We are now in California, US. But I will tell all about the rest of our time in Mexico as I havent wrote for ages I know! So on the 31st Aug we left Mexico City for La Paz in Baja California. The journey went pretty smoothly, except it was a bit of a pain dragging our rucksacks accross Mexico City's metro system, then the security guy at the airport deciding to go through the whole of my rucksack before I'd even checked in - he unzipped it and a bra and other dirty clothes fell out. I think he was as embarrassed as me. Then he rummaged through everything. It took two of them to squeeze it all back in again. God. The flight was a bit weird too, have never been on a plane that stops off at different airports along the way, like a bus. Anyway we arrived in La Paz, but we were totally unprepared for the scorching heat that hit us as we steped off the plane. Air too hot to breathe! That evening we went for a meal, had a huge prawn thing. Bloody expensive though so we nicked lots of packets of crackers from the table to try and get our moneys worth. Spent the night in our horrible room which was much like a prison cell. Concrete everything - the walls, floor, beds, wardrobe, table - except the roof which was tin. Really dusty too and no window. Woke up at 7am to Nikki screaming. We had a resident cockroach in our manky bathroom (concrete floor and v.suspicious stains on the walls). Yuck. So we got up and headed for the beach, we had to wait an hour for a bus, that turned out to be a 10min drive. As usual we got a totally crazy bus-driver, driving insanely fast along a windy, narrow, cliff-top road. So much so that somebodys bag fell out so he had to go back and get it. We finally got to the beach (which turned out not to be the one we were aiming for anyway). It wasnt nice but it was a relief to get to the sea, which was lovely and refreshing. Then we spotted this guy sitting on a wall behind us and staring. The creep actually exposed himself and started playing with himself right there and then! . We screamed and swore at him and he ran off like the nasty little pervert he was. Men are so disgusting. That is now the second time that has happened to us. Ugh. Anyway we stayed for a while then went to the nearby hotel for some grub. The staff there were really nice and chatty. One of them even drove us back home. Nice bunch, maybe not all men are disgusting. But they did mention something a bit disturbing - a hurricane may be on the way and was due to arrive the next day! So we went and got supplies (snacks, cigs and a candle) and then went out to a bar on the malecon. It was on the roof-top, open-air with dozens of TV screens suspended in the air. At one point we had to go back to the hostel for more money and discovered our room to be full of cockroaches! It was horrendous, there was at least 10 of them in the tiny room including one in my bed. We demanded to be moved rooms straight away - it was better, much cleaner and only 1 cockroach (that we got the guy to kill), although there was a huge stuffed turtle hanging outside. Ugh. It definately comes in my top 3 of worst hostels we've stayed in! Couldnt face staying there so we went back to the bar, ended up having a fantastic night. It was jam packed by the time we got back - boiling hot even though its open air. We got loads of drinks bought for us, and even some roses. We danced like crazy to 80's music. At one point it starting raining but we all just carried on dancing right there in the rain - knowing the hurricane was on its way. It was quite exciting. Woke up with awful hangover not helped by the pounding of the heavy rain on the tin roof and the strong winds. It actually didnt seem that bad, so we assumed it had missed La Paz. Mainly just rain, but never seen anything like it, just like a sheet of water falling from the sky, so heavy. We had to hibernate in our shabby room all day long. That night, just when we thought it was all over we were woken at 2am by the pounding rain again, then started the roaring wind. It was totally pitch black and the noise was deafening. We were terrified! The electric had gone so we sat there with wide eyes around our strawberry-scented candle. It went on all night, managed to get a couple of hours of shut-eye around 6ish. When we woke it was still raining but the wind had died down alot. But we were stuck there again for most of the day, bored out of our minds. We had no water and the room was so dark it was depressing. Unfortunately we had only rationed for 1 day and our hostel was hopelessly unhelpful so at some point we had to go out and find food. So we went out in the rain. Me wearing my v.trendy rain-mack (which is really just a yellow bin-liner with a hood). The streets were such a state. There were trees fallen everywhere, signs hanging in telephone wires, general crap everywhere and the streets were badly flooded. So we had to wade through ankle-high water (which really didn't smell to great). Of course everything was closed, so Nikki had to reach through the grating of a shop window and pinch some crisps, although we did through money through after (honest looting). Then we found an old smelly guy selling odd bits on the street - fags, chocolate, sweets etc - we bought everything, he laughed. We felt really bad when we saw a homeless guy out in that weather so we gave him some chocolate, wish we could have done more for him. Then we went back to going insane in our dingy room. So much for coming to La Paz for the weather! By the evening we were so fed up we went in search of a drink. There was one place open so we found ourselves in the dodgiest bar I've ever seen (and thats saying something!). The only other women in there were prostitutes (and one of them clearly wasnt even really a woman) and the men were scary to say the least. We ordered a couple drinks and quickly ran out of the hell-hole with them, well as quick as we could without spilling them! In the morning the rain and wind had stopped and the sun was finally out - yay! Apparently the eye of the hurricane had hit La Paz at category 3 (whatever that means). But our hostel still had no electric, lighting or water. We'd had enough and packed our bags and moved down the road to a much nicer place with water and light. Having a shower, and being able to flush the toilet never felt so great! We treated oursleves to some real food then went to the beach for a couple of hours. Decided to walk back to town (mainly because we had no idea where to get the bus) but we were really thirsty and it was so hot it wasnt pleasant so luckily about the 5th car that stopped and offered us a lift we recognised from a quick chat in a shop the other day. So we jumped in. His name is Orlando and he offered to show us about the next day. So in the morning he picked us up and treated us to a nice breakfast by the bay then he showed us where he works, on a really swish million-pound bout in the marina. Then we headed for a gorgeous beach. The landscape along the way was completely different to any I've seen in the rest of Mexico, or anywhere else for that matter. Miles of rocky mountains covered in cactus' of all shapes and sizes, real desert! Although apparently it was much greener than usual because of the freak rain recently, there was even a new lake that had formed. There was also alot of damage to the roads from the hurricane, sometimes half of it was missing - although there had been an earthquake. The beach was lovely, white sand, backdrop of the rocky mountains and it was almost completely empty, we climbed around some rocks and settled in a bay all to ourselves, facing 'Mushroom rock' which amazingly withstood the huricane - it really does look like a mushroom too. We lazed there for a while them went to another beach for lunch, we tried a delicious selection of seafood (half of which Ive never had before) and had a few beers. Ahh thats the life... Me and Nikki did pretty much the same thing the next day, except we had to get a bus so we couldnt go such a nice beach, but we even ordered the same dish, which weirdly enough I discovered makes me really sleepy. The following day, Wednesday, we went on a road trip with Orlando and another guy, Kevin, a bit of a crazy but cool dude from LA who owns a boat on the same marina. We went to Cabos and stayed with one of Orlando's friends for the night. As we drove there there was a lot of damage to the roads from the hurricane but we got to see some more of the amazing landscape. We arrived and it was rainy. We had a few drinks at his friends then the four of us went out in the town, it was pretty tacky but we had a laugh. It was still raining the next morning. Kevin treated us to lunch on the beach then we decided to head back as there isnt much to do there in the rain. This may have not been such a great idea as the rain had totally messed up the roads. Parts were really deep and muddy. It was lucky we had taken Kevin's van instead of Orlando old car. One point was really bad and lots of cars were stuck, but we went for it anyway, and got totally stuck in the mud! The guys tried to push while I drove - without any success. Although it was amusing seeing them try and to get covered in mud from head to toe! Eventually we got out with a combination of somebody towing us and the guys pushing while I sat at the wheel. There were a couple of other trouble spots and it took us over 4 hours to finish a one-hour drive. Afterwards we went back to Orlando's boss' yacht and stayed there for the week. It was amazing - staying in a million-pound yacht! All with our own seperate rooms with the most comfortable beds ever, all with en-suite bathrooms (with gold-plated taps and things). Its like a really cool apartment, you dont even realise your on the water most of the time. It has everything - big screen TV with surround sound, A/C, washing-machine, dish-washer, comfy leather sofas, even a tap that pours out rum or whisky! Cant beleive our luck! He also made us breakfast most mornings and they provided for almost everything, v.generous of them. We've been really spoiled. That night we went back out to that roof-top bar. I danced all night, as usual, met random people who I now dont remember and even got given a necklace by a woman I dont remember. I dont like it though. The next day we all veged out. Only moving from our boat to Kevins (2 down from ours) watching loads of DVDs. Had a rediculusly huge DVD-fest! When we'd finally all recovered (not till the next day) we all went to a nice beach equiped with a cooler of beer (of course) and chilled out in the sun and sea. Then we carried on the party back at the boats. At some time in the evening I went with Kevin and this other young guy, who was partying on one of the boats, to the shops in town. Then all of a sudden the police pulled us over. They took Kevin and the guy off in a van and drove Kevin's car with me in the back on my own (!), I was kind of panicking as I've heard what the police in Mexico are like and I couldn't understand what the hell was going on. After what seemed like forever to me, but was infact only a few minutes, they pulled us into the police station. Then I was shoved into a room with a female officer and was strip-seacrched, v.embarrassing experience. The others were too. Then we had to stand and watch while they thoroughly searched the car, at least 10 of them scrambling all over it - desperate to find something. We were really worried they might try and plant something. But obviously they didnt find whatever they were looking for and let us go. Apparently it was a routine stop and search, although Kevins flashy car probably had something to do with it. I was just pleased to get back to the comfort of the boat. Was a bit shook up that night and didnt sleep at all, but now I can see the funny side. I mean what else could possibly happen in one little quiet town named La Paz (which means 'the peace' in Spanish)? In one week I'd seen pervy guy on the beach, moved rooms 4 times, lived through a hurricane, got stuck in a muddy road, got to live on a million-pound yacht, and got strip-searched by police! Its certainly been eventful, good and bad - its been an adventure. We spent a couple more days there on the boat. Relaxing, partying and getting spoiled. We were waiting for the roads of Baja California to be cleared after the mess of the hurricane because we were hitching a ride with Kevin all the way to California (22hour drive!). The last night there I didnt really sleep, as usual, due to too much partying and I was feeling pretty worn out and much like a zombie for the whole of the first leg of the journey. Luckily Kevins car is big and comfortable, and even has a DVD player in the back! The views were also spectacular, we drove through miles and miles of the sierra with millions of weird and wonderful cactus, windey cliff-top roads over-looking amazing beaches and mountains. Never seen anything like it. In the evening we stopped at a bit of a nothing town in the middle of nowhere and went for some food. Then we found a motel room and crashed there for the night, the four of us in one room. I still couldnt sleep well as the snoring was too much! After breakfast we set off again, this time it was true desert scenery. Sandy parts with yet more cactus, some of them absolutely huge! Then rocky parts with random piles of huge strangely-shaped rocks. And small little towns with nothing there. It was all pretty surreal. We arrived in Tijuana (the town at the Mexican side of the border) in the evening where we dropped off Orlando, then we carried on to the border. We had a bit of trouble getting through as somebody had messed up when we left Miami and not stamped our passports to say we'd departed and we'd lost our green cards. But eventually, after having to laugh at the v.annoying imigration officers' awful jokes we got through and arrived in San Diego, California. Cant beleive we're actually in the USA now!