November 20th 1981

posted in: Innocents Abroad | 1
Mexican street scene

I was up + awake at an early hour – perhaps celibacy agrees with me – so trotted downstairs + amused myself for an hour and a half – 2 of the r’s – while waiting for Val to appear.  She eventually did, shorn of some of her locks.  She’d practised self-mutilation + had chopped off lumps of her hair with the nail scissors – it looked alright tho’.  I then rushed out to cash the cheque (at last!) + buy Val a book of tunes – Liz had given her the penny whistle.  Then to begin our Mexican adventure.

First was a cheap trolley-bus to the border, then a short walk across a bridge to Mexico.  Immigration there caused no fuss whatsoever, + granted us 90 days in the country.  Immediately over the border there were people selling all sorts of junk, + trying to solicit us for taxis.  We went first to the bus station, where a lady who spoke English was able to tell us a little about the buses.  Decided first to look around the town, tho’ we had to lug our bags with us, there being nowhere to leave them.  Happened upon the tail-end of an apparently rather uninteresting carnival, then just wandered a little, mingling with the crowds – it was a very crowded town – and trying, unsuccessfully, to adjust to the abrupt change we’d just undergone, from Am to Mex culture.  We bought some fruit – some oranges + huge fat bananas – + then returned to the bus station.  Decided to buy first class tickets to Los Mochis, since that was only a few pesos more expensive than the 2nd.  A little complicated, since the first step was from the poxy little town station to the brand spanking new one a couple of miles out.  Met a couple of Australians at the “newie”, but they’d already bought 2nd tickets, so hoped to see them at Mochis.  Bus left at  4.30 – it was the usual Greyhound style, but simply different in clientele.

And so, we finally arrive at the point where our travels begin.  We have had a six-month introduction to being away from home, but this marks the point when we moved away from a familiar culture.

But at least we have a return to appropriate photos, even if today’s is a bit on the dull side.

  1. Pamela J Blair

    Yea! I’m with you all the way. Why Baja and not Mexico proper? Or will you get there somehow?

    I miss Mexico. I was there right before the pandemic, and before that, in San Miguel de Allende in 2016, for two months, when Trump was elected. I took Spanish there, and don’t remember much of it now. But I love Mexico! I hope you have a good trip!

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