BajaNomad - how to hitchike in baja

how to hitchike in baja

shari - 4-6-2006 at 06:29 PM

I have some helpful advice for hitchiking backpackers in baja. The way we do it here is we go to the gas stations and make friends with the pump attendants and then ask them to let us know which vehicles are going where we want to go. You can also watch for cars going in your direction and then ask whoever tickles your fancy....it works so much better than sticking your thumb out as you have more control over choosing your rides and the cars don't have to stop on a dangerous highway as they are already stopped. Generally Mexican folks don't stop for hitchikers but will give you a ride from a gas station and you will make some new friends too. This is a great way to get off the bus route too and into some of the nicer more remote areas of baja.Text

Bob and Susan - 4-6-2006 at 06:46 PM

no no no....

like i want some hitch-hiker stranger come talk to me when i have the big wad of pesos out to pay the attendant....

i don't think so...maybe in canada where there's no crime but....
for us in LA....you don't look anyone in the eye...ever :lol:

David K - 4-6-2006 at 10:52 PM

Shari is in a small Baja town, not L.A.

I think she was giving advice on how to hitch in Baja... at least how she has done it.

shari...hitching is pretty much the same Up North..

Pompano - 4-7-2006 at 08:12 PM

..except for the fact that there is a lot more traffic in Baja..and grizzlies don't come out of the woods to eat you.

In Baja I always give hitchhikers a ride...of course I look them over pretty good first! The gas stations ARE a good place to hitch from. Gives rider and driver a chance to look each other over.

A good place to hitch from in Mulege is at the Y....just at the speed bump. All vehicles are almost stopped at that point and you can present your best effort. Can't even begin to count the number of hitchhikers I have given rides to over the years in Baja..and all other places too.

My personal long distance hitchhike was when I was on the Alaska Highway ...first ride 2000 miles..gotta be a record or something? Naw.. this was the old North. Things like this happened all the time then and still do. People share and repay with favors. I doubt I shall have to worry long about whether I should pick up a hitchhiker in Baja or on the AL-Can Highway....or just drive by and leave a little bit of my myself behind.

[Edited on 4-30-2006 by Pompano]

Mike Humfreville - 4-7-2006 at 08:22 PM

I agree with Pompano. My first Baja central desert experience was hitchiking. That was before the road was paved and EVERYONE would stop for another. Life is not without risk and sometimes you just have to go for the ring. As our kids say: Just dooo it!

Bob and Susan - 4-7-2006 at 08:27 PM

this ain't 1971...the world has changed

Pompano - 4-7-2006 at 08:52 PM

"this ain't 1971..the world has changed."

Nope..you gotta get out of California more.

B. and S. I say BS to that. :saint:

The best worlds have not changed, just some non-humanlike areas.

I am still today giving rides to people between Coyote and Mulege 2 or 3 times each week. I make the trip almost daily when not fishing and am glad for the company. My throat is still intact. Have made quite a few good friends over the years by giving them rides. My first full-time worker was a young 15 year old hitching his way to somewhere to escape utter poverty. He was Victor and he worked for me for 5 years before going on to Canada. (I should really make a short book of some of the remarkable characters who frequent the highway.)

On the Baja Road when coming south in January, we emptied our back seat in the 4 door Dodge pickup to give a man and woman a ride from El Rosario to Mulege. Glad to do it...they were delightful companions.

I think you are talking about LA, right?...Definetely not our world. But that is why we chose Baja and other places of the same attitude.

Last week driving around Fort Peck, Montana area I picked up two Souix headed for Bismarck, ND...400 miles we drove together without them lifting my scalp. (I do remember one older Assiniboine gent I picked up once headed to Winnipeg, Manitoba...he was quite drunk, but I didn't feel like leaving him standing out in the snow all alone. I let him in..showed him my Ruger .44 pistola tucked in my driver door...he nodded his head once with a little grimace and went to sleep. I listened to the radio..he had a good nap.)

[Edited on 4-8-2006 by Pompano]

Al G - 4-7-2006 at 09:46 PM

Pompano, I totally concur. In my younger days I hitched many mile, a lot as a Sailor. Today I have trouble giving a ride in California, because of all the drugs. Bob and I live in Sardine cans and I sure Bob as well as I long for your "other places". It won't be long now :biggrin:

Sharksbaja - 4-7-2006 at 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Al G
Pompano, I totally concur. In my younger days I hitched many mile, a lot as a Sailor. Today I have trouble giving a ride in California, because of all the drugs. Bob and I live in Sardine cans and I sure Bob as well as I long for your "other places". It won't be long now :biggrin:

I guess you don't remember the sixties Al. All it took was a joint to score a ride. :lol:

Yep, times have changed!

Pompano - 4-8-2006 at 08:00 AM

I saw this guy hitchhiking on the freeway outside LA...he was holding a sign that read "HEAVEN"....so I hit him.

Bob and Susan - 4-8-2006 at 09:16 AM

promoting hitchhiking in this world today with crack addicts, gangs, terroists, and perverts....

... is irresponsible and foolhardy....

oh boy...

Pompano - 4-8-2006 at 09:19 AM

Bob and Susan - 4-8-2006 at 09:31 AM

:lol:

heading south...

eetdrt88 - 4-8-2006 at 11:11 AM

the old-fashioned way :spingrin:

jerry - 4-8-2006 at 07:28 PM

promoting paranoia im baja is a lot more irresaponsable the permoting hitchiking ( hang on i gott hitch a ride to get beer )

dont worry ill be back

see no problem i even shared my beer

lol jerry

jerry - 4-8-2006 at 07:37 PM

besides some of the best memorys i have were caused by being irresponsible by someone
have a good one jerry

leadmoto - 4-9-2006 at 02:31 PM

If there is no element of risk, it is probably not worth doing.

Cypress - 4-9-2006 at 05:48 PM

Would not advise my kid to hitchhike or pick up hitchhikers. Just isn't a good idea. Have had a couple of bad experiences as a hitchhiker and giving people rides. Assisting someone with vehicle problems on the road is another story. :no:

bajalou - 4-9-2006 at 05:53 PM

I have picked up quite a few here in northern Baja. Kids going to school, women going to the doctor, workers heading to town, people heading to the border? Only bad (kind of) experience was a couple guys with a radiator out of a truck, took a pair of gloves I had just bought (but left a pair of old ones).

Up here it's common to see kids going to or from school since it's several miles to the secondary for some.

[Edited on 4-10-2006 by bajalou]

right on Lou...

eetdrt88 - 4-9-2006 at 06:30 PM

keepin it real!

Pompano - 4-9-2006 at 07:04 PM

I would not want to return to a Baja where you feared to pick up hitchhikers. Jeez..all you have to do is look them over first.

It's been a while since I heard about some crazed Mexican school kids or an elderly senora beating up motorists on the Baja Road. (Maybe Tijuana, but who goes there?)

If you figure those two young kids from England or Germany are going to roll you by hitting your noggin with their beach umbrella then maybe you should not have crossed the border.

Now I HAVE been peeed a couple of times because the broke-down rancher who I picked up after he'd been sweating under his pickup for a couple hours didn't smell so good and he drank more of my beer than me.

Then there was that REALLY FAT GUY just south of the Serinadad turn-off sign..always standing there with his tiny little wife...hitching into Mulege centro. Anybody remember him? Musta weighed a ton. Holy tamales, what a load he was....had to literally lever and stuff him into the cab. The wife just jumped up onto the back seat. To this day, the Jeep still leans to one side. I KNOW that he knew I was coming a half-hour before I knew.

Yeah...the Baja Road is fraught with danger...BUT HITCHHIKERS ARE NOT ONE OF THEM...if you use a little common sense.

Paula - 4-9-2006 at 08:06 PM

The worst hitchhikers EVER were in Mendocino county in the early '70's... Hippie GARLIC EATERS!!!
Nine months pregnant...90 degreees in the shade... Volkswagen bus, tiny windows...
So we stop... they look so innocent.... we're movin and they whip out the knives and whole heads... peel, chew, breath.... eat ... exhale...

DISGUSTING!!!!

I'd prefer a Baja drunk anytime

thumbing it

Cypress - 4-10-2006 at 12:27 PM

Agree with giving a ride to local folks! Jeez, what's the down side of that? I'm talking about interstate, big city-type, high traffic, shoot 'em up and eat the road kill. :?:

Beware!

shari - 4-27-2006 at 09:01 PM

Wow, I haven't been called irresponsible since I was a teenager...well, trying to get a ride to Bahia Asuncion after going to the doctor, dentist, immigration etc, is always a challenge if your car isn't working or your ride doesn't show up as it has had 2 flat tires or something...many many locals try to get rides from the gas station as it is the only way to go and necessary unless you want to sleep in the gas station...nasty...you see... not everyone has cars and rides, not like you lucky folks who pay for their gas with BIG WADS of cash! So it is NOT irresponsible but a necessary fact of life of living in a secluded area...we do choose our rides carefully though...and rarely ask a gringo so don't worry about us strangers hitting you up for a ride...we know better...plus you rarely share your beer....but those of you who do...good on ya and keep up the good work!

rts551 - 4-28-2006 at 09:07 AM

I always give a ride to someone going to Abreojos or La Bocana from HWY 1. Thats the only place the bus will stop. Last month a family was so appreciative (they had been waiting for 4 hours) they bought the beer!

David K - 4-28-2006 at 04:49 PM

I heard Howard Hughes got around that way at one time! :lol:

djh - 4-29-2006 at 07:37 AM

Great story, Don Jorge!!
Thanks for your kindness to an old man with a big heart, and for sharing the story!
djh

bill erhardt - 4-29-2006 at 10:02 AM

Shari - Consider the source on the irresponsible, irresponsible comment. Pompano and Don Jorge are right on the money on this one. The gringos who live on the Baja and don't pick up hitchhikers are the ones who live at Loreto Bay or some other gated community away from undesirable (and irresponsible) elements, and you don't want a ride with them anyway.

Bob and Susan - 4-29-2006 at 05:04 PM

you guys are living in the past....

as I said this is not 1971...

tell me how many people you knew in 1971 addicted to crack...
or did you ever hear of crack...

don't pick up hitch hikers and don't hitch hike.

bajaandy - 4-29-2006 at 05:40 PM

Reminds me of that song by the Rugburns.... "Hitchhiker Joe". What a hoot! Bob, you ought to listen to it sometime!

One time I was making the run from Punta China back to Santo Tomas to replentish the diminishing cervza supply. I was zipping down the dirt road in my buggy when I came along a young man walking down the road. I stopped and asked if he needed a ride.
"Si senor", he replied.
He hopped in the buggy, and decided to be so casual as to leave his legs hanging out the side of the car. I asked if he wanted to put on the harness and lap belt, but he just shook his head no.
We took off down the road and within just a very few minutes, he decided that maybe being so casual wasn't such a good idea. Now fully into the Mastercraft seat, he still is riding without any of the belts on, but he's got a death grip on the oh-s#!t bar. By the time we are at the highway I tell him I'm headed to Santo Tomas. He is going the same way and wants to keep riding. We get onto the road and I open it up. We're flying down the highway, and about then he decides that maybe he ought to at least put the shoulder harness on, and the lap belt across his lap. His cowboy hat has long since been tucked between his legs, lest it be blown clean off his head and left in the road for then next guy. It's only a couple of miles from the Punta China turn off down to Santo Tomas, so it's over pretty quick. I was grinning from ear to ear, and I swear I've never seen a guy get out of my buggy so fast.

Hitchhiking is different in Mexico, and that's a fact.

Bob and Susan - 4-30-2006 at 05:41 AM

Let's all sing along.... :lol:

Don't pick up hitchhiker Joe
He'll slit your throat
And cut off your big toe, I tell you
He'll make you smile

From ear to ear
Gonna lock you in a trunk
For ninety-nine years
Don't do it now

Bom, bom, bom, bom, bom
Bom, bom, bom, bom
Bom, bom, bom, bom

I had a cousin who came from Vermont
Next thing I know, that cousin was gone
Truck driver saw him picking up hitchhiker Joe
Now his spleen's on the sidewalk helping flowers grow

Don't pick up hitchhiker Joe
He'll slit your throat
And cut off your big toe, I tell you
He'll make you smile

From ear to ear
Gonna lock you in a trunk
For ninety-nine years
Don't do it now

Bom, bom, bom, bom, bom
Bom, bom, bom, bom
Bom, bom, bom, bom

My best friend Eddie called from LA.
Said we'd have dinner later that day
I've got a feeling, and it's more than a hunch
My poor friend Eddie was that hitchhiker's lunch

Don't pick up hitchhiker Joe
He'll slit your throat
And cut off your big toe, I tell you
He'll make you smile

From ear to ear
Gonna lock you in a trunk
For ninety-nine years
Don't do it now

Bom, bom, bom, bom, bom
Bom, bom, bom, bom
Bom, bom, bom, bom

Hitchhiker Joe ain't no vegetarian
If you see him on the highway
Steer clear of him
He got a knife in his sock

And a razor up his sleeve
And a chainsaw in his pack
And he's gonna make you bleed, yeah, yeah

Bom, bom, bom, bom, bom
Bom, bom, bom, bom
Bom, bom, bom, bom

My girfriend Lois called from Talahassee
She picked up that dude at the spam factory
That was the last time that I saw her smile
My best advice is don't eat spam for a while

Don't pick up hitchhiker Joe
He'll slit your throat
And cut off your big toe, I tell you
He'll make you smile

From ear to ear
Gonna lock you in a trunk
For ninety-nine years
Don't do it now

Bom, bom, bom, bom, bom
Bom, bom, bom, bom
Bom, bom, bom, bom

Don't pick up Hitchhiker Joe

Debra - 4-30-2006 at 04:22 PM

I hve to side with the 'go with the flow' folks here.....I pick up up hitch-hikers in Baja (never at home) and I'm a woman alone. Only once did I rethink myself. I stopped for a man and 2 women out in the middle of nowhere. He came to the truck first at I realized he was quite drunk, I told him "no way, you have been drinking" He motioned to the women and I said "okay, them only" he smiled and thanked me, off the ladies and I went. Don't know how long it took him to catch up with them.

Pompano

briantroy - 4-30-2006 at 07:47 PM

Pompano- You crack me up. Your posts keep me very entertained. Too bad Bob and Susan are wearing black shirts. While much of the dialogue here is a repetitive airing of personal views, you and David K. seem to make it worth checking now and again. Bernie is pretty good too. As far as hitchhiking in Mexico, it is the same old stuff, just use common sense. It works on both sides of the border.

Bob and Susan - 4-30-2006 at 07:50 PM

..we're from the "darkside"

David K - 4-30-2006 at 09:40 PM

Thanks Brian... nice to hear from you!

CWF - 5-4-2006 at 01:37 PM

It is a shame that we have to fear somebody taking what's ours.

I live half the year in the Yukon and the other half down here in Alpine CA. Last Fall, driving alone on my yearly migration south, on the Cassiar Hwy, without having seen a person or building for miles, coming around a corner, I see this guy standing at the side of the road by a bridge wanting a ride. Bad place to be thumbing a ride I thought, still not over the trauma of SoCal traffic and drivers, and thinking there might just be some remote detention center/work camp nearby... so I keep on going, with more than enough room for him and half a dozen other hitchhikers in my truck. Common sense I called it at the time but I still feel guilty.

Martyman - 5-5-2006 at 12:09 PM

One of my first trips to Baja in 1980 we were hitchin" and got a ride with a gringo in a station wagon with the back window busted out. He was kind of a jerk but gave us a ride from the BOLA turnoff to Loreto. He would drive right past the old inspection stops (before the military ones) with the uniformed guys waving to us to stop but he wouldn't.
Anyway we get to Loreto and he pulls up to his friends house (a mexican guy) and pulls up the back seat and he's got a dozen rifles still in the boxes! His friends are all smiles as they quickly take the guns inside. I'm thinking jesus! no wonder we never stopped.
I ended up getting very sick on that trip and spent a week in the hospital, I'm pretty sure it was from breathing the gas fumes through that broken out window.