Day 50. Mexico 2022. La Paz

I like La Paz. It is a very nice Mexican City that in many respects reminds me of the old Puerto Vallarta, with the feeling that it is a real place where real people live, while at the same time being friendly and welcoming toward the tourist. The malecón is attractive and widely used by people once the sun sets, and there are enough restaurants and bars to give it color and sound. My only complaint is that the sun takes its task of providing ample amounts of solar radiation very seriously; the air temperature is actually not that bad when in the shade, but as soon as get out of it the sun drills mercilessly unto your head.

I spent the morning walking to the rental car agency, finding a nice place for breakfast, renting the car and going for a spin along the malecón and farther along the coast. It is funny, but seeing a line of palm trees separating desert and ocean makes a world of difference. I can now look inland into the harsh desert landscape and it doesn’t seem as wild as I felt it was in Sonora.

Once I was back in the city I parked in the tiny downtown, went to visit the Jesuit Misión de Nuestra Seňora de La Paz, established in 1720, went to the bank, and generally had a good time. From there I went visit the Museum of Modern Art (weird!) and the Museum of Anthropology and History, which has some fantastic displays of cave art dating back to 10,000 years ago. I also learned that Hernán Cortés himself came to cheack out the legendary island of California, made landfall in the Bay of La Paz in 1535, just long enough to claim the land for the Spanish crown and turn tail right away, convinced that there was nothing in this wild piece of desert worth colinizing the place (i.e., the natives had no gold). It was not until the Jesuits came, in 1720, that colonization started.

I spent the afternoon in the pool at my hotel, and in the evening went for a walk along the malecón to satiate myself with crazy people, music, and color. Yes, I will have to try to convince the family to come celebrate Christmas in La Paz one of these days.

From here I am going to go exploring the small towns along the southern tip of Baja California, and I suspect I will not have access to internet, but I will get back to you in four days or so.