Finally a lazy day. Travelling can be hard work. Bus journeys that last 24hrs or more. Trekking through humidity and heat. Worrying about not spending much money, and therefore staying in hotels that you wouldn't normally tolerate because they're cheap. A lie in at the nasty hotel followed by a day spent wandering around the markets and churches of San Cristobal. I brought some random fruit, a Papaya - large green, smelling of melon from the outside, orange and tasting like a cross between melon and banana inside. Pachuyra (I think), green scales on the outside, inside succulent milky flesh surrounding seeds, I can't describe the flavour but it was sweet and pleasant. Panches, small yellow cherry like fruit that tasted of cheese. I didn't like them. In the square we were accosted by a small ... read more

The second waterfall of the day was very different to the first. A stream dropped about 35m into a large pool of deep water. You could walk underneath the waterfall or behind it to avoid getting very wet, to some small caves at the back. Again this waterfall was surrounded by lush vegetation. More jungle.... read more

The streets of San Cristobal de Casas consisted of beautiful colonial buildings, attractive churches and a lively mix of different people. From tribes people from the villages, Mexicans of Spanish descent and many many tourists, travellers and holiday makers. The overnight journey to San Cristobal had been one of the more tiring of those I've experienced, so a hotel with hot water was a top priority. We stayed in one of the nicest hotels yet, Hotel San Martin, even had a TV. Slept, catching up on sleep yet again. Had a "menu del dias" at a small authentic looking restaurant, most of the food seemed to be bean based, refried beans as a side order and a red bean sauce - I'm getting a little sick of Mexican food now. The Mexican food back home in ... read more

Arriving at Potchutla at 5am wasn't a pleasant experience. After leaving the coach we were swarmed by around twenty taxi drivers. After being rudely wrenched from poor quality bus sleep, I wasn't up to dealing with this many insistent people. We had planned to catch a connecting bus to Zipolite, had no where to stay, and didn't really want to arrive at 5.30am. The coach had gained two hours on its expected arrival time. Plus - I'm now a savvy budget traveller - a taxi is well beyond my means. We dragged our gear to a bus station and sat and waited. Being the rainy season in the tropic of cancer, there was a huge thunder storm, so much water fell, we had luckily found a dry spot - a bus shelter - it must have ... read more

Monte Alban are a set of pre-hispanic ruins a few miles from Oaxaca. Gary, Tim, Reena and I had decided to head out to them in the morning. Home of the Zapotecs, Monte Alban had grown into a thriving town of 10,000 people. The even had an observatory and squash court. I'm not sure how many of the ruins I saw dated from then, I guess most of them - they looked pretty old. The museum had only Spanish descriptions, none of us spoke much Spanish or had a dictionary with us... it was a shame as lots of it was lost on us. We managed to understand the of carvings of genital mutilation with out the spanish descriptions though, a nasty punishment. Back in Oaxaca we went to the market. The food looked great, huge ... read more