The old hotel we called home in Loreto had what you might call the patina of age. It was once the home of a General who had two tunnels built to link the house to the armoury in one direction and the church in another. It seemed that in those turbulent days you could be the big man one day and seeking asylum to escape from the ensuing mob the next. It was a reminder of Mexico's colourful history and the part played by the Baja. Loreto was the first administrative capital of the Californias from 1697 until 1777 when it was moved to Monterey. It was here on the Baja that the first of a chain of missions was established that would eventually stretch all the way to Canada.

A late start, a hot day and a long ride through the desert to La Paz was made stone when we found the road in front of the cheap hotel we had picked had been turned into a construction  site. An agonisingly long and sweaty half hour manoeuvring the Elephant got us parked but only just before Elephant and the Mahout both expired. Not even a few beers and some food at Bandidos Bar and Grill improved things all that much when the beers turned up cool but not cold.

La Paz is a commercial and port town with a history dating back to 1535 when Cortez landed and named the bay. The first permanent settlement was not, however, until 1720. It is much like modern towns everywhere. The internet works and you can get an espresso if you know where to look. We spent a few days there wandering around the town in the mornings then trying to organise some new tyres for Elephant in heat of the afternoon. By the time we found our way to the ferry terminal 20km north of the town, we knew more than we wanted to about La Paz and, importantly, knew there were no tyres of the type we needed, on the Baja.

Elephant has been on a lot of ferries all over the world so we have the “pack-drill” sorted. It was as well we didn't plan anything else that day as it took a while to figure out how to get a weigh-bridge ticket, a customs clearance and buy our tickets. Jo finally boarded leaving me and Elephant sitting in the heat waiting to board last after all the trucks and cars. When we finally rolled on, the ferry was untied and the loading ramp was lifting into place. I asked for a strap to tie the bike down. The deck captain, the only other person left on the cargo deck by then, laughed and told me that was my problem. For once I didn't miss a beat. I agreed that it would be my problem if the bike fell over. I then pointed out that when the upturned bike emptied 30 litres of premium gasoline onto the cargo deck it would become his problem. This possibility obviously hadn't occurred to him because he visibly blanched then rushed off to find a strap.

By the time I got up to the passenger deck and found Jo, the lunch that was included in our ticket was almost over and we had another little round of rushing to get fed. The food was, like the rest of the ship, basic but adequate and we rolled out into the port town of Topolobampo glad to be rid of the tedium of the ship and desperate for some fresh air. We rode on to Los Mochis and by midnight had ourselves settled in a cheap hotel with a few facilities nearby.

Our main business in Los Mochis was tyres. The only sizable local bike dealer had quoted me 45 days delivery on any of a half dozen options I had provided. Nice clean town as it is, 45 days in Mochis didn't seem a good option so I turned for help to our friends Ernesto and Andrea who live down in Guadalajara. Ernesto, as we had already discovered, knows everyone in Mexico who can get anything done and by the end of the day we had a set of Heidenau adventure tyres on the way from Mexico City to Los Mochis. They will be there on Monday.

The plan sorted, we headed out of the city, but only a little, and ended our week in the pretty town of El Fuerte 80km away in the agricultural hinterland. This is one of Mexico's Pueblos Magicos. It has some interesting history and some preserved precincts with lots of hotels and a smattering of restaurants and bars. We arrived, parked the bike and entered the hotel. It was then the skies opened in a ferocious thunderstorm turning the streets to rivers. Huey missed us again. Later we splashed out with our umbrellas to find food and cold beer very sure that we had more than our share of good luck this week.