La Paz is a pleasant, quiet and very ´Mexican´ seaside resort on the south-east corner of the Baja California peninsular. The area in general is popular for big-game sea fishing ( Marlin etc ), sailing, whale watching and scuba diving. Further on around the south coast are the flashier, and expensive, Los Cabos areas which are the haunt of wealthy Americans in gated resorts, luxury hotels and smart ´condos´. I was advised that it was hardly worth the bus journey down there for a reaquaintance with Yankee culture. The weather was warm to hot and there are some very pretty white sandy beaches with clear and unpolluted ( looking ) sea around the town and local area. The locals were relaxed, friendly and helpful even though not much English was spoken. Luckily the chap at the reception where I stayed did speak good English. I mean, in general, it is a nice, clean and peaceful place but not, perhaps, the sort of beach resort you would fly all the way from UK to visit.
Right: Another view. There wasn´t a lot more to take pics of´................Where are the people? I promise it was busy when I was there.
Left: A statue of a man in a paper boat. Why this photo is sideways I have not a clue. I am using equipment with which I am not familiar. I can´t seem to get it the right way up.
When I arrived I had overlooked two things. First, it was the Easter holiday week when all Mexicans take about two weeks off to go on hols or visit relatives, so a lot of things were closed ( ie the post-office ) and many travel facilities were booked up. La Paz was, as a result, comparatively busy with Mexican tourists. Second, they are a time zone ahead of the west coast of the USA ( including Tijuana ). I never did realise this fairly crucial fact until I came to get the bus to catch the ferry on leaving!
Right: The church in the central square. There were lots of people around on holiday. For some unknown reason my photos seem not to see them. Maybe I was imagining it! Spooky.
I met a most helpful American lady, Kathleen, who ran the Allende ( that´s a name to conjure with ) Bookshop in town. She was more help in 10 minutes than all the useless American travel agents I met previously put together; not that that says a great deal admittedly. She had lived in La Paz for 5 years and was, I think, married to a local guy. They had travelled extensively, by car mainly, around Mexico and to and from the States. She was most helpful regarding where I might like to visit and gave me some good pointers, and sold me a book about whales. She said she had never had a security problem in Mexico. In fact, in her opinion, many American cities have much worse crime rates, and are more dangerous ( especially within ethnic minority areas ) than most cities in Mexico. She told me that 90% of Americans entirely and exclusively believe what is broadcast by the American media. This media coverage consistently portrays everywhere abroad, with the possible exception of Canada, as being more dangerous for tourists than America, and Mexico as worse that most. Hence the blinkered opinions of the American population who, mostly, because of this propaganda, do not travel much outside the States ( and rather explains the ambivalent attitude of the agents I met ). I like to think we in Britain are a little more robust and independently minded?
Another issue! I haven´t yet got my head around how they drink this Tequila stuff. There are about as many varieties as there are Scotch whisky, and prices range similarly. In a local bar here they had dozens of brands costing from 45 pesos to 200 pesos a ´shot´. ( 11.50 pesos to the $ ). So, as with malt whiskies, there must be afficionados who wax lyrical on the taste and provenance of each. However, I was persuaded that you are supposed to gulp the contents down quickly, then lick a bit of salt secreted on your clenched left fist, then put your glass down and suck a piece of lime. Well, this process, when sober, takes about 3 seconds, during which time you receive a sharp burning sensation in throat and stomach followed by an overwhelming taste of salty lime.Yuk! It might all get a bit more confused, out of sequence and take a bit longer after a few rehearsals while you simultaneously hang onto the bar, but, for the life of me, I can´t understand how you are supposed to enjoy, or even taste, the drink itself! It would seem to be the equivalent of diluting a beautiful ( and expensive ) malt whisky with Coca-Cola and downing it in one. I must be missing something here and will need to consult my Mexican ex-colleagues for advice.
Something else that confused and startled me, initially, is that the symbol for the Mexican peso is $. It looks, to me, the same as the symbol for the dollar. I got a bit of a fright when I looked at my first ATM receipt to find that I had been charged a fee of $25 for the transaction. It was pesos. Phew! The courteous Mexican bank chappie, seeing me in a state of shock, explained that the American dollar had two vertical stripes through the S, whereas the peso had one. I´m sure I´ve seen the US dollar with one stripe, as on my ( sadly deceased, without resurrection ) ´gringo´ very expensive lap-top computer. $ $ $? Same as on this Mexican internet cafe model.
Right: I was taking a pic of this beautifully green and watered bit of a golf course, surrounded by desert and cacti just outside town, for the benefit of Bryan who likes these things. Then this roadsign popped up.....
I was warned that I might become annoyed by marauding ´Mariarchi´ bands. I´m not entirely sure if I would recognise one of these if confronted by one. In La Paz I didn´t really notice any particular group of musicians ( for that is what Mariarchi bands are, I believe ) that might have fallen into this category. There were, however, several appallingly bad guitarists and singers in various bars and restaurants. I doubt La Paz is where aspiring and talented musicians come to further their careers. There were, however, noticeable groups of men carrying trumpets and guitars dressed in sort of Spanish Flamenco outfits with big hats. Only they seemed just to hang around outside drinking ( Tequila? ). I never saw them ´perform´. Maybe these were the feared Mariarchi bands? If so, they too were on stand-down for the Easter break.
I spent a few relaxing days idling around the beaches of La Paz. I got wet up to the knees on several occasions. I resisted the sales pitch of tour operators to go and wrestle with marlin. I suspect one would just end up sun-burnt and seasick because the marlin, sail-fish, yellow-tail, blue whales or whatever one is expected to catch were probably on Easter break too.
Then off to get a ship to Topolobampo. I really wanted to sail to Mazatlan but that ship was fully booked up for two weeks due to the hols. I managed to catch it despite me operating on the wrong time zone! I hope then to get down to Mazatlan by bus.
Onwards and downwards again..............arriba arriba!
Thank you for the helpful post. I found your blog with Google and I will start following. Hope to see new blogs soon. Visit: Things To Do La Paz Mexico
ReplyDelete