Peurto De Pichilingue/ La Paz

Next day it's another port and accompanying city to explore. It's a rough job, but someone has to do it!
Peurto de Pichilingue is more of a tourist oriented port. It houses an attractive building with a marketplace and landscaping of Saguaro Cactus. A little farther down is the Baja Ferry that transports people, cars and cargo across the bay.

Puerto De Pichilingue Mexico



The ride into town is scenic as the desert grows to the sea. The Sagauro Cactus are everywhere and so are luxury resort residences and hotels. The bus dropped us in the Malecon area of town. The main street is next to the bay with restaurants, bars, shops and sights to see. It seems to be home to many artists and we purchased handmade earrings for our daughters. Statues and murals decorate a nearby courtyard.


We are here a few days before Dia De Los Muertos celebration. It is a remembrance of the departed and there are decorations in some of the stores

One thing I learned in Mexico is to be careful while walking. This was discussed somewhere in the shipboard tutorial that I mostly ignored. There is a more relaxed attitude towards building codes. The sidewalk will randomly drop a couple inches without notice. In the U.S. a construction zone will be lined with orange cones and signage. Here so is not the case. Someone was kind enough to place a plastic garbage can in an electrical box with no cover and a twelve inch drop. Watch your step! I did not follow my own advice as I stepped into the returning bus and flung myself in the open door unceremoniously. An elderly couple on board watched and lifted their beers to me. "Too much cerveza," they said. I replied, "Not enough!" and they pointed out a store nearby where I could purchase some for a dollar. Another observation I made was how tourists flock to the familiar. With all the unique restaurants and shops, a lot of our fellow passengers hung out at Applebee's and Thrifty ice cream.

With not enough time to fully explore this beautiful town, we head back to the ship. Tomorrow we will be in Mazatlan. Loving this vacation.

Topolobampo/ Los Mochis Mexico

The itinerary of our recent Norwegian Cruise Line trip included five ports in Mexico. My plan is to write five blogs of impressions we had of each port.
Our first stop was the Port of Topolobampo. We woke up to a beautifully warm day. Customs arrangements for passengers to enter the country were being made, so we climbed on deck to peek out at our surroundings. The port is a no nonsense working pier. We had docked next to a freighter offloading as trucks and train cars stood by. Small fishing boats sped by as we waited for the word to go ashore.

Topolobampo Mexico

Finally we had permission to disembark and headed for the gangway. The ship's photographers scrambled to take pictures to sell us later. I was busy with my own camera trying to shoot a photo of the ship's logo.

Norwegian Sun, Topolopambo Mexico

Then I realized that I was missing something - my wife! It seems the ship issued identification card had demagnetized and she had to return for a replacement. As I waited, I eyeballed the long lines for the buses to take us to Los Mochis. In an impulsive moment I decided we should take one of the taxis queued up nearby. This is the place where old eighties and nineties cars come to live. The price was right, $20 for nearly 30 minute trip into town. We rode in a late eighties Datsun with no shocks, a speedometer that did not work and the windshield wiper was tied on with a piece of cotton bandage. We were living the Vida Loca! We passed a lot of poverty as we drove into town. Some homes with children and chickens playing in the yard barely qualified as shacks. A cowboy herding several cows in the median seemed strange. I felt sad and out of place but the people in town seemed happy to see us and were welcoming. I imagine the tourists brought a little money to the local economy. The cab dropped us downtown at what I would describe as a sixties style strip mall. Therein was a Woolworths and a bowling alley as well as a Burger King and KFC. Glad to see we are exporting our lifestyle to our neighbors to the south.

Los Mochis Mexico

We checked out the town square and the adjacent church. The folliage was lush and the warm weather was wearing us out. We decided it was time to return to the ship. This time we took the air conditioned bus. Back at the ship a group of local dancers entertained. We hung out on board and watched the sunset. Lovely!

Sunset aboard Norwegian Sun Topolobampo

Second Honeymooon

We have reluctantly returned to reality after our second honeymoon. The experience was, in a word, magnificent. On Friday October 23 we boarded The Norwegian Cruise Lines Sun at pier 35 in San Francisco. We headed out under the Golden Gate Bridge for an eleven night, twelve day cruise to Mexico.

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge as seen from Norwegian Sun

This was the longest time we have been away since our honeymoon 34 years ago. I am happy to report we still get along quite well and enjoyed every moment of the cruise. We stopped at five ports and had a whirlwind tour at each one. There really was not enough time to fully explore the towns but we tried to maximize our days. On the ship there is so many things to do you have to plot an agenda daily to to fully experience the boat. Even on our last day we were finding places on board we had not seen before. The food is excellent and abundant with many venues to try. At one of the nightly shows we attended the cruise director/ comedian said that the people boarded the ship as passengers and left as cargo. He was right on the money! With so many things to talk about I thought I would start with breakfast. Here is a small sample of what was available to start the day.






Breakfast on the Norwegian Sun