Follow Chuck Bolotin, from Best Places in the World to Retire, as he, his wife, and two dogs drive through Mexico in a large, white van. This is the most recent story and describes their near death experiences on the road, an evening in a yurt, and gorgeous beaches.
Driving south on Highway 1 from after it intersects Highway 5 is fairly uneventful, if by “uneventful” you mean the hundreds of times when you’re confronted with the fact that even a slight miscalculation on your steering wheel will result in certain death. A half inch to the left, and you’ll crash head-on into a semi barreling towards you at 60 miles per hour. A half inch to the right, and you’ll go over the roughly 12-inch shoulder to plunge either into a ditch, or down a canyon. (I recommend relaxed concentration, razor sharp reflexes, and hands at 10 and 2, just like your driver’s education instructor told you.)
For most of the trip, Highway 1 is just two lanes; the one going your way, and the one with possible death hurtling towards you. Both lanes look to be narrow, and the shoulder varies from what seems like about a foot in width maybe a few inches. Don’t let anyone tell you that Mexicans don’t know how to drive; they’re excellent drivers in general and, given the width of the trucks, their speed, and their very small margin for error, Baja truck drivers are first rate athletes.
You cross from Baja Norte into Baja Sur at…
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Man and dogs at Playa Santispak, Baja California. (PHOTO: Chuck Bolotin)
