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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64741
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Great introduction to Baja, Lisa!
Here are photos of some El Rosario area site (both missions incl.): http://vivabaja.com/505/
Directions to the second mission site, you were headed to:
0.0 mi. Turn Right (west) off Highway 1 at the sharp curve in El Rosario.
In about 100 yards, turn left on road for El Rosario de Abajo and Punta Baja.
Cross over El Rosario river culvert pipe and soon turn right in the river valley, some water crossings before reaching the south bank of the river and
entering the town of El Rosario de Abajo.
1.5 mi. El Rosario Museum, on left. Photos taken inside at http://vivabaja.com/505/page6.html
1.6 mi. Rosario de Abajo mission ruins, on right.
Petrified Forest and more: http://vivabaja.com/206/
Keep up the great trip report!
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DavidT
Nomad
Posts: 494
Registered: 4-9-2005
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Earlier today I bought some tangerines. Big deal, they're just tangerines.
When I was a kid I used to climb up in the tangerine tree at my grandparents house and eat them right off the tree. This morning that smell took me
right back to that tree.
This evening your photos took me back to more places I love.
Thank you.
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
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Thanks, guys!
Diane, your comments on my writing really made me feel good. Hope to meet you next time, too.
Shari, miss you, too. If we lived closer, I'd invite you over for some piña-cocos and rum this afternoon! You know, sometimes in life, you have to
make friends. Other times, you just find them, as if that person was already your friend, you just hadn't met them yet. Mark and I felt like we had
found a friend when we met you.
David K, thanks for the info. Next time we'll find it for sure!
DavidT, wow. That was really touching. Thank you.
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
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Days 5-6, July 14-15--San Borja and Bahia Asuncion
(part 1 of this section)
We were packing up to leave and I was carrying stuff out to the car. I heard Mark say from the room, “Honey, come here. You have to see this...” He
had picked up his bag and this is what he saw:
Oh. Well. Hmm. I went into the office and told Victoria, “Con permiso, hay un escorpión en el quarto.” She looked at me blankly for a second, as
if wondering if I knew what I was saying in Spanish. She decided I did, and cried, “Un escorpión! En el quarto!” and jumped up and ran off. I went
back to the room to keep an eye on the scorpion and make sure that it didn’t crawl into any of our stuff (I don’t know what I would have done, move
the stuff, I guess). A minute later, a tiny, tiny old woman came in, looked at the scorpion with her hands on her hips, and said, “Hmph!” She took
an empty water bottle out of the trash and, CRUNCH, CRUNCH! The scorpion was dead. Now I know what to do when you find a scorpion in your hotel
room—you get a tiny old woman to kill it with a water bottle! Anyway, she scooped it up with a piece of cardboard and set it on a ledge outside the
room. I don’t know why...I guess to warn other scorpions not to come here!
Said our good-byes and headed out, stopping at the Museum before leaving town. We had tried to go to there the day before, but it was “cerrado
lunes.” This was not the last time those words would vex us (see “Newmads” in La Paz thread for another).
It’s a great little museum, very informative and interesting. We talked with Carolina, the curator, a very informative and interesting person. We
talked to her about going the San Borja route out, and asked about Montevideo. She agreed with other advice that we had gotten, that we would be hard
pressed to make it to Bahia Asuncion before dark if we stopped there, as well as the mission. She said that for the best use of our time and “heat
energy,” we should see Cueva del Raton after our time in Asuncion. She drew us an excellent map and told us who to talk to when we got to the
village. “How’s the road?” we asked. She craned her neck to look out the window at our car. “You should be fine,” she answered. As we drove away,
Mark and I discussed how people keep looking at the car before they tell you how the road is. We laughed... But we still didn’t know what it
meant...
We got gas leaving town (I think this is the only self-service Pemex in all of Baja), and hit the road once again. The drive to the turn-off for San
Borja is short and easy, and the turn-off is well-marked. At first, the dirt road to the mission is pretty good, only minorly washboarded, and not
too many rocks. That changes, though. They had a pretty good rain a few weeks before we came, which meant that the flora was lush, and green, and
many things were in bloom. But it also meant that there were a lot of places in the road that maybe should have had some dirt holding the rocks
together. And there wasn’t any.
We took a lot of pictures on the drive. Wow, it sure was gorgeous (when I could take my eyes away from the road for a second or two to look!) We
stopped several times to look and take pictures.
The road is still pretty good, here...
The road is getting worse...
Seriously?!? That’s the road???
We arrived at the mission, and talked to Jenaro (I think he is José’s son). His family is of the indigenous Cochimí Indians and they have been here
for generations. He told us that he used to give tours inside the mission, but the padres do not allow him inside any more. He and his family still
do the maintenance on the church and give tours of the other buildings in the area. We gave him some money to help continue the good work.
Front of the mission:
Maria showed us around inside. She does not speak English, but she was very patient with my limited Spanish, and we managed to communicate fairly
well.
Inside, from an upstairs area...
The original mission building, being restored (or at least stabilized to prevent further erosion)
The obligatory stairwell picture
When we came out, we talked to Jenaro some more. We didn’t have time to see the rest of the area, so he wrote his email address in the dirt on the
car window and had us take a picture of it for the next time we came. I don’t think he would mind if we shared it:
If you are going to be in the area, email him and he will arrange a great tour for you! It’s a little hard to read, but it says JENARO182008 (at)
hotmail (dot) com. I know it only says “hot” on the window, but he said “hotmail” as he was writing it.
Why, you ask, didn’t we have time to see the rest of the area? Well, when we were planning the drive, we figured that San Borja is about 23 miles off
the highway, so even on a crappy dirt road, that should be about an hour, right? Oh, no, no, no. It took us almost 2 ½ hours to get there. But the
guide books say that the road out to Rosarito and Hwy. 1 is in much better condition, so that should be faster. We asked Jenaro. “No,” he answered.
“Puedeser poquito major?” I asked, hopefully. “Puedeser...” he answered skeptically. You probably already figured it out. It was not better.
It was still a pretty drive, though.
You pass through a few ranches...
Which can generate additional obstacles...
We finally got back to the main highway, and we were STARVING, as the whole adventure had taken a lot longer than we planned. There didn’t seem to be
anything in Rosarito, so we agreed to stop in the next town that looked like it had food. We were in luck!!!
We had read that Carmelita had, sadly, passed away, and also that the food had gone downhill since, but our experience was great! They were serving
tamales de pollo and burritos de machaca, and we ordered one of each (each). They were fabulous! I’m a big tamale fan, and these might well be the
best I have ever eaten. Mark was bowled over by the machaca burritos. He kept saying, “How did I not know about this stuff?” interspersed with, “Can
I have another?”
...that's going to have to do it for now on this part. More later!
(edited for spelling)
[Edited on 8-4-2009 by LisaR.]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64741
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Great stuff Lisa... we traveled the opposite direction as you did through San Borja... The north road was a lot better than the west (Rosarito)
road... less rocks in the road.
Keep it coming!
PS, Genero's email you posted above is the same his family gave me jenaro182008@hotmail as well as his brother's angeleldelrancho@hotmail
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JESSE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3370
Registered: 11-5-2002
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Not sure about Dennis' fixation with Jesse. |
Jesse and I know all about the fixation and, much to my delite, it seems to have run it's course. We'll take care of this by ourselves.
Thanks |
What?? i barely know who this caracter DENNIS is, he seems to be much more interested in me than i am about him.
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
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Days 5-6, July 14-15—San Borja and Bahia Asuncion
...continued...
So, south we go toward Guerrero Negro. As we neared the agricultural inspection, I remembered that I had forgotten to throw out half an avocado from
the ice chest, so I made Mark reach back and get it out so we would be “clean.” We pulled up to the guy, and he asked if we had any fruits or
vegetables, as expected. “Solo un medio de aguacate,” I told him, holding it out the window for him. He put his hand up like a stop sign and said,
“No, you keep that.” Sheesh! I was trying to be helpful and he didn’t want my avocado half!
He told us that the fee was 30 pesos, which didn’t sound right—I thought it was supposed to be 20. Now, I’m always happy to question authority for a
principle, but for less than a dollar? No. But then he gave me change for 20 pesos, so ??? They sprayed our tires, and off we went, still in
possession of the avocado.
We stopped in Guerrero Negro for gas, money, and the grocery store. Everything went smoothly, except...I ran a stop sign. No one was coming, but I
still felt terrible. I’m a good, law-abiding citizen! Later I learned that I was just driving like a good Southern Baja Californiana. By the time
we came north through GN a week and a half later, I was so over that silly stopping thing. You slow down, you look, and if no one is coming,
why would you come to a complete stop? In fact, if you come to a complete stop with a police car behind you, they honk at you!
We turned off at Vizcaino for Bahia Asuncion. Getting through Vizcaino is sort-of a drag. There’s a lot of construction and it’s very, very dusty.
The scenery is a little stark. As Shari told us her nephew would say, “Wow, there sure is a whole lotta nothin’ out there.”
Our first sight of the lagoon:
This sign says so much—
No kidding, it isn’t a high speed road. There are places that you think you can zip along, then suddenly there are potholes that would swallow a
semi. One spot had a pile of dirt in the middle of the road with a hazard sign on it. Was the dirt hazardous? No, the sign was, though. Another
place, the sand had blown over the road to almost completely cover it.
It was an interesting drive, though. We saw a coyote, although we didn’t get a picture. And this—any guesses?
Yup, salt. Cool, huh?
Here’s another guessing game, although this time I don’t have an answer. If anyone knows what this is, I’d love to know!
Once we turned off this highway to the turn-off to Bahia Asuncion, the road got much, much, much better for quite a ways. The road is in the process
of being paved all the way out to Asuncion, and it’s smooth and new and beautiful, until suddenly it’s gone. If you were going 90mph, and not paying
attention, there is a pile of dirt at the end of the pavement that would launch you into the air like Evil Knievel. We may have been going 90, but we
were paying just enough attention to avoid this.
You leave the pavement, and the fun and games are over. I had already learned a lot about dirt roads that day, but here was a new kind—heavily,
heavily washboarded alternating with deep sand. Whew! Steep learning curve. But I learned. I’ve heard about the 4-40 rule for washboards (4mph, or
40mph), but 4 didn’t work. I was afraid that it would shake the rearview mirror right off. So it was 40—holding our breath as we slid through the
sand around corners and not able to see over the hills... “Beer me!” I kept telling Mark. We were good about not drinking until we were at our
final destination for the night, but this became our catch-phrase for “My, this is some stressful driving!”
So finally we got to Shari and Juan’s at about 7:00 that evening. Shari put cold Tecates in our hands almost as soon as we got there. We liked her
immediately. We chatted with Shari and Kevin (another Nomad who lives nearby) for a bit, then went find somewhere to eat before everything closed.
We had a great dinner at Tres Hermanas (maybe it was “Hermanos,” but there were three women there, and they looked like sisters...). The
cute thing was, I told them that Mark didn’t speak Spanish (and mine isn’t great), but when I whispered to him how to say something or ask for
something, they were so, so pleased for him, and clapped, and everything.
We stayed at the Sunset Casita, and we found it to be very cute and comfortable. It has everything you need to feel at home, complete with a welcome
note from Shari explaining how everything works. Here is our little casita:
Shari had told us that every rental comes with a dog, and ours was Tuto. Tuto’s actual mailing address is next door, but he knows full well that he
belongs with the Sunset Casita. We kept expecting Tuto, and Mark even called for him, but he didn’t show. Around midnight, we were out on the porch
listening to the waves, and suddenly, there was Tuto, standing right in front of us, as if to say, “Sorry, sorry I’m late! I was sleeping and didn’t
know you were here! You could pet and/or feed me now, though.” And so we had a dog. Here is Tuto on the porch with Mark:
The next morning, Shari made waffles for us, and then gave us a tour around town.
Mark and Shari in front of Shari and Juan’s house. What a great view they have!
The blowhole
Pictures from the Asuncion cemetery
What a face! How would you like to have her standing over you for eternity?
The dead have a great view from here...
Kids and their new toys
Later we took a drive to San Roque. Here are some pictures from there.
The “haunted” church of San Roque
Inside the church, there is a strange hanging cross.
Caracol shells
I promised Shari I would tell this story: After San Roque, we were going to try to be back at our casita before 4:00, so she could pick us up and
take us to bajaboy’s for a gathering. It was 3ish, so we figured we would have time to stop somewhere for a taco, first. We went to Ramona’s, and
ordered dos tacos de res for Mark y uno por me. “Arroz?” asked Ramona. I don’t think she had any made. “No, gracias. Solo tacos, por favor.” I
was pretty sure we were understanding each other.
We heard some clanging around in the kitchen, then she came out to tell us that she only had a little beef, but would we like some abalone? Well,
sure! So, we heard more clanging, then BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! Wow, she’s really pounding that abalone, we thought.
More clanging, she must be done. Nope. BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! Almost an hour
after we walked in, out comes a great big plate of beef for Mark and abalone for me, complete with salad, rice, beans, tortillas, everything. I had
never had abalone before and, ohhh...it was goooooood! (I did share it with Mark, reluctantly)
Ramona came out of the kitchen to our table, and points at the rice. “Arroz,” she said, smiling and nodding. “Si, arroz. Gracias,” I answered.
“Arroz,” she said again, pointing, smiling, and nodding. “Um, si, arroz,” I replied, taking a bite. “Es muy bueno, gracias.” She gave a satisfied
nod, and returned to the kitchen.
Needless to say, we did not make it back in time to go to bajaboy’s, but we did get abalone. Later, Shari, Juan, and Kevin came over for drinks and I
told them the story. Turns out, we were very, very lucky to get abalone—almost no one does. Even though abalone fishing is a major industry in Bahia
Asuncion, the season is short, and almost every last bit gets shipped overseas, where it commands the big bucks. “I hope she pounded it well, so it
was tender,” said Kevin. Oh, yes, she did.
I told Shari the thing about the rice. “I think that’s my fault,” she said. “Every time I go there, I ask for rice. ‘Gringos like rice,’ I keep
telling her.”
All too soon, the evening was over, and in the morning we would be heading out. We definitely will try to make it back out to Bahia Asuncion soon,
and hopefully for longer. Shari is a great person. She is warm, funny, and authentic, and was a wonderful hostess. We enjoyed hanging out with
Kevin, as well. He and Mark really hit it off when they discovered that they had played in bands in many of the same clubs in Anchorage, Alaska! We
did not get to talk with Juan as much, but he also seems like a really, really nice person, and we enjoyed the time we did spend with him. All in
all, great people, and a great time!
Coming soon, Cueva del Raton and Mulegé...
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13043
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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awww shucks Lisa...thanks for all your sweet comments. We really look forward to you guys spending more time here and playing music together...as does
Tuto! You really have a knack for story telling missy...LOVE the abalone story...such a classic at ramona's.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64741
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Lisa... this continues as a first rate trip report, thank you!
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bajaandy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 769
Registered: 2-7-2004
Location: North County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Adventurous
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Ok... now I'm hooked! Such an awesome essay, complete with photos and stories/memories to last a lifetime. You have a nice writing style, comfortable
and easy reading while at the same time making a person feel as if they're right there with you. I'm a firm believer in putting in as many words as it
takes to make the story good. (Ask anyone here... I have a tendency to write very long trip reports!) Keep up the good work! Can't wait for the next
installment!
subvert the dominant paradigm
"If you travel with a man, you must either fall out with him or make him your good friend."
JBL Noel
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lingililingili
Nomad
Posts: 449
Registered: 2-24-2008
Location: La Paz, Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
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LisaR. I usually do the cursory "skim over" of trip reports but find myself reading yours word for word! I am looking forward to the next part!
•Life is just one damned thing after another
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BajaGringo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3922
Registered: 8-24-2006
Location: La Chorera
Member Is Offline
Mood: Let's have a BBQ!
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Great report Lisa - looking forward to the rest of the story and photos...
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oldjack
Nomad
Posts: 350
Registered: 1-26-2006
Location: Los Barriles
Member Is Offline
Mood: retired
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what camera did you use for those great pics???
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
Member Is Offline
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Thanks, everyone, for all your wonderful comments! Keep them coming!
I keep feeling like I'm writing too much blah, blah, blah, but we had such a great trip, that I don't want to leave anything out. If you guys are
enjoying reading it, I will keep doing it!
oldjack, thanks for the compliment on the pictures. I use a Canon PowerShot A610. Some of the ones in the water or on a boat were taken with a
Vivitar ViviCam 8400. The Vivitar has its issues, but it is completely waterproof and it was cheap (about 100 bucks on Amazon). I love my Canon, but
I saw your post, "poor camera choice," and I don't think it is what you are looking for. It is perfect for me, but I basically use it as a
point-and-shoot on "auto." It is relatively small and simple, and I can just toss it in my bag to take anywhere. It actually takes half-way decent
video, as well. I would absolutely recommend it to someone looking for a basic camera, but you can't change the lenses or anything...
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vandenberg
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5118
Registered: 6-21-2005
Location: Nopolo
Member Is Offline
Mood: mellow
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Lisa,
One of the best and entertaining Baja travel reports in a long while. Love them !!
Keep them coming.
Ever entertained the idea of writing for a travel magazine ?
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
Member Is Offline
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vandenberg, thanks! That's a great compliment! If you know anyone who would like to pay me to travel, I'd be all on it!
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
Member Is Offline
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Day 7, July 16—Cueva del Raton and Mulegé
We packed up the car and reluctantly said goodbye to Tuto and our little Sunset Casita. Shari made machaca and eggs for breakfast for us, and we had
a little slideshow of the pictures we had taken so far.
We got on the road again, and this time, now that I was an “expert” at driving on washboards and sand, we made much, much better time out to the main
highway. I had to keep repeating to myself, “It’s worse if you slow down, it’s worse if you slow down.”
We stopped for gas in Vizcaino, and a kid (maybe 10 or 11 years old) washed our windows. I tipped him, and then since the gas pumping wasn’t done, he
folded his arms on the rolled down window. “So,” he asked, “where are you from? Is that your husband? Do you like driving? Do you like the ocean?
Do you like swimming? Where are you going?” (This was all in Spanish. My Spanish was good enough to have the conversation, but it is not good
enough to type it up. I can communicate, but I do a lot of muddling through.) What a personality this kid had! We gave him a bouncy ball and a
whistle from our “box-o-toys,” and his friend came up and we gave him one, too. We stopped at the baños and the store at the Pemex before leaving,
and when we came out the boys were running all over the parking lot, bouncing their balls and blowing the whistles: Tweeeet! Tweeeet!
Tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! Oh no, their parents are going to hate us for this! “Lo siento!” we yelled out the window as we sped
away.
The turn-off for Cueva del Raton and San Francisco de la Sierra is well-marked, and the road is newly paved for several miles. This unrealistically
raised our hopes. The road changes to a relatively good dirt road. Our hopes were still up. And then you start heading up (and up, and up, and up)
the mountain. After the first seriously steep, rocky, narrow switchback, I stopped and said, “We can’t do this. We won’t make it.” We sat for a
minute, then decided to go for it. We would go as far as we could, and if we really couldn’t make it, we would turn around and go back. Later
in the trip we met Phil C., a long-time Nomad, and he told us that most people hit that first switchback, and turn around. But we went for it!
***Let me stop and say right now, the guide books and expert advice are right: A 4-wd is not strictly necessary, but DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS IN A REGULAR
CAR. We were driving a Hyundai Tucson, which is fairly wimpy as far as SUVs go, but it is at least high-clearance. Obviously, since we are here to
tell the tale, it was good enough. A 4-wd would have been better.
I won’t lie; it was a hairy, scary drive. I held out my hand and told Mark, “Beer me!” so many times, it stopped being funny. I kept saying it,
anyway.
We were soon glad that we had decided to keep going, because as you get higher and higher in the mountains, the views are really, really incredible.
You feel like you are at the top of the world, looking down into canyons that are thousands of feet deep. Here are some pictures:
Yes, that is, in fact, our road you can see across the canyon. Did I mention that it is an extremely twisty, curvy drive?
As you head up, up, up, you start to pass goat ranches. “Hola, chivos!” I yelled out the window every time we passed goats. It, too, quickly got
old. I didn’t let that stop me.
Mark, fortunately, has a sense of humor, and on the way down, he yelled, “Hello, Cheetos!” out the window at all the same goats we had passed on the
way up.
We passed the gate for the cave painting site, and continued on to the village of San Francisco de la Sierra. We parked and asked about a guide. We
followed a man (Francisco Arce, he was to be our guide), to a house where Enrique Arce (the local INAH official) unlocked a huge desk and pulled out a
giant book for us to write our information and sign our names in. He then filled out a stack of papers, charged us (I want to say it was about 300
pesos for the both of us, but I forget. It included the cost for the guide and charge for bringing a camera), and gave us a receipt. He then sent a
kid to run off and get the key for the gate to the cave painting site. I wish we had taken pictures in the village, but we didn’t.
When the kid came back with the key, we walked back to the car with Francisco and did some frantic re-shuffling of our stuff so we would have a seat
for him. I was afraid, for a minute, that he would have to carry some of our luggage on his lap, but we got everything crammed back in.
When we got back down to the Cueva del Raton site, the boy who had run to get the key was there. I don’t know how he got there so fast! We got out
of the car, and I offered Francisco a cold water, but no, he was taken care of, he told us, patting his canteen. “Hay cerveza fria, tambien,” I told
him. “Oh, cerveza! Si, gracias!” Then Francisco unlocked the gate, and strode up the hill, drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette, while Mark and
I struggled behind, wheezing and gasping for breath. There is nothing like a little altitude to show you just how out of shape you are!
Here are a few pictures of the paintings:
A lizard with his lunch—(you can’t really see it, but he has a dragonfly in his mouth)
When we left, I felt bad because there wasn’t room for the kid in the car to drive him back up to the village. “It’s fine, he can walk,” Francisco
told us. But the kid looked sad. We dropped Francisco off, and gave him a tip and another beer. He seemed very happy, particularly about the beer!
On the way back down, we saw the kid again and stopped to let him pick a couple of toys out of the box. He didn’t look sad anymore!
On the road back down, we got even more amazing views than the way up—I think both because of the angle, and because we weren’t as freaked out about
the road. We already knew it probably wouldn’t kill us. Here are some views from the way down:
For perspective, those are cardons, up to 60 feet tall, you see on the canyon floor thousands of feet below. It was absolutely dizzying looking down.
Mark took over the driving and we headed to Mulegé from there, with a very, very brief stop in Santa Rosalia. We had planned to stop for longer, but
it was getting late, we were tired, hungry, hot, grouchy, and very much ready for an actual beer (not just a metaphorical one). This was the start of
our only bad night for the entire trip.
We turned off the highway into Santa Rosalia, and couldn’t get our bearings. I was mad at Mark because he was going to fast for me to figure out what
was going on from the maps and guidebooks, and he was mad at me because I had been such an awful backseat driver ever since we hit the mountains south
of San Ignacio. I mean, I’m kind of a control freak, anyway (a teacher and a control freak? Imagine that!), but since the drive up the mountains had
taken so much concentration, I just couldn’t let go. I knew I was driving him nuts, but I couldn’t stop.
Anyway, we eventually found our way to the famous Gustav Eiffel iron church, Iglesia Santa Barbara, pulled into a parking spot right in front of it,
and took a minute to argue. Then we drove away. We didn’t even get out to take a picture.
We pulled into Mulegé and had no trouble finding Hotel Vieja Hacienda, where we had planned to stay, although we did have to drive around the block a
few times to find parking. They had a room available, it had air-conditioning, there was a pool, it had off-street parking, and it was 395 pesos
(less than $30 at the current exchange rate). Sounds good, right? Except that it was swelteringly, swelteringly hot in town, the pool had about a
thousand kids in it, the air-conditioner sounded like a diesel truck badly in need of a tune-up, and the room wasn’t well insulated (the dried-up duct
tape over the hole in the door flapped in the breeze of the AC) so it never really cooled down. Plus, we were way to far down that grouchy road for
even beer to help us.
Let me say this about the Hacienda, though. Even though our experience that night wasn’t good, it wouldn’t be fair to blame the hotel. It is not
luxury, but it really is charming. The pool looks nice, the rooms were clean, the courtyard is pretty, it is right across from the town square, and
the man who has run it for the past 40 years (I think his name was Fernando?) is very, very sweet. I would definitely try staying there again in a
different season—or maybe even just in a different mood.
The Hotel Vieja Hacienda is a lovely, historic hotel in a lovely, historic town, and unfortunately, this is the only picture we took there:
We ate dinner at Las Casitas. It is a beautiful restaurant with wonderful food. We ate on the picturesque garden patio with sweat rolling down our
faces, wishing we were dead. Then we returned to the hotel room to listen to the air conditioner and watch three channels of a constant loop of
condom commercials on TV.
Mark drank almost an entire bottle of tequila, to make sure that he would be able to sleep. That worked out great...for him. Not so great for me, as
his snoring nearly drowned out the air conditioner. I almost fell asleep anyway, after taking several Benadryl, until a honking car full of hollering
people parked under our window. By morning, I had formulated a new plan.
....stay tuned....
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Stickers
Senior Nomad
Posts: 571
Registered: 4-12-2006
Location: SoCal
Member Is Offline
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You are too too much girl! Keep it coming it is delightful!
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Bajaboy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4375
Registered: 10-9-2003
Location: Bahia Asuncion, BCS, Mexico
Member Is Offline
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yep sounds like a Baja trip to me...the good, the bad, and the ugly....I can relate many times over...thanks for sharing and it was a pleasure to meet
you, if for just a moment...
Zac
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64741
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Thanks a lot for the full story trip report Lisa! I think you deserve a better place to stay next time in Mulege!
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