First trip into Mexico
Hi all, this winter I am planning a 6 week trip into Mexico, single female traveling with big dog. This trip will be baby steps for me and I have learned that forewarned is the best way to go. I hav...
Forum Discussion
Baja California is to Mexico like Alaska is to the 48 United States. It is different. It has positive points and it has negative points as compared to the mainland especially from Mazatlan south. My home is in Michoacan but Medical forces me closer to stay on the peninsula for awhile. But between the two it is like comparing Florida to Montana. The customs are different, the food is different, and different does not means better or worse, it means different. Being homesick I have to choose how I present this carefully.
Baja California presents one face. The mainland presents many. May I suggest you study some travel guides? Satisfy yourself as to what you would like to experience in six weeks. By the way the only "Big City" away from the border is La Paz, and La Paz is a small town with a small town atmosphere. Lots of people and big box stores but La Paz cannot be compared to Mazatlan or even Guaymas.
There are no traditional open air markets here with local crafts. Baja California is significantly more expensive to live or vacation in. But read guide books to try and get a feel for the ambiance between the two. Many gringo expats have never seen the mainland so keep this in mind when listening to tales of paradise. Same applies for the mainland.
I have a saying for the peninsula. OK you are here, for better or worse this is where you must stay (unless you cross to the mainland on the transbordador (ferry) ).
There are hundreds and hundreds piled atop hundreds more miles where there is absolutely nothing but desert scenery. Tomorrow I continue southbound. I enter the rugged part of the peninsula where a barbed wire fence is rare. Off the highway things have not changed much in fifty years. They will not change much in 500 years more...
Baja California presents one face. The mainland presents many. May I suggest you study some travel guides? Satisfy yourself as to what you would like to experience in six weeks. By the way the only "Big City" away from the border is La Paz, and La Paz is a small town with a small town atmosphere. Lots of people and big box stores but La Paz cannot be compared to Mazatlan or even Guaymas.
There are no traditional open air markets here with local crafts. Baja California is significantly more expensive to live or vacation in. But read guide books to try and get a feel for the ambiance between the two. Many gringo expats have never seen the mainland so keep this in mind when listening to tales of paradise. Same applies for the mainland.
I have a saying for the peninsula. OK you are here, for better or worse this is where you must stay (unless you cross to the mainland on the transbordador (ferry) ).
There are hundreds and hundreds piled atop hundreds more miles where there is absolutely nothing but desert scenery. Tomorrow I continue southbound. I enter the rugged part of the peninsula where a barbed wire fence is rare. Off the highway things have not changed much in fifty years. They will not change much in 500 years more...
