Goin' down the coastline to M.E.X.I.C.O. C.U.
My flickr got 549 views yesterday. Holy SHIT! While I am not entirely caught up, I have made it all the way to the Caribbean, so i figure I'm just gonna breeze through the last few months. My photos from the Caribbean are much less detailed/in number than my Europe shots.
The ship is the same as my first ship, in terms of layout, and there are even sometimes when I walk through the Lido and it smells the same as my first ship. I find this incredibly disconcerting, mainly, I think, because it reminds me of the past. Not just all the ghosts and ancient drama from my first contract, but past me, the me who first came on ships, green and college-obsessed and 40 pounds overweight, and that's someone I don't want to be forced to think about and to contend with. It's a little like Follies, and 'The Road You Didn't Take.' Maybe I should be proud of how much I've grown and changed (I hope for the better) since September '08, but that doesn't stop me from getting a tremble in my solar plexus here and there.
The band is really loud. This has its good points and bad points. And maybe I'm just exhausted from my 'vacation,' but I can't find anything to say around my new band-mates. It's true, I just function so much better socially one-on-one as opposed to in a group. This is why I seem to have not a group of close friends, but distinct good relationships, which is why I can never throw a really good birthday party.
***
This is all my guidebook says about Topolobambo, one of our ports:
The second-largest natural deepwater port in the world, 24km southwest of Los Mochis, enjoyed a fleeting glimpse of pop-culture cool when it was the set for a popular Mexican telenovela (it was surely picked for its ridiculously awesome name). Unfortunately, there is nothing else terribly awesome about Topolobampo, though it was once the terminus for the Copper Canyon railway train. Now that the train goes no further than Los Mochis, the main importer of visitors here is the ferry that goes between the mainland and La Paz, in Baja.
Terrific.
***
Today was my first day in Mexico: Cabo San Lucas. It enjoyed it. We had to wait for open tenders, which sucked, but I was on the first one with crew on it, getting off the ship at the very first opportunity. By this time it was around 1 so I was ravenous.
I ditched the cruise terminal as quickly as I could, and made my way into real actual Mexico. The locals were astonishingly friendly and helpful, addressing me in perfect English, most of the time. I still found my meager Spanish skills useful, and am still really glad I bought that Lonely Planet guidebook. I found a cajero automatico, and withdrew M$200.
The guidebook listed Venado as having some of the best fish tacos in Mexico. It was a hole in the wall taqueria, with concrete floors and dirty tablecloths. I was walking by, catching a glimpse of the name, when one of the women working inside yelled at me "Tacos?" I nodded, kinda beaming, just excited to be welcomed in and to get some comida authentico. I was also thrilled to discover that I was the only white guy in there. The family at the next table gave me a (not unfriendly) eye as I sat down.
I struggled through my order a little bit, got my Corona, and to my amazement they hustled out four different kinds of salsa and a halved lime onto my table. I got a bowl of bean soup and a tray of nachos, all complimentary appetizers. The fish tacos were really really great, especially with the different sauces. I ordered one with shrimp and managed to work out how to ask the waitress what kinds of salsa I was eating:
I made my way back to the pier to figure out where to hire a water taxi. This was not as frugal as lunch. Guidebook said it should have cost me 10 pesos, but all the people wanted to charge me 10 dollars. I managed to get one of the guys down to 8 dollars roundtrip out to Playa del Amor and El Arco. It kinda got a kick out of the power play, but I also felt a little bit like a dick. Whatever. They shouldn't be overcharging anyways. And I need to save money to move.
I hopped in a little blue glass-bottomed panga and, after dropping off a few spring-breakers (I assume) on Playa Solmar we were out to El Arco and Land's End. The driver was a character. He showed me rock formations that looked like: an owl, a vagina (I think? He mostly spoke Spanish so it's anybody's guess really. That's what it looked like to me.), the Virgin Mary (he said Guadalupe), the Baja California peninsula upside down, and Scooby-doo. I also got to see an amazing number of fish through the glass bottom, which was ominously cracked. And seals sunning themselves, floppy and adorable, Then there was El Arco, which was cool, I guess. Another natural phenomenon as a result of the corrosive effects of the ocean.
The land was exhilarating to look at though, to be fair. Monumental rock formations carved out by the sand and sea, caves and tunnels, secluded beaches. Pictures are the only way to do true justice to it.
To get to the beach, I had to literally jump out of the water taxi into the ocean. Something I was not expecting to have to do. I removed my footwear to hold them in my hand and just plunged into the (deeper than I would have expected) water, wearing my shorts, and only freaking out about my iPod after the fact (it's fine). The beaches were nice, but unfortunately afflicted with a surplus of flies which would land on you for no discernible purpose and would just wander around on you, not shying away until you actually brushed them off of yourself. For a few moments I became really concerned that my clocks were wrong and I was gonna miss the ship, and made one of the other people lying on the beach dig out his phone to tell me that it was only cuatro quince and I was just being a Nervous Nelly.
Launching myself back onto the water taxi I was a little overeager and managed to bang up my right knee. Oh well. I also ended up stiffing the driver on the tip on the way back, only because I had no small bills. I had tipped him on the voyage out though. Sigh. Whatever. I can't dwell on this. This is the trouble with traveling on your own.
I wandered around Cabo aimlessly for a bit after that before realizing I was exhausted and coming back to the ship. I think I'm going to like Mexico.
The ship is the same as my first ship, in terms of layout, and there are even sometimes when I walk through the Lido and it smells the same as my first ship. I find this incredibly disconcerting, mainly, I think, because it reminds me of the past. Not just all the ghosts and ancient drama from my first contract, but past me, the me who first came on ships, green and college-obsessed and 40 pounds overweight, and that's someone I don't want to be forced to think about and to contend with. It's a little like Follies, and 'The Road You Didn't Take.' Maybe I should be proud of how much I've grown and changed (I hope for the better) since September '08, but that doesn't stop me from getting a tremble in my solar plexus here and there.
The band is really loud. This has its good points and bad points. And maybe I'm just exhausted from my 'vacation,' but I can't find anything to say around my new band-mates. It's true, I just function so much better socially one-on-one as opposed to in a group. This is why I seem to have not a group of close friends, but distinct good relationships, which is why I can never throw a really good birthday party.
***
This is all my guidebook says about Topolobambo, one of our ports:
The second-largest natural deepwater port in the world, 24km southwest of Los Mochis, enjoyed a fleeting glimpse of pop-culture cool when it was the set for a popular Mexican telenovela (it was surely picked for its ridiculously awesome name). Unfortunately, there is nothing else terribly awesome about Topolobampo, though it was once the terminus for the Copper Canyon railway train. Now that the train goes no further than Los Mochis, the main importer of visitors here is the ferry that goes between the mainland and La Paz, in Baja.
Terrific.
***
Today was my first day in Mexico: Cabo San Lucas. It enjoyed it. We had to wait for open tenders, which sucked, but I was on the first one with crew on it, getting off the ship at the very first opportunity. By this time it was around 1 so I was ravenous.
I ditched the cruise terminal as quickly as I could, and made my way into real actual Mexico. The locals were astonishingly friendly and helpful, addressing me in perfect English, most of the time. I still found my meager Spanish skills useful, and am still really glad I bought that Lonely Planet guidebook. I found a cajero automatico, and withdrew M$200.
The guidebook listed Venado as having some of the best fish tacos in Mexico. It was a hole in the wall taqueria, with concrete floors and dirty tablecloths. I was walking by, catching a glimpse of the name, when one of the women working inside yelled at me "Tacos?" I nodded, kinda beaming, just excited to be welcomed in and to get some comida authentico. I was also thrilled to discover that I was the only white guy in there. The family at the next table gave me a (not unfriendly) eye as I sat down.
I struggled through my order a little bit, got my Corona, and to my amazement they hustled out four different kinds of salsa and a halved lime onto my table. I got a bowl of bean soup and a tray of nachos, all complimentary appetizers. The fish tacos were really really great, especially with the different sauces. I ordered one with shrimp and managed to work out how to ask the waitress what kinds of salsa I was eating:
- pico de gallo - duh
- roja - really spicy with chili seeds
- verde - mild with chunks of avocado in it (yum)
- guacamole - a surprise: it was basically a thin avocado puree, almost like a soup. I would never have recognized it if she hadn't told me.
I made my way back to the pier to figure out where to hire a water taxi. This was not as frugal as lunch. Guidebook said it should have cost me 10 pesos, but all the people wanted to charge me 10 dollars. I managed to get one of the guys down to 8 dollars roundtrip out to Playa del Amor and El Arco. It kinda got a kick out of the power play, but I also felt a little bit like a dick. Whatever. They shouldn't be overcharging anyways. And I need to save money to move.
I hopped in a little blue glass-bottomed panga and, after dropping off a few spring-breakers (I assume) on Playa Solmar we were out to El Arco and Land's End. The driver was a character. He showed me rock formations that looked like: an owl, a vagina (I think? He mostly spoke Spanish so it's anybody's guess really. That's what it looked like to me.), the Virgin Mary (he said Guadalupe), the Baja California peninsula upside down, and Scooby-doo. I also got to see an amazing number of fish through the glass bottom, which was ominously cracked. And seals sunning themselves, floppy and adorable, Then there was El Arco, which was cool, I guess. Another natural phenomenon as a result of the corrosive effects of the ocean.
The land was exhilarating to look at though, to be fair. Monumental rock formations carved out by the sand and sea, caves and tunnels, secluded beaches. Pictures are the only way to do true justice to it.
To get to the beach, I had to literally jump out of the water taxi into the ocean. Something I was not expecting to have to do. I removed my footwear to hold them in my hand and just plunged into the (deeper than I would have expected) water, wearing my shorts, and only freaking out about my iPod after the fact (it's fine). The beaches were nice, but unfortunately afflicted with a surplus of flies which would land on you for no discernible purpose and would just wander around on you, not shying away until you actually brushed them off of yourself. For a few moments I became really concerned that my clocks were wrong and I was gonna miss the ship, and made one of the other people lying on the beach dig out his phone to tell me that it was only cuatro quince and I was just being a Nervous Nelly.
Launching myself back onto the water taxi I was a little overeager and managed to bang up my right knee. Oh well. I also ended up stiffing the driver on the tip on the way back, only because I had no small bills. I had tipped him on the voyage out though. Sigh. Whatever. I can't dwell on this. This is the trouble with traveling on your own.
I wandered around Cabo aimlessly for a bit after that before realizing I was exhausted and coming back to the ship. I think I'm going to like Mexico.