My first time to Mexico, after checking into the resort the plan was for me to go into PV and use a bank machine. I got on a bus, found an ATM and withdrew some money. I got back on a bus and noticed a young guy(15 maybe) and gave him the universal symbol for 'smoke pot'. He understood and we got off somewhere and walked a long ways into the slum area of town. We got to the place he was taking me and it was 4 big, young, tattooed Mexicans living in literally a one room tin shack with a dirt floor, 1 bed, a stove and ice box, 1 lone picture on the wall of the Virgin Mary and a kitchen table with a pile of pot about 2' high. I was a little worried, outnumbered and complete language barrier, but that picture of the Virgin Mary helped to convince me they must be all right guys.
Well, they understood what I wanted but it was difficult to explain I just wanted a small pile when they expected me to buy that whole huge pile. I would pull a little pile away and try to explain it was all I wanted. They would throw me a paper and I would roll up a big fatty. A couple hours and 3 joints later we finally agreed on the amount I was buying. I had a wad of cash from the bank machine and one of the guys helped me count out the proper amount. With lots of hand shakes and smiles I said goodbye and the young kid walked me out of the neighbourhood to where I could catch a bus again. Got back to the resort 4 hours later and my wife was FREAKING OUT, remember this was our first time in Mexico! The bag of pot helped calm her down but I was certainly NEVER to do that again.
Another time, after working 4 months straight in a remote location far north I got home for spring breakup and on a whim we decided to drive to Mexico. Packed up camping gear that day and off we went. We drove through California tenting all the way, there was one place near San Diego where we could set up the tent right on the beach. We crossed the border at Tijuana and drove down the Baja. We were given lots of warnings and advice along the way but the only one I paid attention to was not to drive at night. I had maps but that year a hurricane had hit and the roads were badly damaged and impassable in many places. My interest was to drive the actual Baja race course so we made our way over to the Sea of Cortez side.
We drove past this odd outpost type place with just one old guy with a wooden leg that had pop cans strung up everywhere, we said hi but kept going to a beach camping area we heard about. I got the tent and camp all set up just before dark but there were these little sand flies everywhere and my wife insisted we couldn't stay, so I packed everything back up and now it was dark. We drove back to the old guys place and that old bugger LOL, he says I knew you'd be back! He had an old truck camper on blocks that he offered to us to stay in. He showed my wife so she could decide if it met her approval. I was getting a few things from the truck and she came back and said we need the sleeping bags. It was like 120 degrees so I thought it was strange, but once inside that little camper and after the flashlight turned off, all you could hear was millions of little scurrying noises. I didn't even want to imagine what kind of bugs they were, needless to say we were zipped up in the sleeping bags tighter than ever! As soon as the sun came up we were getting the hell out of there! Didn't sleep a wink that night haha. Still, we really appreciated the old guys hospitality and thanked him. I found out later he is kind of famous and has been in that spot for many many years, it's along the Baja race route and he had pictures and memorbilia from every race. There is a documentary type movie on the Baja race and he is in it.
So we drove up the Sea of Cortez coast and it was totally deserted, with the recent hurricane there were holes in the road big enough to fit a house in! Then out of the blue, and in the middle of nowhere we see a guy standing by the road. We pulled over and he asked for a ride into St. Felipe, of course we said sure. He said great, hang on, and ran back to his little shack and out comes his wife, 2 kids, 80+ year old grandmother, several garbage bags of clothes and stuff, and a box of kittens! They all climbed into the box of my truck and off we went. 2 hours later we made it to St. Felipe and were invited to their home. They were sooo happy to be back, he explained to us it's been 2 weeks waiting for a ride back, getting out there is easy as the fish trucks go out empty, but getting back is hard because fish trucks are full and usually the only vehicles are dune buggys and such, nothing that could take his whole family. Boy was he glad to see us! We spent another week in St. Felipe before driving back to Canada, all told it was one of the best vacations ever!
