It was a long ride today to get to La Paz where I got ferry tickets for October 16 to Mazatlan.
Highway 1 from Loreto to La Paz
I left Loreto in the warmth of the morning. It was an awesome ride to start with as the road hugged the Sea of Cortes.
It doesn’t take long though before it leaves the coast and goes inland. As the day wore on it got hotter and hotter. And yes, the butterflies reappeared.
Also reappearing were sore knees. This started as I was riding to Loreto. I thought maybe a day in Loreto would solve that. It didn’t.
As I got closer to La Paz there was lots of road construction. I wish I had a picture here. But the way they create a detour around the construction is to grade a rough path beside the road. For long stretches I was riding on dirt/sand/dust/rocks. Passing trucks created lots of dust. At times I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Not fun.
Baja Ferries
My first order of business in La Paz was to go to Baja Ferries and get my tickets for a ferry to Mazatlan on October 16, 2016.
It was so nice to get into the air conditioned offices. The staff there were so nice and very professional. One gentleman came out and gave me a Baja Ferry patch.
There was a bit of communication issue. Luckily the ticket agent I was dealing with knew a little more English than I knew Spanish. To get the ticket I needed to produce my drivers license, passport and temporary vehicle import permit.
The ferry is an overnight trip leaving at 8 pm and arriving in Mazatlan the next morning. Because of this I got a basix cabin so I could sleep. You also get a dinner in the price of the ticket.
Hotel Zar
For this night in La Paz I stayed at the Hotel Zar. It is quite an odd hotel in that it reminded me of one you may find in Eastern Europe from the old communist era. The hotel, however, was new.
Across the street was Mega Foods. Off I went to pick up some buns, cheese, cold cuts, and beer for dinner.
After a long day I was asleep pretty quickly.