The US and Canada were easy to travel through, relaxed, safe, familiar, convenient.  But that was now all behind us as we crossed the Mexican border at Tijuana, the most crossed border in the world, and passed over into another world full of adventure, new places to explore, new experiences, new rewards.  We were immediately tested with our entire truck X-rayed and we had to negotiate the border complex to get our Tourist Card and our Temporary Import Permit for Tramp.  All done after only 50 minutes, relatively painless, and we drove into Mexico.  Yeah!

As we drove along the border on the Mexican side we could see the huge wall that separates these two countries and looked across to the ‘safe’ motherland of California.  But that’s not for us as we headed south along the coastline along the cueto (toll) road towards Ensenada.

We were very excited but a little apprehensive as well – after all, if you believe everything you hear the drug cartels and modern day banditos will have us skewered before lunch.  But the road was good, the coastline stunning, the dry desert scenery familiar and the homes and little towns we passed very similar to the dozens of other developing world countries we have visited.  We were on our way.

We headed down to Rosarito where we tried to drive down to the beach for lunch. I ran a couple of obscure stop signs, backed Tramp into a sign and ended up in a dead end.  So the first half hour in Mexico went pretty well.  We drove a bit further, found a nice place to try their taco pescado and fajitos asada – with a couple of cervezas of course – before following the coast down to the large port town of Ensenada.

Ensenada is the end of the popular tourist line for most Americans coming down to experience a bit of Mexican weather and culture.  In the centre of town there is a number of tourist bars and restaurants plus a long string of souvenir shops, jewelry stores and touts on the street trying to sell you everything you don’t want.  But Ensenada is also home to one of the most famous bars on the continent, called Hussongs Cantina.  It was a must stop for Julie and I.

The last time I was in Hussongs was 35 years ago and because I was there with my brothers I don’t remember too much about it.  But the scene was instantly comfortable, a cowboy doing rope tricks with his lariat, a mariachi band playing songs from table to table, the laughter loud, the atmosphere fantastic.  Julie and I were the only two gringos in the bar and we could have stayed all day.

We camped our first night down near the Bufadora, or blow hole, south of town.  We pulled into a dusty campsite on the beach, not a soul in sight, eventually found by a guy who charged us the equivalent of $10 to camp, the only ones in the whole place.  We built a fire, counted the stars, sang to the waves and revelled in our first night in Mexico.  Everything was perfect.

Bufadora is a somewhat underperforming crack in the rocky cliffs that when the tide and waves are just right will shoot water up to 30 metres (100 feet) in the air.  The drive out to the point was fabulous and we enjoyed wandering along the shops, even bought a small souvenir, talking to the friendly locals.  And as a bonus, the blowhole was putting on a modest performance so all was good.

The sky was shiny blue, the sun was warm and the hilly desert scenery was great as we headed down the coast. The locals grew crops wherever they could, mainly tomatoes and strawberries, but there were also many hillsides covered in vineyards, all showing off their early winter colours.

Progress was slow because we were in no hurry and the roads ranged from wide and smooth to narrow and potholed.  We passed up and over some mountain passes but other times skirted the water’s edge.  The small communities we passed through were all similar and familiar, the main highway being the only paved road in town, all side roads wide, dirt and dusty, people busy going about their daily lives in buildings and businesses that were modest and sometimes a bit shabby.  But we enjoyed the buzz of the place and of course Tramp turned heads at every turn.

We wanted to camp on the beach so followed a sandy track off the highway just north of El Rosario and camped in a secluded spot amongst the moonscape formations of sand, wind and water.  A walk on the beach and another sunset over the Pacific Ocean ended our second wonderful day in Mexico.

Highway 1 continued its weaving motion down Baja and the next morning we left the coast and climbed up onto the mountainous rocky spine of the peninsula.  The harsh desert mountains were covered in a variety of different cacti, some as large and old as any tree.  There were some we could name, some we used to be able to name and others we saw for the first time.  Among them all there was the huge and dominant cardon, organ pipe, barrel, prickly pear, ocotillo, the tall and spindly cirios and who knows how many more.  We loved them all.

We passed through a range with beautiful granite boulders strewn everywhere and the combination of these huge stones and the gardens of cacti were spectacular.  We stopped many times, took photos, climbed large boulders, absolutely revelled in the dry desert beauty.

In many places the road was in poor condition and we saw numerous sedans stopped by the side of the road with flat tires.  Mighty Tramp would have none of that and wasn’t bothered by the huge trucks which seem to dominate the narrow road.

Eventually we made it down to Bahia de Los Angeles, a small remote community on the eastern shore of the peninsula overlooking the Sea of Cortez.  It is low season, the community sprawled along the coast and felt quite deserted but the islands dotted the bay and there was clearly potential here.  The wind was howling as we pulled up to a campground on the beach but it soon died down and we enjoyed a pleasant night around our fire in an old washing machine spin cylinder with the sky covered in sparkling stars.

After a lazy start the next morning with hot showers and talking to fellow travellers we retraced our steps through the magnificent natural gardens of cacti back to the main road and turned south toward the major Pacific coast town of Guerrero Negro.  We did some errands and had lunch in this dusty large town before pushing ever southward back across the peninsula again.

The desert was dry and barren, the road at times dead straight, only dipping to cross a vada, or wash where flood waters would cross the road.  Near dusk we followed a rough side track that circled around behind one of the many imposing mesas that were scattered across the desert and enjoyed a stunning sunset all alone amongst the cacti.  We gave it a perfect 10.

Our introduction to Baja and Mexico had been a spectacular success – beautiful blue skies, good warm weather, friendly locals and stunning scenery.  We were in the groove again, exploring new territory each day, camping in beautiful places, having some wonderful experiences.  We couldn’t wait to explore more of Mexico in the next few weeks.