Mazatlan
(DAY008 : La Paz - Mazatlan : 18 ferry hours)
La senora at the Baja Ferries ticket office had told me to show up at around 8 AM so I could be at the front of the line when they open at 9. As I did not want to risk my chances of getting a ticket and a cabin, I grabbed my cup of coffee (Katirga has a cup/bottle holder, Ha!) and went there at around 7:40. Still, I was the fourth in line. When senoras & senoritas showed up for work half an hour early, at 8:30, I was pleasantly, but really really surprised. Long story less long, we do get on the boat but without a cabin. And I'm advised to show up at noon so I clear the customs and all on time for our 3 pm departure.
It was about 11 o'clock when I learned that it in fact is 12 in La Paz! So I headed straight to the port skipping all plans to enjoy a(nother) cup of coffee and update the site. But the hurry was for nothing (of course). There was no line at the customs, and this time I picked a green light which meant that a search was not necessary. Yesterday I got the red, and the search took only a couple of minutes anyway. (Oh, yes. The ticket office is past the customs check point. Go figure.) The light I'm talking about is a randomizer. You press a button, and a red or green light comes on. It was fun pretending to not understand and playing with it, especially because it drove the poor customs officer(ess) crazy :)
After 2 minutes at the gate, I parked by the ferry loading queue and the wait began.
Katirga is packed so that when I take the tankbag, everything valuable is locked in a hard case. (In other words camping stuff does not qualify as "valuable".) And because we were not in the line, and would load last, I did not need to be there. A chance to grab a bite for the first time today.
All options for food are served from trucks parked outside. I went ahead and picked the dirtiest looking one, as it seems to have been there forever, and hopefully for a good reason. The carne asada torta was really good. Almost better than El Sitio's in Santa Barbara.
Antojitos' food is much better than you'd expect. Don't count on eating on board.
Loading of the ferry went on forever, mostly because this is like the grand daddy of ferries. It's more like a cargo ship with a drop down door, so all vehicles go in backwards and trailers are backed in there with special tow-trucks. Anyway, if you ever do this, do not assume that the personnel can help you with loading and securing your bike. In fact, if you do what they ask, you'll probably end up with the bike on or under someone else's vehicle. Be sure to have a tie strap ready, and use it.
Katirga strapped to something solid on the wall, I went up to the passenger seating area to find my assigned seat. As someone's daughter had already started sleeping on it, I found myself another and started watching the "Baja Ferries" welcome/introduction video. If I weren't in one of their ships I would've thought they operate a cruise line that only caters to hot happy chicks. But I couldn't enjoy it all the way: that smell... I'm not sure whether if it was the exhaust fumes or just diesel fuel, but it was really strong. Unbearable, and probably poisonous too. But the place was packed and no one seemed to care or even notice! I gave up on sleeping there and grabbed a chair in the dining area upstairs.
As the evening turned to night floors of the ship got covered by people, only prepared ones on a blanket. After freezing all night folded on a chair I was really happy to get out of that thing at around 9 am. I rode around in Mazatlan like a ghost, coffee barely helping.
Below: The Baja Ferries welcomes you for a once-in-a-lifetime travel experience(!)
Below: Mazatlan
By coming here from La Paz, I've bypassed an incredible section of the planned route: The Copper Canyon. I now realize that sticking to my plan will require a much quicker pace, and that will mean seeing and shooting less (ok drinking less too ;). I don't like that idea. But then, I don't want to freeze solid in Tierra del Fuego either. I guess we'll see how it goes.
How we got here:
La senora at the Baja Ferries ticket office had told me to show up at around 8 AM so I could be at the front of the line when they open at 9. As I did not want to risk my chances of getting a ticket and a cabin, I grabbed my cup of coffee (Katirga has a cup/bottle holder, Ha!) and went there at around 7:40. Still, I was the fourth in line. When senoras & senoritas showed up for work half an hour early, at 8:30, I was pleasantly, but really really surprised. Long story less long, we do get on the boat but without a cabin. And I'm advised to show up at noon so I clear the customs and all on time for our 3 pm departure.
It was about 11 o'clock when I learned that it in fact is 12 in La Paz! So I headed straight to the port skipping all plans to enjoy a(nother) cup of coffee and update the site. But the hurry was for nothing (of course). There was no line at the customs, and this time I picked a green light which meant that a search was not necessary. Yesterday I got the red, and the search took only a couple of minutes anyway. (Oh, yes. The ticket office is past the customs check point. Go figure.) The light I'm talking about is a randomizer. You press a button, and a red or green light comes on. It was fun pretending to not understand and playing with it, especially because it drove the poor customs officer(ess) crazy :)
After 2 minutes at the gate, I parked by the ferry loading queue and the wait began.
Katirga is packed so that when I take the tankbag, everything valuable is locked in a hard case. (In other words camping stuff does not qualify as "valuable".) And because we were not in the line, and would load last, I did not need to be there. A chance to grab a bite for the first time today.
All options for food are served from trucks parked outside. I went ahead and picked the dirtiest looking one, as it seems to have been there forever, and hopefully for a good reason. The carne asada torta was really good. Almost better than El Sitio's in Santa Barbara.
Antojitos' food is much better than you'd expect. Don't count on eating on board.
Loading of the ferry went on forever, mostly because this is like the grand daddy of ferries. It's more like a cargo ship with a drop down door, so all vehicles go in backwards and trailers are backed in there with special tow-trucks. Anyway, if you ever do this, do not assume that the personnel can help you with loading and securing your bike. In fact, if you do what they ask, you'll probably end up with the bike on or under someone else's vehicle. Be sure to have a tie strap ready, and use it.
Katirga strapped to something solid on the wall, I went up to the passenger seating area to find my assigned seat. As someone's daughter had already started sleeping on it, I found myself another and started watching the "Baja Ferries" welcome/introduction video. If I weren't in one of their ships I would've thought they operate a cruise line that only caters to hot happy chicks. But I couldn't enjoy it all the way: that smell... I'm not sure whether if it was the exhaust fumes or just diesel fuel, but it was really strong. Unbearable, and probably poisonous too. But the place was packed and no one seemed to care or even notice! I gave up on sleeping there and grabbed a chair in the dining area upstairs.
As the evening turned to night floors of the ship got covered by people, only prepared ones on a blanket. After freezing all night folded on a chair I was really happy to get out of that thing at around 9 am. I rode around in Mazatlan like a ghost, coffee barely helping.
Below: The Baja Ferries welcomes you for a once-in-a-lifetime travel experience(!)
Below: Mazatlan
By coming here from La Paz, I've bypassed an incredible section of the planned route: The Copper Canyon. I now realize that sticking to my plan will require a much quicker pace, and that will mean seeing and shooting less (ok drinking less too ;). I don't like that idea. But then, I don't want to freeze solid in Tierra del Fuego either. I guess we'll see how it goes.
How we got here:
posted by Serdar at
5:22 PM
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