LA to Mexico.

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Shorter entries are the way forward I know, but that means dedicating more time, more often to sitting writing the journey up & I'm a busy man. However, I will try.

I'm typing this entry from a hammock in sunny & oh so very hot Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I have a drink to hand & I'm near a pool & the beach to ensure I don't over heat. Typing can be tough!

Actually, it would be good if you were here too, we could share a drink as we watched the world go by & then whilst you were having a nap in the hammock to recover from the jet lag after flying in from wherever you're from, I'd sort us a boat to go fishing or some such. One person in particular comes to mind, he's from New Zealand & a few years ago he took the time (a lot of time as it turned out) to teach me about farming before I comprehensively proved the saying 'farmers aren't made, they're born'. Take care mate, you & your family are in my thoughts.

Okay, so the last entry finished as I headed towards LA & so I'll start this one from there.

After 14,000 odd miles without seeing a proper mechanic the bike deserved a little TLC. I knew it wasn't going to be cheap & at $907 it wasn't, but we'd come a long way & still have a mile or two to go so I looked at it as an investment. A bad one as it turned out, but an investment nonetheless. Some people buy property, stocks & shares, I buy parts for motorbikes hoping they'll get me a little further down the road. They didn’t - read on.

All the BMW shops I tried said they couldn't fit me in for weeks but one place on hearing I was travelling said to just bring the bike down. I'd also put a post on an American biker’s website asking for recommendations & then forgot to look at the responses. When I eventually remembered to log back on I had 19 replies from people offering the air hangers they work in & tools, to people offering to come meet me & help out. I even had offers of places to stay on my way through LA.

A couple of years ago I travelled with a girl called Jamie (some of you reading this know who I’m talking about - she’s very well & no doubt sends her regards) & as she lives in LA she put me up (& put up with me) for a few nights. I arrived on a Wednesday & didn’t leave until Sunday morning which is the longest I’ve stayed in one place since getting on the road. Poor Jamie - yeah, yeah I know.

The swimming pool, hot tub, my own room, bathroom, cable tv & a cupboard full of whisky helped sway the decision, as did the two large bars of Cadbury’s chocolate. I felt a little guilty as she was supposed to be studying but instead made sure I was kept entertained. From dinners out, to a hike (in the midday sunshine) to an afternoon at the beach. She also took the time to introduce me to some choice films & I in turn introduced her to ‘Cash Cab!’ - one of my favourite American TV shows. Trust me, it'll come to the UK - its only a matter of time. Thanks Jamie!

Come Sunday 26th September I got back on the road & headed to a prearranged meet with Rich as we’d agreed to cross into Mexico together & head south. We met as arranged & crossed the border at a little place called Tecate. The border on the Mexican side consisted of one speed bump & a barrier, the kind you’d find in a supermarket car park, no guards nor officials - welcome to Mexico!

Whilst Rich was getting cash I got talking to some locals who warned me to put the miles in & get out of town & the border region as quickly as possible as its not safe. I doubt the Mexican Tourist Board would have been impressed. Drug cartels, shootings & kidnappings were all mentioned & as they genuinely looked concerned, I started to think it might be time to grab Rich & get going. Not to worry, we were soon on the road out of town & it was only an hour or so until we'd be through the volatile area.

We headed south in 41 degree heat which in motorbike gear is a little uncomfortable & quickly discovered the road was a mess meaning we were stuck at 5mph for the first 20 miles in long lines of slow traffic. Just as I was riding through yet another dust cloud the warning lights on the bikes electronic display started a mini disco & then the engine cut out. Brilliant.

I blew the horn (the only thing that did work despite being fitted by me) so Rich would know something was wrong. From experience such things always pick the most awkward of times to occur (like getting stuck in a mud hole surrounded by armed arseholes in the Congo for example) but even I was impressed by the timing on this one. Hello fate, my old friend.

There was no point getting frustrated or annoyed (didn't stop me though) it is what it is, just deal with it. All I had to do was figure out how to get the bike back along the 20 miles or so of dirt road I’d just covered to the US border through the town we'd been told to get the hell out of.

All seemed well after I left it for a while & then started it back up (which coincidentally is the limit of my mechanical knowledge) & I worked out if I went fast all seemed good & the bike was happy. So that was the approach I took, I gunned it! The 5mph no overtaking through roadworks section became a 60mph off road time trail. The 45 minutes it took to get out was reduced to less then 20 to get back.

Despite my previous dealings with American immigration getting back into the US was as painless as it should be & took less than two minutes. I then pulled into the shade & got out the BMW ANON book I'd been given in Chicago, called a number at random & explained my situation. The man I got through to, a fella called Scott suggested it could be the fan on the radiator as his friend had exactly the same issue. As the digital temp gauge was fine & the bike had just been serviced I thought not, but I checked regardless & sure enough it was stuck fast. So much for the $907 dollar investment.

After burning my hand on the exhaust getting to the fan (it was all fun that day) it didn’t look like it had worked for quite a while but as I’d never been going that slowly the engine hadn’t needed it, until today. Anyway, as the bike seemed happy at speed Rich & I rode to San Diego & got a hotel for the night. Scott had given me the name of a dealership to call on Monday morning & also offered us a place to stay when he returned from the Jazz festival he was at but I thought the hotel the better option as I just can't trust a person who likes jazz.

You'll be pleased to hear it was the fan & it only cost a mere $430 to get sorted. It would appear I have an off road bike that can't handle a little dust & dirt, I expected more from the Germans!

As I handed over the credit card for the second time in a week it was one of the few times I've missed travelling with just my rucksack. I wondered how many bus journeys I'd get for $1307? In the right country for that kinda money, I could buy a bus! Anyway, surely it's for situations such as this credit cards were invented. (Not just for shoes Elaine).

Southern California was enduring an Indian Summer with day after day of 40 degree heat, proving 'Indian Summers' actually do exist. Every year in London I hear one is on the way only to get soaked & then freeze whilst cycling to work in September.

I'm still doing my best with the promise to wear my biker gear everyday despite the fact the smell from the boots alone could 'gas the ticks off a badger' as the saying goes. The heat is the hardest thing to deal with. I was riding through 33 degree heat the other day & thought it was a pleasant change. Strange how quickly you can adapt.

So after the bike was fixed it was then time to say goodbye to the American/Canadian part of my trip some 11 weeks & 14348 miles later. It felt a little odd as I really didn't expect that part of the trip to be so, so, so good. I thought I knew what to expect but at every turn the people I met exceeded my expectations.

Perhaps I was lucky, right place, right time but I actually think maybe its just Canadians & Americans are good, good people. America gets a bad press & it is true they don't much care for the outside world but despite knowing this will be controversial I found them to be generous, kind & intelligent people. Yes there are some idiots, but most of those have been recruited by the Immigration Service so you'll only have to deal with them once & it will only get better from there. I couldn't recommend the place highly enough.

Rich & I crossed back into Mexico at Tijuana, the busiest land border in the world don't cha' know. I'd crossed the same border over 10 years ago & was pleased to note Tijuana is still the dump I left. No customs, nor immigration to deal with just ride over a speed bump or two, wait for a barrier to lift & head south.

We did get lost trying to get out of town & with me leading the way we bumped up a curb, along some pavement & on to the road I knew was the one we needed. As we rounded the bend the traffic was on my side of the road & so I had to think do the Mexican's do it properly & drive on the left? Turns out they don't, it was a four lane one way street with a police car in my lane or more appropriately, me in his.

Eventually we made it out of town & it went from 40 degrees on the American side to 23 degrees & overcast on the Mexican reminding me of a good summers day at home. Rich reckoned immigration & customs would be down the highway a little so we put in the miles.

After a long day done & not many miles covered & still no immigration nor customs we started looking for somewhere to camp & pulled off the main highway appropriately titled 'Mex 1' onto a dirt road that led to deep sand trails heading toward the Pacific coast. Deep sand on a heavy bike isn't much fun, the only way to make progress without going down is to ride quickly. We road for the best part of 10 miles towards the coast, pitched our tents & then sat & enjoyed the sunset. The photos should explain why the deep sand was worth it.

Whilst I think of it I need to quickly moan about my 'intrepid mountain' tent. When I bought it I took Brenda along to help me choose & only now has it occured to me Brenda has never spent a night in a tent in her life so quite why I relied on her to assist is beyond me. Anyway, its warm & dry yes but the problem being you always need to peg it into the ground. In dry arid countries that's about as easy as hammering a nail through 4 inch steel with a sponge mallet & consequently I'm spending some nights under my £10 German army surplus poncho. I don't actually mind but it always concerns fellow campers & passers by so I thought I'd share. I'll post a picture of my 'intrepid mountain' tent with this blog & you can decide for yourselves.

Speaking to a few spear fisherman & surfers from the US it turned out Rich & I were in Mexico illegally as we should of passed through customs & immigration at Tijuana. Whoops. After a little to & fro with the local office (see their impressive HQ in the attached pictures) we found out as their computer system was down we'd have to get it all done at La Paz another 500 miles down the road. No big deal - hopefully.

On the Pacific side of Baja it's reasonably cool but on the eastern side by the Sea of Cortez it's a furnace & genuinely feels like riding through an oven. By the time we'd got to where we wanted to go, Rich had had a moment of clarity & decided he was done. He was going to turn around & head home. See it can be tough!

Despite the breakdowns, the heat, the surly border officials & the burn to my hand it's not all fun, fun, fun.
Rich's original plan of riding to & around the South America was changed to riding home. I couldn't blame him, it was absolutely scorching & that's the way it's going to stay for the best part of the next few months, day in day out. Having the wisdom to call it a day is a quality I respect. I know you're reading this Rich & you're missed. Thanks for the map of Mexico, the granola bars, the fruit & all the wisdom you imparted!!!

For our last night on the road together we treated ourselves to a campsite that had been torn apartby a hurricane last summer. No running water, nor any other working facilities just a bucket with some large cockroaches floating in it to shower from. I preferred to wash in the sea. Oddly they did have wi-fi?

We went into town for a farewell dinner (paid for by Rich - thank you!) & both neglected to bring a torch so we had a lot of diificulty in getting back to the campsite for one, & two actually finding our tents despite the fact they were obviously pitched beside two motorbikes & we were the only ones there.

The next morning we said our goodbyes, got a local lad to dodge traffic & stand in the middle of the highway to take a final picture & then headed off in different directions. Rich north, me south.

I rode to La Paz in a determined mood as I wanted to get the paperwork sorted for the bike & finally get my passport stamped.

Without Rich's steady hand guiding me along I quickly reverted back to my old ways & got through two tanks of fuel in a little over three hours. Not good, I'm going to make a conscious effort to go a little easier. Promise!

I found the customs office where I needed to fill in the forms & pay a bond to get the bike legal but was told I needed to get my passport sorted first & then the bike. Her office closed 15 minutes later but she said she'd happily help out the following morning. She even gave me a map to show me where immigration was back in town.

I got to immigration at 2:58pm & they gave me documents I needed to take to a bank, pay them, get a receipt & return where they'd issue the tourist card required for heading south. I thought if they really put their minds to it they could make it even more complicated, but as I was still in my motorbike gear & it was 41c outside, they were happy enough.

The chap behind the counter also informed me his office closed in two minutes & would open again on Monday. Public servants - I love em'!

I booked into a hotel recommended by another biker as it was cheap, turns out it was cheap because it was a dump. More water flowed onto the floor from the toilet then the shower & come 11pm all I could hear were the high heels of the working girls walking their clients along the corridor as they used the surrounding rooms as their office. (Rich - did we not have this conversation just the other day???) It was called 'Hotel California' but somehow I doubt its the one that inspired the song. I once mistakenly (cross my heart) stayed the night at a brothel in Fiji & so I'm practiced a sleeping through regardless of what noises are coming from the neighbours.

In the morning after peeling the sheets off, I headed down the coast to Cabo San Lucas & have found a very sweet spot to call home for a few days so I've taken the time to write this & now that I have a map of Mexico I'll plan my route south too.

I realise Mexico has a large number of World Heritage Sites but the one thing I want to see above all else is Lucha Libre - Mexican wrestling - & I'm not even a wrestling fan. I've had my fill of world heritage sites over the years I'm afraid & given the choice there's no contest. I've heard it's $5 in, cheap drink & food & one hell of a good night out. How can the Mayan's possibly compete?

Once I eventually get my paperwork sorted it's over to the mainland by ferry & south from there. As ever (mum) I'll keep you posted.

Take care,

Brian

ps. Thank to those who've sent emails - I love them!

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Photos

About 10 miles east of San Quintin.
Thanks to Rich Herrmann photography.

You see a wheel...
I see the best part of $907.

Jenny & Jamie.
Venice Beach, LA. (Jenny is the one with the 'guns').

Mexican border - Tecate.
No guards, no immigration - just go.

Crossing intoTijuana
Ten years & six months since the last time I crossed there. Getting old for this travelling lark!!!

A nice way to spend an evening.
Pacific Coast, Baja.

Home...
is where you park it. No. 539.

Mex 1 - the only highway in Baja...
& the Sea of Cortez to the left.

Sand & a heavy bike but...
still smiling nonetheless.

My 'intrepid mountain' tent.
After 15 minutes of effort.

The road less travelled.
Baja, Mexico.

Mr Rich Herrmann.
Enjoying time off the bike.

Mexico
HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Four Star -
It's actually quite comfy.

Mexican immigration.
300 miles from the border & the computer doesn't work.

Me south, Rich north.
After many a mile, it's time to go our separate ways.

Courtesy of a Korean chap
who took this pic & sent it to me.

Comments

[Marlene]

Hi Brian: Got to enjoy your blog this morning with my cup of coffee before I head out for a long day on the road. It is cold here. You write of hot temperatures, and I am freezing and have had to turn on the heat in the house. Glad to read that you got your documentation in order for Mexico and that you are still safe and sound. I still wish that I could be a gal who could rough it more so that I would get brave enough to take an adventure too! I also sent Tom your blog to read and he told me to tell you hello! Take care and look forward to reading more so consider this inspiration to continue to blog when you are not motivated to! Marlene PS: You write you are in Cabo San Lucas and you seem to have yourself some really nice accomodations. Hammock, Pool, Beach, Drink in hand.....sounds great!