It's strange to leave Baja
Baja so much my home
And the time on the Pacific side
Initially weird
Wondering how the hell I'll fill a week
Turns out groovy
One newish friend
One really new friend
And I don't want to leave
Tremble a little
All those thoughts about
Just hopping over to the mainland
And hitching to unknown places
On whims
Suddenly seems a bit mad and pointless
But I've got my ticket
And get underway
Perhaps randomly deciding to thumb it
To the airport
Even though I've had bad luck out of Pescadero before
And the clock is ticking
Three hours to make the plane
And at least a two hour journey by bus
I guess I'm tempting fate
Daring it to get me there
While a certain part of me hopes I'll miss it
(Just like Greece
Four years ago
And we all know how that turned out)
(So I don't take that part
Too seriously)
But I needn't have worried
For, within ten minutes
A well good young guy
Speeds me all the way to La Paz
And talks coincidentally and unbidden
About eating peyote
In Real de Catorce
And he's so nice and lovely
He even offers to take me
All the way to the airport
Even though it's the wrong way for him
And he's supposed to be working
But he's done enough
And I'm so early
I can't have that
So I stop off for food
One last visit to a Baja Soriana
And then trundle along the highway
With my wheely suitcase
(There's no bus, of course
That would make too much sense)
And next thing I know
I'm bound for Mexico City
Two complementary packets of peanuts on the plane
And the guy next to me
Gives me one of his too
So I'm pretty stoked by that
As we fly up and over the coast
And I look down on precious Baja arroyos
And beaches
And already start to miss them
And to miss the ease of life at the hot springs
How good it is
Already brought home by some time on the salty side
No agua fresco for
Bathing in
For drinking
For nightly soaks
For always being clean
The simplicity of life
In one pair of shorts
No shoes required
Everything right there
Further emphasized by this
Trip to the city
Now I need
Showers
Laundry
Bottled water
A change of clothes
And somewhere to sleep
Which is my first challenge
And I don't do so well
I'm so out of practice with
City life
Ending up weirdly
- It's a longer story
Than I've got time to tell -
In
San Pedro de los Pinos
(A fair-to-middlin'
Mexico City district)
At midnight
With no real idea what I'm doing
A bit worried being on those dark Mexico City streets
With my wheely case
And my gringo tourist skin
But I needn't have been:
I find an odd little homemade shrine
To the Virgin Mary
With flashing lights
And a power point for phone
And sit there until 3am
Strangely inspired
To write and write and write
Fourteen pages, by hand
A whole load of
Recollections and reflections
Puzzlements and regrets
A bunch of feelings, even, too
And then when done
I walk
(And wheel)
Till I find a playground
(Parque de Miraflores)
Put up my tent
Under a children's slide
Sleep a couple of fitful hours
And in the morning
Book a "travel bureau car"
(Blablacar)
To Santiago de Queretaro
And am back on the road
Zooming through beautiful Mexico
Digging the hills and green
Different to Baja
Lovely, nonetheless
And from there,
A bus to San Miguel de Allende
Eight years after I first feel to visit it
And
I love it
It's perhaps the most picturesque city
I've ever been in
I wander the streets
I feel inspired to write
I stay four happy days
I think maybe I should live there
Baja so much my home
And the time on the Pacific side
Initially weird
Wondering how the hell I'll fill a week
Turns out groovy
One newish friend
One really new friend
And I don't want to leave
Tremble a little
All those thoughts about
Just hopping over to the mainland
And hitching to unknown places
On whims
Suddenly seems a bit mad and pointless
But I've got my ticket
And get underway
Perhaps randomly deciding to thumb it
To the airport
Even though I've had bad luck out of Pescadero before
And the clock is ticking
Three hours to make the plane
And at least a two hour journey by bus
I guess I'm tempting fate
Daring it to get me there
While a certain part of me hopes I'll miss it
(Just like Greece
Four years ago
And we all know how that turned out)
(So I don't take that part
Too seriously)
But I needn't have worried
For, within ten minutes
A well good young guy
Speeds me all the way to La Paz
And talks coincidentally and unbidden
About eating peyote
In Real de Catorce
And he's so nice and lovely
He even offers to take me
All the way to the airport
Even though it's the wrong way for him
And he's supposed to be working
But he's done enough
And I'm so early
I can't have that
So I stop off for food
One last visit to a Baja Soriana
And then trundle along the highway
With my wheely suitcase
(There's no bus, of course
That would make too much sense)
And next thing I know
I'm bound for Mexico City
Two complementary packets of peanuts on the plane
And the guy next to me
Gives me one of his too
So I'm pretty stoked by that
As we fly up and over the coast
And I look down on precious Baja arroyos
And beaches
And already start to miss them
And to miss the ease of life at the hot springs
How good it is
Already brought home by some time on the salty side
No agua fresco for
Bathing in
For drinking
For nightly soaks
For always being clean
The simplicity of life
In one pair of shorts
No shoes required
Everything right there
Further emphasized by this
Trip to the city
Now I need
Showers
Laundry
Bottled water
A change of clothes
And somewhere to sleep
Which is my first challenge
And I don't do so well
I'm so out of practice with
City life
Ending up weirdly
- It's a longer story
Than I've got time to tell -
In
San Pedro de los Pinos
(A fair-to-middlin'
Mexico City district)
At midnight
With no real idea what I'm doing
A bit worried being on those dark Mexico City streets
With my wheely case
And my gringo tourist skin
But I needn't have been:
I find an odd little homemade shrine
To the Virgin Mary
With flashing lights
And a power point for phone
And sit there until 3am
Strangely inspired
To write and write and write
Fourteen pages, by hand
A whole load of
Recollections and reflections
Puzzlements and regrets
A bunch of feelings, even, too
And then when done
I walk
(And wheel)
Till I find a playground
(Parque de Miraflores)
Put up my tent
Under a children's slide
Sleep a couple of fitful hours
And in the morning
Book a "travel bureau car"
(Blablacar)
To Santiago de Queretaro
And am back on the road
Zooming through beautiful Mexico
Digging the hills and green
Different to Baja
Lovely, nonetheless
And from there,
A bus to San Miguel de Allende
Eight years after I first feel to visit it
And
I love it
It's perhaps the most picturesque city
I've ever been in
I wander the streets
I feel inspired to write
I stay four happy days
I think maybe I should live there
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