Thursday, February 10, 2005
Mexico
Back in Salton City some Canadians told us that if we were coming to Ajo we should definitely go on down to the Playa Bonita RV park in Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico (on the Sea of Cortez). After that we talked to more people—some very enthusiastic –and some not so. So we decided to go down and check it out. It is 5 miles from here to the border and then 63 miles (of total nothingness) down to Puerto Penasco (or Rocky Point as it’s known to Americans). We had to get Mexican insurance for one day. ($13 liability only)
The border crossing, by the way, is much easier than in and out of Canada. No lines. They didn’t even ask for our passports either coming or going. So we arrive in what was once a Mexican pueblo but is now a giant American tourist trap. They are building huge condos everywhere but the roads are still basically packed sand, with mangy dogs lying about. There are a number of RV parks and we had a hard time finding the one recommended. To make it short—we were not impressed. You are packed in like sardines and though there are some ocean front sites, those are reserved years in advance. As far as we could tell there were darn few remnants of Mexican culture to be found. Down on the Malecon where we went for lunch it was again tourist city—even the Mexicans speak English (to get your business of course). We picked a restaurant for lunch with a tour bus in front which turned out to be no great recommendation. Enough said. Been there, done that. We’ll save our Mexican experiences for Oaxaca.
The border crossing, by the way, is much easier than in and out of Canada. No lines. They didn’t even ask for our passports either coming or going. So we arrive in what was once a Mexican pueblo but is now a giant American tourist trap. They are building huge condos everywhere but the roads are still basically packed sand, with mangy dogs lying about. There are a number of RV parks and we had a hard time finding the one recommended. To make it short—we were not impressed. You are packed in like sardines and though there are some ocean front sites, those are reserved years in advance. As far as we could tell there were darn few remnants of Mexican culture to be found. Down on the Malecon where we went for lunch it was again tourist city—even the Mexicans speak English (to get your business of course). We picked a restaurant for lunch with a tour bus in front which turned out to be no great recommendation. Enough said. Been there, done that. We’ll save our Mexican experiences for Oaxaca.
# posted by Carol Harma @ 8:03 AM 
