Los Mochis
09 March 2014
Guaymas to La Paz
True Companion is sadly stored away and Nat and I are on the road again. After much deliberation around how exactly we were to get back to La Paz from Guaymas we opted to bus to it to Los Mochis, jump on the Ferry in Topolobampo and were there.
Sounded like a good plan and worked out Ok just not exactly as planned. We first had to renew our Mexican visas as we were not quite going to have left within the 6 months. This meant a quick trip to the States, we decide to just go to Tucson this time instead of up to Phoenix. In hindsight we should have gone the extra distance. I liked Phoenix much better, it was easier to find a hotel and they were cheaper, just as good and usually close to a great place to eat. Those two things alone would have covered the extra fuel bill and all the extra hrs looking for a 'convenient' hotel.
That said and done it really is painless to cross the borders and a good drive to. Nat and I do like a road trip mind you.
Back in Guaymas, return the hire car and off to the bus depot. We had tried unsuccessfully to find a Ferry schedule. The web site was down in that area and no one was answering the phones, let's just hope they're the same as posted elsewhere, 6 nights a week. The bus ride down was great, we arrived at the Terminal just in time to get the earlier bus and arrived in Los Mochis with plenty of time to go to the Ferry office and book tickets for the evening ferry. At least that's what we thought. It seems that the usual ferry is out for its 3 year upgrade and we are down to the smaller Ferry hence no timetables on the website. So instead of daily departures it's down to 3 a week but Wednesday didn't go. This being a Wednesday we were now waiting till Friday afternoon, oh well we won't be in La Paz for breakfast with our friends. Un characteristically Alan got on the radio which he hates doing and announced our impending arrival. Then we didn't show up for 2 days. hahaha
The two days we spent in Los Mochis were very enjoyable. We wandered through the huge botanical gardens in the middle of Town, they used to be the grounds of one of the American owners of the now closed sugar mill. The rest of the time we wandered aimlessly and chillaxed . Los Mochis is a bit of a westernised Town but may be a good provisioning option from Guaymas when we get back.
When it did arrive, the Ferry was still a large cargo carrying vessel which took 5 hours to unload and load with anything from container trailers to motorcycles. They were flat out and very organised but with the ferry only arriving at departure time we were several hours behind schedule. The trip itself was good. We spent the first few hrs on deck, the ticket came with a meal which was pretty good. We then headed downstairs to find our seats. There are two movie cabins with reclining seats that were really pretty comfy. It's only about a seven hr trip anyway so you don't need much. If you desire you can book a sleeping cabin but for the length of the trip it's probably not worth it.
We arrived around 1 in the morning and had to pay the most we have ever payed for a cab ride, 500 peso. At that time there aren't a lot of options at Pichilingue but it was very nice to be back in La Paz and getting ready for the next part of our adventure.