Traveling further south in Baja was a mix of dirt road and paved with some long days on the bike but the beauty of the desert was astounding. 

From Mulege I had a long ride down to Loreto which is a beautiful town and the largest in Baja so far

Riding west of the city into the the very rugged Sierra de la Gigante mountains brings you to the mission of San Javier that was built in about 1750

Coming around a corner on this twisty road I suddenly came to a water crossing that when my front wheel hit the slippery, algae covered concrete it slid out and I took my first big wipe out of the trip. My shoulder got a little banged up and the pannier on the left side of the bike needed a bit of straightening. 

I decided to return to Loreto and spend the night rather than pressing on further that day. The Junepero was a local hotel that reminded my of the film “The Best Marigold Hotel”

Another day’s ride brought me to the port town of La Paz where I met up with Shari and Nicki Rodriguez. Shari is Maggie’s cousin and has lived in Las Cruces, just outside the town for many years

The next day after a lot bureaucratic mumbo jumbo and having to post a $400 bond for a temporary import permit ( which will be reimbursed when I leave Mexico - yeah right ! ) I caught the ferry over to the mainland. 

I guess I should have paid a little more attention to what the arrival time was as it was my understanding that it was an overnight trip when in fact it got in to the port of Topolobampo late at night. Having managed to find a quite corner on the ship and fallen asleep I was awakened by a deckhand and found I was the last passenger on the boat. I went down to the vehicle deck to get my bike and it was confronted by mayhem as the dock workers were removing containers from the boat. The noise was deafening with exhaust fumes billowing out from a myriad of exhausts and the clanging of metal grates as the trucks drove over them - a very rude awakening!

The next trick was to find somewhere to stay in what looked like a medieval town late at night and not knowing really where I was -more next time.