After about six weeks cycling down the Baja peninsular we have finally reached La Paz, the town from where we can catch a ferry to the mainland. We are staying with Tuly, a legendary Warm Showers host, camping in her carport with Juan and Marie, who arrived at the end of the same day we do. There's also Colin the Manxman in his hammock. You rarely meet travellers from the Isle of Man, so its no surprise that we remember meeting him outside an outdoor shop in Calgary 6 months earlier. Also staying at Tuly's are Anna and Adrien. They first came to Tuly on bicycles and they have kept returning here. But now they have sold their bikes and are currently in negotiation with an American couple to buy their yacht. They are thinking about another way of travelling.
We hang out here in this shady peaceful setting, thinking about our onward route and catching up on messages from home. Sitting around Tuly's kitchen table we talk with her and Juan and Marie about the coronavirus in Spain, in France and here too. The first case has just been recorded in the resort area of Los Cabos, a hundred miles south at the tip of the Baja Calfornia peninsula. "A British man" Tuly says, raising her eyebrows at us. I feel embarrassed. The man had come to a wedding from Florida, it is thought.
Meanwhile Adrien and Anna seem blissfully unconcerned. "La Grippe" Adrien jokes. I'm a little envious of them - they have no smartphone. We got ours before we flew to Canada and right at this moment I feel like a slave to it - unable to keep from looking at it, wondering what the latest coronavirus news will be. We are also in a Whatsapp group set up by Mexicans to support cycletourists travelling through Mexico. Juan told us about it when we first met a month ago. The group means you can ask about safety on a route, or for help or other information about bikes and accomodation. Juan has just posted information about Guatemala closing its borders. The phone now pings incessantly, calling out to be looked at. It is driving me insane. I can't silence the pinging.
The group administrator posts official government advice about what to do. We're at the wash hands, cough into your elbow stage. Foolishly the president is still holding rallies and acting as if everything is normal. When challenged he shows the journalists his religious medallion worn around his neck. "This will protect me." So, he's alright then. Meanwhile a minister in his government claims the virus won't attack the poor. It is a rich man's virus. All the early cases reported in Mexico are of wealthy Mexicans who've picked it up on skiing trips or cruises. It doesn't bode well.
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| Juan prepares soup for dinner |
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| despite appearances, Adrien is not your typical Frenchman |
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| Tuly with one of her pugs |
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| a shady safe haven |
The group administrator posts official government advice about what to do. We're at the wash hands, cough into your elbow stage. Foolishly the president is still holding rallies and acting as if everything is normal. When challenged he shows the journalists his religious medallion worn around his neck. "This will protect me." So, he's alright then. Meanwhile a minister in his government claims the virus won't attack the poor. It is a rich man's virus. All the early cases reported in Mexico are of wealthy Mexicans who've picked it up on skiing trips or cruises. It doesn't bode well.
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| with Marie and Juan on the malecon |
