I am enjoying myself but still finding the language barrier and cultural barrier greater than I'd like. It is not impossible and I'm making do just fine, the hesitarion is probably more in my head than anything else when it comes to going inside places for food or to order things. It is a completly foreign system and lifestyle down here. I have not seen a chain store of any kind since Ensenada and am avoiding the drinking water in favor of purified water. That alone is a huge change for me, where in the states I could fill up in every town at a gas station or fast food joint. Water is important in the desert so I just buy 5L jugs which are heavy but last 2-3 days.
Standing out like an alien everywhere I go on account of my gear and setup is also unusual. I've seen three motorcycles total in the last 4 days of travel and city visits, two of which were the police. The discrepancy in safety concerns down here is much less than in the north. This is much more of a small town kind of region with many miles of unhibatied deserts in which to camp/hide out. If I don't see any tire tracks down a side road/trail, there's a good bet it hasn't been traveled in a while and certainly won't be at night.
The vehicles here are in shambles. The rich own new cars, perhaps 10% of vehicles are 2005+, most are 80s-90s model cars which burn oil, creak down the highway on wornout suspensions and are missing pieces or dented. The many trucks travelling the transpeninsular hwy are diesel burning and poorly tuned smokestacks of black haze and dust. Drivers pass at very close distances and often three vehicles wide. Totally unsafe but with a level of comfort everyone here is accustomed to. The engine braking is loud and groans through the night when I'm camped near a hilly section of road. Find me a "I hate engine brakes" or "FERNE CON ENGINE ES MUY STUPIDO" ;) rant off
Otherwise the weather is dry, warm and clear. I spent today on a beach along the bay of conception then went a mile south once a guy came out of his shack and tried to hustle me and this French family for money, coffee or snacks to camp on "his" beach (they are federally owned). Nice quiet spot for the night minus the truck noise. Crickets chirping and owls hooting in the cactus.
Once again, the stars are magnificent."