Blog

The weather was kind enough to clear up this afternoon, which meant that I had the perfect opportunity to take my hired bicycle out for a big ride. Having recovered sufficiently from my accident this morning, I felt up to a ride around the bay. From the Green Tortoise, I rode down to the Embarcadero (the road that hugs the northern shoreline of the city-slash-peninsula), and went west along it, until I reached the Golden Gate Bridge. I then rode over the bridge, cruised down to the lovely town of Sausalito, and continued all the way around the bay, to Tiburón, from where I caught a ferry back to SF's Embarcadero.

I hired a bicycle yesterday, and this morning — despite the weather still being rather sub-optimal — I decided to take it out for a spin. Turns out that this wasn't such a smart move. About 5 minutes into my first ride of San Francisco, I rode over a messy intersection of cable-car tracks in the road, and my bike simply toppled over. As a passer-by said to me, "when they get wet, those tracks are deadly, they turn into black ice". Fortunately, I wasn't going very fast at the time, and neither myself nor the bike were seriously injured. But I did get a bit of a flesh wound, on my left palm and my left knee (some of the usual suspects in bike prangs).

I can understand that hiring a laptop is not the most common thing in the world these days. After all, why would you hire a laptop when it's so cheap to just buy one? And if you're going overseas and you need a laptop when you get there, why not just bring your own? But I would have thought that despite these things, there would still be enough demand to make it reasonably easy to find places that rent laptops. Especially in the San Francisco bay area, which is one of the most hi-tech and online places in the world. Considering what a hard time I had finding a laptop hire service, I guess not.

It's pretty cold and pretty rainy here in San Francisco today. And that feels really weird to me. I got so spoilt in Mexico! After a month of almost constant sun and warmth, I've virtually forgotten what it's like to feel cold. But now I remember how it feels: crap. Anyway, I'm going to have to get used to it, because almost everywhere else I'm going on my trip is probably going to be fairly cold. Including my next stop, Vancouver.

I found this place from the Rough Guides online accommodation directory, and boy, is it good! Although it's surrounded by strip clubs, it's in a good downtown spot, it's got great people, it's got free dinner 3 nights a week, it's got free Wi-Fi, and it's got bike racks inside! I tell you what: there are some things you can only find in California. Despite it being rainy when I got here, I think this really is the Sunshine State.

I was already mising Spanish when I touched down in San Francisco airport; but I wasn't missing it for long, because when I jumped on a shuttle bus into the city, both the driver and my fellow passenger were fluent Spanish speakers! The driver was an immigrant from El Salvador, and the other lady on the bus must have learnt it at some point. ¡Bienvenidos a Los Estados Unidos de America, amigo!

This flight was even longer than my flight a month earlier, from Los Angeles to Mexico City: today's flight took me a good 4.5 hours. Because I had to get up at 3:30am to make it this morning, I was absolutely dog tired; unfortunately, though, it was too sunny for me to get any shut-eye on the plane. This United flight was quite pleasant: I had some friendly fellow passengers, and there was even something good on the TV.

Well, the first month of my world trip has come to a close, and what a month it's been! Mexico has been, for me, the start of a whole new phase of my life; and I know that from this point on, I'll never be the same again. This trip to Mexico has been my first time travelling alone; my first time dumped in the deep end with a foreign language; my first time I've gone a month straight without being sober; and my first time doing more other crazy things than I dare to even think about.

Also, putting me aside for a moment, Mexico itself has proven to be a much more beautiful and vibrant place than I ever imagined it to be. The friendly locals; the ever-present fellow travellers; the stunning natural scenery; the imposing ancient ruins; and the excellent infrastructure, have all blown me away. Mexico, my heart will be with you always.

After a month of Mexican hostels, I'm more certain than ever that Amigo is the best damn hostel in the country, and it was great to return and to spend one last night here. I didn't do anything much for my final night in Mexico; just hung out at Amigo, and had some drinks with the other folks staying there. Also had a little reunion with Alan, who has returned from his volcanic expedition, and who's going back home to England soon.

Saw some interesting stuff on the bus from Oaxaca back to Mexico City today. The road is beautiful: is passes through sharp, jagged mountains; and in some places, there are delicate cactus plants in every direction, as far as the eye can see. But the road is also treacherous, as it winds its way through the harsh landscape: we passed several roadside accidents, including a truck that had completely rolled over and off the road. For beauty's sake, and for safety's sake, I'm glad I took this road in the daytime.