The border and beyond

I was excited to cross the border into Mexico, particularly because I was doing so with Carmen, as we had decided to travel together for a while. I was also a little nervous about crossing the border on a bike, but when I rolled over that famous line, as Carmen walked, the only issues I had were trying to fit my bike through a pedestrian turnstile (success!), and the fact that we almost missed immigration, which seemed almost optional. A couple of stamps, frowns, and poorly spoken Spanish words later, we were there, on the other side, in Mexico.

Magnum, slimmed down from Blue Steel days, and ready for the border crossing

Carmie and I, the US/Mexican border in the background

You hear a lot of stuff about Tijuana. As usual, it's hard to know if there's anything to all the stories, as a lot of people happily tell them while having no first-hand or recent experience. Like one American I met a week or so before who, after I told him I was going to ride through Tijuana, said I was crazy and then said to me "see you on the news." like I was going to die. Bah. I told El Douche if he did see me on the news it would be for comething cool.

Hence I was curious to see what it was really like, and hence I was disappointed when various circumstances (mainly timing) conspired to force me to just ride through Tijuana, on the way to Rosarito, instead of staying with a friend for a few days. However, even during my brief ride through TJ, admittedly in the touristy areas, I didn't see the bogeyman everyone had told me about. I saw a city feeling the effects of a downturn in tourism, but still I sensed a great deal of energy. In places this energy seemed full of aspiration, or desperation, or both, while in other places the more routine energy of the bustle everyday life predominated. I didn't get to see the vibrant energy of the cultural side of TJ and the nightlife, but I'm sure it would be cool.

Carmen, in Plays de Rosarito

After doing our transportation shuffle (I ride, Carmen takes buses, etc) we met up at our couchsurfing gig in Playas de Rosarito, and met the lovely Lanny and her mother, who hosted us for a few days. The beaches of Rosarito are quite beautiful, and the town itself has quite a relaxed vibe, despite being pretty much a part of TJ. This worked well, as Carmen and I were both a bit sick, so we just chilled out before moving on further south. Once again, I rode and Carmen took the bus. So she may have been in one of the many vehicles that nearly killed me riding the free road south. I eventually jumped over to the wide-shouldered toll road, because there were some genuinely scary moments when huge trucks roared past me on a narrow and sometimes non-existent shoulder. When I wasn't nearly dying, I enjoyed some fantastic coastal scenery.

Playa La Mision

Looking south towards Ensenada

We stayed at the cool Young Dudes hostel near La Mision, and Carmie took a surf lesson while I chilled out. For the bike tourists, you can camp for free there as Iain, who runs the joint, also has a warmshowers profile (yes, that's right, you can look for young dudes in warmshowers). From there the toll road took me much more safely south, where we were to meet our next couchsurfing host - the lovely Elsa from Ensenada.

Mesa mesa by the highway

Arriving in Ensenada at my usual time