Travel Tips For Baja
TRAVEL TIPS FOR BAJA
If you’re going to Mexico, get a tourist card. These are available, gratis, upon proof of citizenship (birth certificate, draft card, etc.) through the Mexican Government Department of Tourism, located in several major U.S. cities, including the Los Angeles offices at 3106 Wilshire Blvd. The tourist card is required by the Mexican government for travel below the immediate border, and
if you’re stopped and don’t have it, good luck, brother. Along these same lines, you’re liable to run into several “inspection stations” along the way, many legitimate but some illegitimate. If they ask for money, get suspicious. “Okay,” tell them, “I’ll give you the money if you give me a receipt.” If they refuse, shine ’em on and beat a hasty retreat. Also, vehicle registration or other proof of ownership could come in
handy in Baja and is an absolute must on the mainland of Mexico. And for you longhairs: a haircut or at least a trim may prevent many hours of unpleasant hassle, although government officials are becoming a bit more accustomed to hirsute appearances.
MONEY HASSLES
Pesos, as I’m sure most of you know, is the currency in Mexico, although the American dollar, at least in small denominations, will usually be accepted. One peso is worth about eight American cents ( 1 2 to the dollar) and there are 100 centavos in each peso. There are a couple of things we innovated to avoid monetary problems along the way: (1) We appointed a Gasoline Monitor, who collected a set sum from each rider at the beginning of the trip and took care of the total gas bill each time we filled up the bikes. (2) We took turns paying for meals, with the person who paid the total bill being responsible for collecting the ante from individual eaters (“Let’s see, I had one taco and 14 beers. Will a dollar cover it?). Believe me, these two things simplified things enormously.
RETURNING HASSLES
Most of us spent right around $100 each for the nine-day trip to La Paz. This included gas (usually around 50 cents a gallon), food (a little more than a dollar per meal), cigarettes (about 20 cents a pack) and, of course, beer and tequila. We weren’t extravagant, but then we didn’t deny ourselves, either. You can get by cheaper, but, for myself, 1 wouldn’t want to. However, after a couple of days in La Paz, most of us were broke and had to either wire or telephone home for money or charge it with BankAmericard (even the sidewalk taco stands in La Paz accept credit cards). Flights from La Paz to Los Angeles cost about $70, while boat transportation of your bike to Ensenada (70 miles of freeway below the border) runs about $28. Also, you can fly yourself and your bike from La Paz to Ensenada for about $80 on Aerocarga’s four or five weekly flights.
WORD HASSLES
Language is not necessarily a problem, but it certainly won’t hurt matters to learn a minimal amount of Spanish and carry your Berlitz Spanish-English dictionary. Contrary to the ethnocentric American view, all of the peoples ot the world don’t speak English. And some sticky, ungainly situations can arise. Besides, it won’t hurt American foreign relations a bit to show the Mexican people that you are at least trying to deal with their language.
