Mazatlan

(Written April 8, Bahia de los Angeles)

After the "Lost Week" in Patzcuaro, we headed for Mazatlan for the ferry back to Baja California.

On the way, we stopped for a night in Tequila, famous for, well, you know.... It is in fact a nice little town. It seems that groups come through during the day for distillery tours, but in the evening, things quiet down. Considerably. We did manage to find a place for supper and got chatting with two fellows travelling around the world by motorcycle, three months at a time.

(Entering Tequila)

(The Cuervo raven.)

(Tequila street scene)

(Tequila park bench)

(Tequila central square)

We were mostly taking toll roads at this point (which are expensive!) but between Tepic and Matzatlan, that road is under construction. We alternated between being the only traffic on blissfully smoothly paved divided highway with being in the line with trucks and buses on a ratty old narrow road.

We took a little detour and explored the coast south of Mazatlan, which is undeveloped except for a couple of beachside restaurants. The coast north of Mazatlan is hyper-developed.

We stayed in old Mazatlan, which charmed both of us. Hotel Belmar has seen better days, but the rooms were large, the views spectacular, the prices reasonable, and we could park our motorcycles in the lobby. Old Mazatlan is undergoing a revival now, it seems. But it is filled with old buildings from past days of glory, classic neo-tropical architecture, I was told. Some of these are being renovated, some are still showing signs of wear. It was fun to wander down side streets and see what treasures we could find. One day, we took a ride up to the Zona Dorado (the Golden Zone) filled with fancy hotels, nightclubs, restaurants, and anything the northern sunseeker could want. Not for us! Character, a little rough around the edges, is more to our liking.

(Old Mazatlan)

(Old Mazatlan)

(Lots of renovation opportunities in old Mazatlan)

(A corner awaiting some TLC)

(Another corner after renovation)

(Tom with a statue of Pedro Infante)

(The sunset view from our room)

(I was proud of myself for making it up and
DOWN these stairs.
The next guy dove off the top!)

We were planning on taking the ferry on Friday, but when we went to inquire, it seems that service would resume on Monday. But there is another company that runs ferries to La Paz, Baja California Sur, every day. But it is a cargo ferry, with minimal facilities for passengers. So much for our plans of a cabin for the 16 hour, overnight crossing. Instead, we were with the truck drivers and one other travelling couple. But they had a camper van, so we were the only ones stretched out on deck on our Thermarests. Not the best night's sleep, but sunrise was beautiful.

(Loading onto the ferry elevator)

(Securing the bike for the crossing)