Mui Ne and My First Bribe

From Vung Tau we had originally wanted to travel to the Con Dao islands, a chain of unspoiled islands with the best diving in Vietnam. There are two ways to get there, the ferry from Vung Tau for $10 or a flight from Ho Chi Minh City for $80, both one way. Of course we decided we’d take the ferry. Unfortunately after roaming around on a tandem bike for a few hours to find the office(GPS coordinates for the ferry office/terminal to save others the hassle 10.413820, 107.128352) to buy tickets we were informed that it was too rough to make the crossing. We called the English-speaking lady at the office the next two days with no luck either(To save you even having to go to the termianl call Ms. Hoa at 0982 890097). Oh well, maybe we’ll get there on the way back.

The infamous banana pancake!
The infamous banana pancake!

So we decided to continue onto Mui Ne. There was some debate online about where the bus station was and when or if busses ran to Mui Ne. They do at 5am and 1pm for 100,000 dong ($4.50) and the station was easy to find(10.3502991, 107.0873626). The ride was around four hours on a nice bus with AC, free WiFi, and a place to charge your phone at every seat.

Ban Mi at the bus stop
Ban Mi at the bus stop

When we arrived we were approached by a lady who offered her guesthouse(Nhat Phuc, I’ll leave the pronunciation up to you lol) to us for the night for $10. It was a nice clean room across the street from the beach but was dark as the only window was covered. We took it and then had dinner at her beach front restaurant, a fantastic meal of spring rolls, fresh salad, sautéed spinach and vegetables, and a whole fire roasted fish smothered in chili and lemon grass, all for about $12 (and only that much because the retaurant was beach front).

The buses here have free wifi!
The buses here have free wifi!

The next morning we decided we wanted to move since it was gloomy and if we were going to be trapped indoors we wanted a room with a view. So we moved to Viet’s Hotel, a much nice place, in a better location in town and near the nicer part of the beach(I hear the sand shifts so that may not always be the case), and a killer view from the top of a hill, all for the same price.

Being at the top of a hill offers some advantages...
Being at the top of a hill offers some advantages…
The view from our new hotel
The view from our new hotel

We continued to eat good, more ban mi, more pho, more Chao, but also other random delicious dishes fried pork, sweet and sour pork, noodles and beef, all good, all different. (We also splurged on some American burgers, fries, and wings one night, our most expensive meal so far but at least it was done right.) All of this was available cheap on the same street(tiny alley) that our new hotel was on.

The "road" to our hotel
The “road” to our hotel

The next day we rented a motorbike for the day from our hotel, $3 and went to checkout the sights. Now technically your supposed to get a license to drive a motorbike in Vietnam (an onerous process and an international drivers license does NOT count) but in practice no one cares. We went to see the famous red and white dunes outside of Mui Ne (way overrated but the ride was awesome). We both loved riding the motorbike. In fact I liked it so much I kind of wish we had bought a bike, you can get them for $200 here.

The famous Red Dunes
The famous Red Dunes
The White Dunes, look at those clouds, time to go!
The White Dunes, look at those clouds, time to go!

Unfortunately between the white dunes and the red dunes there were police pulling people over, we had heard that usually they leave the tourists alone. However that wasn’t the case here they were pulling over literally everyone, locals and tourists alike and charging them with real and fictitious infractions alike. I was originally told they were going to impound the bike for a week and then I’d have to pay an 800,000 to 1,200,000 ($35 to $45) dong fine plus the cost of renting the bike during that time not to mention having to stay there for a week. An obvious shakedown. So I said how about I just pay now, he said 1,000,000 dong, I said ok, and he said your good to drive around here for a week.

Rebels without a cause
Rebels without a cause

Our little motorbike journey ended being pretty expensive after that…… Come to find out that it is very uncommon for tourists to be pulled over…. Except in Mui Ne. Apparently the local police are pretty corrupt and this is a common practice for them. In fact they had the same thing going on in the same place when we left. They even pulled over our sleeper bus! We still plan to do more motorbiking.

After that debacle we decided to ride into Mui Ne proper, a small fishing village just north of the tourist areas on the beach. We were foiled again by literal monsoon rains (the reason the boat to Con Dao wasn’t running was because of a tropical depression hanging out in the South China Sea). We waited at a little while for it to die down a bit and then we made the ride home in the rain, it was exciting if not very pleasant.

Victoria posing in the rain on the beach in Mui Ne
Victoria posing in the rain on the beach in Mui Ne

The next day Victoria woke up with a cold, she blames the cops, I think maybe the rain did it. Anyways we took it easy after that. The next stop of the journey, the tourist mecca of Nha Trang!

Selfie!
Selfie!

Wow! Our trip to Vung Tau!

Vung Tau is a popular get-a-way from the hustle and bustle of HCMC.  To get here from HCMC you take the ferry which costs 200,000 dong, or about $9, per person.  The ferry terminal in HCMC is called Ben Tau Canh Ngam.  There are two popular locations for lodging while visiting Vung Tau.  The front beach, more popular with foreigners because of the closeness to shopping and restaurants, or the back beach where the locals vacation.  We chose the back beach because the beach looked nicer but were initially concerned because we weren’t sure if there was going to be restaurants around.  It turned out to be a good gamble.  The location is great because it’s only a five minute walk to the beach and there’s plenty of cheap-eats type restaurants since the locals frequent the area. We stayed at the Tan Hoang Than hotel for 300,000 dong, $13.50, per night.  The hotel was a little on the dirty side but it came with a balcony and the price was awesome for the location.  Beware that this area gets hoppin’ on the weekend and the rates triple.   At night it’s nice to walk along the waterfront and people watch.  The beach was great and very nice for swimming.

We walked to see the giant Jesus of Vung Tau which stands a whopping 32 meters (105 feet). This is free to do if you have to energy to ascend approximately 900 steps.  What I really liked was being able to go inside of Jesus, up a narrow spiral staircase of about 130 steps, to take in a spectacular view of the beach.

The food we had here was incredible.  We tried various restaurants and street seafood vendors.  You can’t go wrong it’s all fantastic and most Vietnamese dishes are less than $2 each.  The seafood is more costly and a couple of times we splurged $5 for crab claws or clams.  We have become very fond of the coffee.  We order the iced coffee with milk like twice a day which are only 50-75 cents each.

It was obvious that most foreigners choose to stay near the front beach.  Every time we went out, people stared at us like they never saw a white person before lol.  In fact we didn’t see another white person the 4 days we were there.  Most people we met were so friendly, especially the children who all say “hello!” when they see us. It melts my heart every time.  It’s amazing how easy it is to hang out and laugh with people even though you can’t speak the same language.

Tim and some locals smoking tobacco out of this strange bong like pipe. It was tobacco I promise.
Tim and some locals smoking tobacco out of this strange bong like pipe. It was tobacco I promise.

Good Mornin’ Vietnam!

We were horribly exhausted after traveling for 32 hours when we arrived at 2 am in HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City), formally known as Saigon.  Thankfully it was a breeze getting through customs since we were literally the only flight to arrive at that time.  We had our visa set up to pay on arrival so there was no issue there either.  The only reservation we made for the entire 10 weeks we will be traveling was for the first night so the hotel would set up the airport shuttle. We didn’t want to worry about how to get to the hotel and it only cost $14 dollars. It wasn’t until after we arrived that we discovered Uber works in HCMC and it would have been 1/3 of the cost.  Anyways we stated at Madam Cuc 184.  It costs $20 a night.  The hotel is in a quiet part of the backpackers district which can get crazy at night.  The rooms and bathrooms were clean.  The only thing I didn’t like was how they lock the gate at 2300 each night.  Since we were jet lagged we would wake up at 0300 in the morning and were stuck.  Also the manager requested to hold our passports during our stay.  At first I was a little sketched out but we later learned that this is actually a law.  All hotels are supposed to take your passports.

There are plenty of options to eat around the hotel including a market.  The park is right around the corner and we were surprised at all the Vietnamese people getting up early to exercise in the park.  Some were doing their own thing, some were in groups all wearing the same shirts.  We saw people doing the fan dancing thing, Thai chi, and aerobic dancing.  Tim and I decided to jump in and play too. 🙂

We read about the hazards of pedestrians in the city so we were mentally prepared.  Some streets are easy but some times you have to literally put yourself out there, with a confident step you will succeed in crossing the street.  The cars and buses are the real threat.  They are like the great white sharks of the road and will squash you without hesitation.  The motorbikes can easily manuever around you.  Once you do it a couple of times you get the flow of traffic and will understand.  There is a method to the madness.

While in the city we visited two different museums, the War Remnants museum and the Reunification Palace. The war remnants museum was interesting and displays the atrocities of the war.  However, some of the facts and portrayal of the Americans are slightly skewed.  It was nice to stroll around the Reunification Palace and view the luxurious rooms and underground bunker.

HCMC smells of cigarettes and gasoline with a hint of fish sauce.  Smoking is an epidemic here and the motorbikes are everywhere.  The fish sauce comes from the food obviously.  However it is delightful and charming in its own way.  It’s a vibrant city and there is always something to do at all hours of the day.  This is why it’s a good place to be whilst getting over jet lag since there is always somewhere open to get beer, food, or whatever your heart desires.  The Vietnamese people are very friendly and willing to help us even while we butcher the correct pronunciation of their language.  Google translate has been a God send and I highly recommend downloading the Vietnamese language pack.  For some reason I was under the impression that most people spoke English here. We are slowly picking up phrases and it always helps to smile when approaching people. 🙂

Southeast Asia

So Victoria has finished her assignment and it’s time to hit the road again. This time however that’s a little more figurative than literall. We’ve decided to put the RV in storage for a few months as we travel through southeast asia via backpack. We are planning on traveling through Vietnam, Loas, Thailand, and Cambodia loosly following what is called the “Banana Pankake Route” for two and a half months.

image

Ever since we went on our honeymoon to Thailand we’ve wanted to return to southeast asia and visit Vietnam. It’s just such a beautiful, friendly, and cheap place to travel, not to mention the food is amazing, that it was irresitible. The flights are out there are a bit expensive but it’s so cheap once you get there that it’s worthwhile staying a while ;). For example you can eat out for every meal for a dollar or two a day, stay in a hotel on the beach for as cheap as $10, or ride a bus cross country for $20. Some people travel here on as little as $250 a month. I am expecting to spend about $1000 a month for the two of us but that might be a little higher because we like to do expensive things every now and then like scuba or take a flight rather than a long rough bus ride. We always get private rooms and get AC, private bath, and hot water anytime they’re avliable. A few nights in Grenada, Nicaragua without AC will convince you it’s worth a few extra bucks every night!

We are going to fly into Ho Chi Minh City and as far as any advance planning, all we have boooked is our hotel for the first night. This allows us the ultimate freedom to choose where we want to go and how long we want to stay there. Like a place, stay longer. Dislike a place, leave the next day. Feeling tired of traveling, take few days and chill on the beach. It also nice to be able to actually look at your hotel before you book it. Sometimes the pictures are very deseaving….. Part of this is traveling light, we are each traveling with a fairly small backpack with everything we need for three months in it.

image

We are both excited and nervous, but that is part of what I love about traveling. It’s the fear and excitment of a new country, new food, new people. There really just isn’t anything like it. You also meet very interesting people traveling out of the country, both locals and travelers. We’re littlerly flying aroung the world (11 hours time difference from the east coast, 21 hours of traveling time). I hope ya’ll will continue to follow along. Apparently mobile data (and wifi) is both widely avliable and cheap so we plan to post twice a week or so, a post per place. We leave Friday!

Boondocking by the beach with burros, at Los Zacatitos

Where can you be invited to a wedding, chili cookoff and a full moon party and homage to burning man celebration on the beach in one week? Well none other than a little black speck on the map called Los Zacatitos. It is about 8 miles down the east cape from San Jose del Cabo. We would of never even considered traveling here if it wasn’t for making friends along the way down Baja. While attending happy hour at Cielito Lindo in San Quintin a few weeks back, we met Barbara. Barbara lives half of the year in Los Zacatitos and the other in Oregon. Most of the community only lives here seasonally, escaping the sweltering heat of the summer that begins in April/May. We met up with Barb at the only restaurant in town, Zac’s (great food, but wifi not so great). She gave us a tour of town and helped us find a spot by the beach to camp. Like many other rural towns/communities in Baja, there are no paved roads, no street lights or signs for that matter.

Just like Cabo Pulmo, we found a free site right on the beach. We didn’t have any cell or internet service, but we did entertain daily burro visits. A mama and baby came to our camp everyday. The baby was cute, furry and loved to be pet. Swimming can be dangerous in some places because of the jagged rocks and the strong tide. However at low tide you can swim in a natural pool formed by the rocks. We made this a daily experience for us.

The full moon party on the beach started with the locals coming together during the day to build the burning man with wood salvaged from various sources. Everyone brought food, we all hung out on the beach, ate and took pictures with the burning man. Everyone was allowed to write down a wish and place it in a mermaid pinata to be burned along with the man. At moonrise, simultaneous with the sunset, the burning commenced. Afterwards we went to another party down the east cape road at another beach, called Shipwreck Beach. There was a DJ, lights, and many hula hoops of all kind of shapes and sizes. It was funny to watch Tim hula hooping in the laser light show with trance music in the background.

We decided to drive to the wedding that was held in the arroyo on the way to what the locals call the “community beach”. On the way there, our truck got stuck in the soft sand in the middle of the freakin road. We love El Oso, but damn it if we don’t need a four wheel drive. Anyways, usually I would freak out and get all pissed off. However I knew that it would only be a couple minutes before someone would come along and save us. “No worries amigo”, he said as he drove the large bronco around our truck dug about a foot into the sand. Like one of the professional Nascar crew, Tim had the tow strap out and hooked up. We were pulled out in like five minutes. We thought that we were going to be late with the truck shenanigans but literally as soon as we walked up and set the cooler down, the exchanges were made and we witnessed the first husband and wife kiss. There was a Mexican caterer making fresh fish and shrimp tacos, all the wedding guests brought food and there was a huge trough of cold beer and wine for the guests. Various musicians performed, even the groom, and we once again danced through the night, barefoot in the sand.

Because we were so close to popular and chic Cabo San Lucas we drove to visit one day. It is your typical tourist trap town but we had to visit, I guess. We walked around the marina and were hawked by the waterfront restaurant vendors and tour boats. Tim read about a trail you can hike to get to Lover’s beach instead of taking the tour boat, but you have to go through hotel property. So we walked and walked and walked. Finally when we made it, the hotel guard didn’t allow us to pass saying that it was too dangerous to go to the beach. We thought it was BS at the time. However when we made it back to the marina to take a tour boat the captain confirmed Lover’s beach was closed due to dangerous waves. We didn’t get to see the famed beach of Baja, so I can’t say it is the best beach. If I could do it over, I would take tour boat. We did however drive to Medano Beach which was nice.

Medano beach in Cabo San Lucas
Medano beach in Cabo San Lucas

San Jose del Cabo has a “Zona Hotelera” (aka tourist trap zone, aka zone that Americans can brave walking around Mexico without the fear of getting raped or murdered or burned alive) as well. There is an art walk every Thursday evening. I definitely recommend checking out the historic downtown area followed by beer and live music at Baja Brewing Company.

We spent our last night in Los Zacatitos at Neil’s, who hosted the annual chili cook off at his million dollar home situated on a bluff overlooking the community beach. Again everyone brought some food to snack on in addition to the 8 contestants in the chili cookoff. The winners were selected by a panel of 3 judges and ended up being Mark and Lianne, 3 years in a row of winning (one year coming in second). Unfortunately our resistance to leave the party led us to having to ride our bikes in the disorienting darkness. Both of us ended up falling off our bikes on the way home. Now we know why everyone drives around here. Thus it probably goes without saying I highly suggest NOT riding a bike at dark, especially after attending the annual chili cookoff.

One of the cool things about Los Zacatitos is how the entire community hangs out together, regardless of income status. Everyone brings a little something if they can and gets along like one big happy family. Mostly everyone we met was friendly and welcoming. It was a little emotional for me to leave here. It isn’t everywhere we travel that we become one with the community so easily. Los Zacatitios will always have a special place in my heart.

I could get used to this view.
I could get used to this view.

Free, beachfront camping at Cabo Pulmo National Park

We initially only planned to stay 3 nights at Cabo Pulmo. It wasn’t until we arrived to the campground that we realized we had severely underestimated the awesomeness of Cabo Pulmo. The campground isn’t clearly marked but it is the first fenced in area on the beach you see coming into town from the north/east. Surprisingly, we both had cell service and internet in this seemingly off the grid, remote paradise. Not to mention, the cost to camp here is FREE! There are no facilities besides the Sea of Cortez, which is right outside your door or tent flap. Our only fear was having to leave early from running out of water. Thus we immediately began water preservation tactics. We filled up a large pot of water from the sea and used that to pre wash the dirty dishes (then we lightly rinsed them with fresh water). For showers, we swam in the sea. We were able to go ten days on our 70 gallon water tank and could have gone longer (we didn’t run out). We could of bought five gallon tanks at Cabellero’s restaurant in town and manually filled the tanks to stay longer if we wanted to as well.

There are a couple little hiking adventures you can start from the campground. One would be walking down the beach and up to the top of Cabo Pulmo point. Another is a gravel road hike you can access across the road from the campground. The road winds all the way up a mountain and gives you awesome views of the village as well as the east cape.

We were going to go scuba diving but the morning we were supposed to go I was still coughing from getting over a cold. Tim rode the bike up to Pepe’s dive shop and told him I was sick and couldn’t go. Pepe was understanding and even gave us a piece of ginger root to help my cold. You can scuba with Pepe for $100 for a two tank dive. Pepe is a great resource if you want to learn about the history of Cabo Pulmo, he was one among locals that pushed to make Cabo Pulmo a National Park. At Cabo Pulmo campground, you can easily find relics from the fishing village that once thrived. There is a natural reef just outside the campground you can kayak to and snorkel. There are several other reef sites in the area as well.

Los Arbilitos is only about five miles further down the east cape road. It costs 30 pesos a person to park here (15 pesos for the ninos). There is a short trail that takes you up to amazing viewpoints of the cape and then down to little coves where you can snorkel and observe many beautiful fish. You can camp at Los Arbilitos but I only recommend small rigs and four wheel drive. We had a hell of a time turning our fifth wheel around after a fellow traveler recommended we stay here. I nearly had a panic attack after two hours of trying to get ourselves out of there. Just don’t do it if your rig is over 20 feet. Anyways, a couple miles even further down the east cape road is Los Frailes. There are a ton of RV’s full timing it among the bushes in the arroyo. The beach is sandy and wide, if you have a kayak go around the point to check out the sea lions barking and basking in the sun.

Our campsite at Cabo Pulmo campground was the best site to camp in the area, in our opinion. It was next to the only palapa with unobstructed views of the sea. Inside the palapa was signed by the family that built it only 2 months prior to our arrival. We checked out their website, homealongtheway.com, and posted a comment thanking them for the building of the awesome palapa we had been enjoying. A couple days later a large motor home shows up, having a little bit of trouble squeezing through the gate. When I heard the tires overturning in the soft dirt, I ran to get Tim from the beach where he was talking on the phone. Tim and Ol’ Oso (our 1999 F250) dragged their 37 foot motor home through the gate. It was a proud moment indeed. We then realized that the family we helped was the same family that built the palapa! We immediately made friends with them. The whole family, including four kids ranging from 3-9, was really cool and welcoming. It was interesting to talk with them and get a feel of how life would be traveling with children.

It was so hard to leave Cabo Pulmo. Out of all the places we have boondocked this has got to be my favorite, followed by the site outside the Grand Tetons, then Moab. With beach access, a palapa, and internet it felt like a private beach house, but free…for now. I am happy to have had a chance to experience such a beautiful place that I will never forget.

Los Barriles – Kite Boarding Capital of the World

This is a great place to get a taste of America if you’ve been traveling the more Mexican stretches of Baja like we had been. There is a great deli that carries good bread and deli meat. Real deli meat, not that processed, chopped, reformed, cheap ham and turkey stuff they sell everywhere else in Baja. English is spoken by the majority of people and the town certainly has a more gringofied feel than anywhere else we’ve been. You could even order out for pizza!3

If you have a 4×4 or side by side this is also the place for you. Everyone rides them everywhere, through town, on the beach, through the campgrounds, hundreds of them, all day. Also if your into to windsurfing or kite boarding this has to be one of the capitals for it in all the world. The mountains are shaped into a natural funnel that provides very steady and consistent winds. At any one time there were at least fifty people out on the water. How they keep from hooking each others kites is beyond me, lol. It looks like fun but I hear it’s extremely difficult and expensive.

We stayed at Martin Verdugos a large RV park and hotel right on the beach. The best part was the beautiful pool and bar area right on the beach where you could watch the others kite board. We were able to get into there with our 35ft fifth wheel without any trouble although the drive through town is a bit tight. It cost 400 pesos or $25 a night with full hookups and they even had functional WiFi (read: can upload pictures but don’t expect to stream anything). They also have seemingly endless hot water and good pressure in their showers, a Baja first! Most of the RVers there seem like they were staying for a while if not the season. Besides us I only saw one or two people come or go.

There is another park on the beach with the RV spaces more spread out for the same price but out of town(and with no pool). I doubt their showers are as good either. There is also a Arroyo you can boondock in for free, there were quite a few people out there but beware of the soft sand. Also all the spots on the beach were taken up by people there for the season. Although camping a bit further back isn’t really that bad because then at least you get some protection from that steady wind.

A word of warning, if your continuing south do not follow Google’s advice and continue straight to get back to 1, make the right at the square and get back on the same way you came. First the road turns to dirt, then there are some low hanging trees, then it narrows, and finally there are some very sharp, severely banked turns. Ask me how I know! Luckily I somehow I made it through with a whole inch to spare as the trailer was sliding down the banked turn towards the edge of the road 🙁 If you think that sounds stressful, wait for our next article about Cabo Pulmo 😉

Carnival in La Paz

Part of the reason we have been traveling a fast as we have was so we could make Carnival in La Paz. There are two towns in Baja where Carnival is a big deal, La Paz and Ensenada, we couldn’t miss it. Since we were coming for Carnival we wanted to stay in town, preferably with in biking distance(no driving!). AquaMarina RV park sounded like the place to stay. However when I called she said they were full but that someone was supposed to leave but hadn’t yet. After two hours driving and I called again and she said to come on, she’d make room. Be careful on the way in because some of the roads Google directed me down were very narrow with cars parked on both sides. Somehow I made it through with a few inches to spare. Instead stay on the main road until the last minute. The park itself was fairly tight and we were the largest rig in there. It took a bit to get this bad boy parked but it was worth it once we were. The park was packed for the whole week.

The park is on the bay and you can go sun yourself on the adjoining property. The best feature is that it is only a 5 minute bike ride from the Malecon (the riverfront) and downtown, where Carnival takes place. The park was also extremely well maintained and had real American style full hookups. A nice bonus was how cool everyone staying there was, including the owner. We hung out and had dinner a few times. Speaking of the owner, she is an older lady with a interesting life story. She and her husband were one of the first people to do live-aboard diving excursions. Eventually they had a 100+ ft boat that she captained. She was the first woman in Mexico with that type of captains license! The diving was slow in the winter so then they built the RV park. We both highly recommend this park but I wouldn’t try it with anything larger than ours (35ft fifth wheel). In fact to get out I had to pull forward to the bathrooms and then backup so I could make the turn out the gate and down the steep hill.

Carnival was definitely worth the trouble. It was a true Mexican celebration, not something put on for tourists. The first part of the Malecon was like an actual carnival in the States, rides and ring toss games and what not. Then there were a bunch of stages(7) playing all night and a ton of food vendors. La Paz has a more mainland feel and we were able to get our first Tacos al Pastor finally. They weren’t as good as in the Yucatan but still fantastic. We also had a stuffed baked potato that had butter, onions, cream, carne asada, corn, peppers, and I’m sure it I’ve left something out. It was 100 pesos($5) and enough to feed us both. Delicious but not healthy 😉 Beers were 20 pesos($1) and 32oz mixed drinks 80 pesos($4). I love Mexico.

There is also a parade the last three nights and it was well worth watching. The floats are all super decked out, everyone is in amazing costumes, and the music is blaring with everyone dancing. The parade is the same all three nights but alternates where it starts.

La Paz is a real Mexican city and a great place to stock up on supplies being their largest city south of Ensenada. The diving and snorkeling is also supposed to be great but we didn’t go as we were still being chased by the incessant 20 mph north winds. Maybe on the way back…. I highly recommend checking out La Paz for Carnival if you have the chance and staying at AquaMarina and checking out the town even if you can’t.

Behaving like adults at the Bay of Concepcion

We decided to stay at Playa Santispac at Bahia Concepcion. It is one of the more popular of the 12 beaches that line the Bay, but it is large enough to fit everyone. We parked our rig right on the beach. Costs 100 pesos a night or about $5. No cell service here. Once again, the north winds followed us here making it too cold to swim or do any water sports despite the hauntingly beautiful and clear, blue water.

One day we drove with our new friends Hannah and Ty to check out a couple of the other beaches. We drove to playa El Requeson. It is a small beach and there is a cool sand spit that you can walk onto a little island. With the strong north winds, this beach is even more exposed than at Playa Santispac though. We also checked out Playa Coyote. There are a lot of snowbirds that come here and set up shop for several months. They take up quite a bit of space, but there is some room. This beach seemed to be a little more protected from the north winds and would be a good choice if you had to camp when the north winds were strong.

One morning we decided to go kayaking before the winds got too strong, While kayaking, we found the hot spring/hot tub that’s fed by the ocean. Unfortunately, the tide was too low and it was way too hot to get in. After kayaking we created a wind barricade with the kayak and RV and laid out in the sun a while.

There are a few snowbirds here and two restaurants. Ava’s restaurant and Armando’s. Armandos has a happy hour from 4-5 where you can get 2 for 1 margaritas for $1.50…niccceeee and strong too. We didn’t eat at the restaurants. Ava’s has wifi and showers you can pay to use, however we didn’t utilize these either. One convenient feature about staying at the beaches along the bay are the people that come around selling various groceries out of their trucks. We bought fresh fish, scallops, fruit, veggies, bread and cakes.

Despite the gorgeous scenery we decided to only stay three nights. The wind was very strong and, well, annoying. We are going to Ciudad Constitucion next as a halfway stopping point to La Paz for CAR-NA-VALLLLL!!!

San Ignacio, an oasis in the desert

After driving a couple of hours in the desert, San Ignacio was a pleasing sight. It is literally an oasis in the desert, surrounded by thousands of date palm trees. Date palms as is the dates that you can eat. They were all over the ground. The little black ducks that lived in the river at Los Petates RV campground enjoyed them as well. The campground has no hook ups and costs 120-150 pesos a night, or $6-8 dollars, depending on the size of your RV.  Speaking of RV size, in the Church’s book it says “big rigs ok” but realistically there are only a couple of spaces that would be ok for big rigs…and requires good maneuvering skills to get in and out.  We were able to get cell service here. They have hot showers but they aren’t reliable.

One thing you have to do if you come here is go to the mission. It is a gorgeous old Catholic church build in the 1700’s. I believe it was the first mission built by the Spaniards in Baja California. It is free and open to the public. The sound still resonates in the large arches of the church. I could hear the priests of the past giving animated sermons in their efforts to convert the Indians.

In Moon’s Baja book, we read about a hike that takes you to a great observation point of the town. The trailhead can be tricky to find. It starts behind Casa Leree, just off the main plaza. You walk up a dirt road and veer to the right. After pacing around for about 5 min trying to find the trailhead a lady in an orange robe pointed us in the right direction. If you follow the trail lined by painted white rocks it will take you to other nice overlooks of the palm filled valley of San Ignacio.

As far as food goes, there isn’t much of a market so I recommend bringing enough food to cook. You can get cheap eats at a couple of food stands along the main plaza. We ate at the Rice and Beans RV park one night to use their internet and do some business. The owner is friendly and speaks very good English. The RV campground here has all the amenities but it’s simply not as charming as Los Petates.

We stayed two nights in this quaint town most definitely worth visiting. Our next stop is the lovely Bahia Conception on the Sea of Cortez.