The La Paz loop
Even though we haven’t ventured much outside of an 8 x 12 block rectangle of downtown La Paz, we can easily see that there’s much to like about this city. La Paz, which translates as the Peace, has a vibrant waterfront, and the malecón is packed in the evenings with energetic and smiling kids, teens and adults. As much as we’d enjoy spending some more time here, the lower loop of the Baja Divide is waiting for us, so we’ll be pedaling our way out of town shortly after this post goes online.
Our first objective will be to climb from sea level to approximately 2400 feet. From that point, we know that we’ll be returning to dirt roads, but where we’ll ultimately end up, we’re unsure. One way or another, we’ll be making a loop around the lower end of the peninsula before returning to La Paz one final time. It’s here that we’ll make our departure to Mazatlán on the mainland of Mexico, an 18 hour ferry ride across the Sea of Cortez.
Our friend Tommy, who I mentioned near the beginning of this post, recently left Baja to ride there himself (along with his friend Tyler, of course). During a conversation with him yesterday, he described mainland Mexico as a “whole new world.” We’ll see for ourselves soon enough, I guess. Before then though, we have some more Baja adventures ahead of us!
An overnight ferry ride will ultimately deposit us on mainland Mexico.
I’ve backpacked through Mexico 3 times so far and that was in the 90’s but I have never been to the Baja. I would imagine the Baja is much more mellow compared with mainland Mexico. I liked it back then and I hope I can gain a new perspective from your travels. Looking forward to the future posts.
As to whether or not it is more mellow, we’ll let you know.
Perfecto!