Day 8 - Hotel Isabela, San Carlos

We arranged for breakfast at 08:00 so we could be on the road with a plenty of time to get us to the Port in Pichilingue to ensure we have the correct paperwork and book on the ferry that will take us from Baja to Mazatlan in mainland Mexico. The sat nav suggested that it would be around 3 or 3.5 hours to get there. It was a bit longer than that in real time, but we pushed through the miles and with very painful backsides, we arrived in La Paz to stop for fuel and get clear directions to the Port. We had been passed by a couple of lads on BMW bikes about an hour outside of La Paz and whilst they were travelling much faster than us, we caught up to them as they were riding along at the speed limit behind a couple of coppers. We stuck with them for the remainder of the ride into La Paz. However, as we were looking for a turn off to Pichilingue and a fuel station, there was some pretty involved highway works that caused us to take a detour and we separated from the other bikers, which we kind felt we had connected with as we had just ridden together for about an hour.  Jorik and I did a bit of a dodgy move in that we rode through the highway works in the wrong direction and took a more direct route to get back on track. As such, we had passed the road works, stopped to refuel and were taking a break when the 2 riders pulled up at a traffic light right in front of the fuel station. I was just coming out of the el baneo when I saw them and noticed that whilst Jorik was waving to them, they didn’t seem to acknowledge him. It wasn’t like they couldn’t see the bikes and Jorik, but maybe they just weren’t that friendly. Anyway, we pressed on to the Port. There were road works and renovations happening all along the frontage of the Port, so we pulled in where we expected we could find some parking and make our way to an office to chat to someone about getting booked on. Whilst we had all the necessary paperwork for the bikes, which we sorted out when we crossed into Mexico from the States at San Ysidro, Jorik did not have a temporary visa for Mexico. I did have the paperwork, and we just assumed that as he is travelling on an American passport, he might not need a temporary visa. We needn’t have worried as the chap we spoke to at immigration said that we really just needed the paperwork for the bikes, which we had and that we should be fine. So having got the confirmation regarding the paperwork, we headed off for the ticket office. A very helpful young lady sorted everything out for us as the people behind the counter didn’t speak any English and we are still getting by on the extremely little and broken Spanish that we have. Unfortunately, there were no cabins available and from what we have read online, we might be in for a night in a communal area with the Spanish TV turned up to full volume. Great, I can’t wait. We were informed that we need to be at the port at 3pm for a 7pm departure, bonkers, and that we need to ensure that we have at least 2 straps per bike to tie them down once in the ferry hold. That shouldn’t be a problem and we felt confident that we have everything sorted to make the crossing to mainland Mexico.

Having sorted out our ferry situation, we still needed to travel further south to Cabo San Lucas and our hotel booking for the evening. Considering that we had already travelled a fair distance for the day, and the delay caused by the highway works and sorting out the ferry tickets, meant that it was well into the afternoon already and we still had a relatively big ride in front of us. As such, we were aiming for a town called Todos Santos, which is supposed to be a great town for surfing and arty. The town was pretty much on the main highway, so it wasn’t much of a detour from our route and why not check it out. We pulled off the main highway and started into the town at around 4pm. It was hot, we were both knackered, but we knew it was only about an hour to Cabo San Lucas from Todos Santos so a quick beer and bit of a relax was definitely in order. We stopped in the main drag of the town, which was fantastic. Beautiful buildings, bright colours, and bunting were all evident, but we thought that there must be a little beach bar that we could stop at rather than along the main drag in town. So, we plugged in a location to the sat nav that appeared to show a road to the beachfront, and a little spot called Margarita Casitas, which at face value sounded like the perfect spot. After about 30 minutes of riding around in circles and getting more and more frustrated, I lost my shit and we decided that it would just be better to go into town and stop there. However, we thought we would take 1 last dirt track to see if we could find something. We passed an American couple who appeared to be walking back from the beach along the dirt track. They informed us that whilst the beach was pristine, there was nothing along the beachfront. No bars, restaurants, or even accommodation opportunities. That was it for me, we were definitely turning around and heading back to the town for a drink. We ended up parking right where we stopped the first time to take stock, but it was fine, and we ended up chatting to a few people as the bikes were attracting attention whilst pulled up on the sidewalk.

Having adequately hydrated, we had the final hour to go until we would be at our hotel and with a day off the following day, we were really looking forward to a few beers and finally smashing a few shots of tequila. I have always held a little fascination about Cabo San Lucas as it is one of those places that you often see on American TV shows or in movies where people go for luxurious holidays. I was expecting big things, but on the approached to the town, I was a little disappointed to see it was maybe not the stunning resort destination that I was expecting. It was very pretty, but we came into town along some really crappy roads through areas that were pretty run down and neglected. We found our hotel in relatively good time, but quickly realised that there was no parking for the bikes and that we would have to pay for the bikes to parked in a nearby open-air car park. Not ideal, but as we would have to pay, we had to assume that there would be an attendant 24/7, so the bikes should be as safe as we could hope for.

We got checked in to the Mayan Monkey, which was pretty cool. More of a hostel than a hotel, but that suited us. After a quick swim and a few libations, we headed down to the beachfront to check out the town. It is a pretty mad place, a bit like I imagine Cancun would be with hustlers on the streets trying to sell you pretty much anything they can. Fair play, but I wasn’t really expecting it. We walked down to the beach along what appeared to be the main drag with resorts and bars right up against the sand. Some of it was really cheesy, with Americans competing in drinking games, which created a spring break type vibe. Again, not exactly what I was expecting, but I suppose that is the kind of thing that the youngsters want to do. I know, I have been there in Hermanus and Plett when we were coming up. On the way back to the hostel, we grabbed a couple of cold Pacifico’s and a bottle of Cazadores tequila, just to keep us ticking over. We like to take a shot once we complete the days riding, and the hip flasks were empty by this stage so needed topping up.

Back at the hostel, we got cleaned up for a night on the tiles in Cabo and headed out into the bright lights. We stopped at a few spots for beers and tequilas and ended up having dinner at a roadside place called Tony’s Tacos. Bloody marvellous tacos, the best to date. Sitting right on the street, we had the chance to really feel the vibrance of the town and being off the main drag where all the tourist hotels and bars are located, gave it a much more authentic feeling. Pretty cool spot in the end and Tony is currently leading the Taco championships! Following our culinary experience at Tony’s Tacos, and still knackered from the long day, we didn’t stay up too late and were asleep by about 11pm after a few beers and some pool back at the Mayan Monkey.