hotel. There was a lifetime’s accumulation of “unique” items cluttering up the courtyard, the walls, the roof etc. The hotel was a manifestation of the expression “one mans trash is another man’s treasure”. Quite eclectic.

The rooms were cheap though. We each got a room with 2 double beds for $30 a night. So I had one to use and one to pile stuff on. This included 2 shots of tequila in the evening and continental breakfast in the morning. Also they would do your laundry for free. The major drawback to the hotel was I was unable to connect to the internet with my laptop because it could not "identify" the router of the hotel even though it was connected to it. Also there was only hot water "upon request".

I made the mistake of taking a downstairs room forgetting that guest would sit around the common area downstairs and visit in the late evenings. I should have requested an upper floor room.

After checking in Bob and I went down to the Malecon to have a look around and then he went back to the hotel while I explored the town a bit more.

When I got back to the hotel Bob was visiting with a couple of Americans who looked like they were part of some rock band. They each had 3 shots of tequila lined up to enjoy in addition to the many they apparently had already had. Bob didn’t drink so he had given them his 2 shots of tequila and they suggested that if I didn’t want my two shots I could give the shots to them if I wished.

We had a nice time visiting for a bit and then I turned in early as the long day had pretty much worn me out. In spite of the lively conversation continuing outside with more people coming in and joining in and the very “firm” matress I had no trouble sleeping. It sounded like it got to be quite a party outside.

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