Byron

Day 358 - Monday 22 September Arriving into San Francisoc just before lunchtime I quickly found the hostel I'd booked yesterday. Its a good job I had booked ahead its already full for tonight. The downside is though im back in a dorm room. I cant believe it after the luxury room I had in Vegas. They don't do check-in until 2pm so I had to wait around, but on the plus side they've got free internet. I never realised how much I used it until I couldn't find access to it anywhere. Finally after checking in I went to have a look around San Fransisco. It looks like quite a nice place as I made my way to the wharf. After looking at some old boats and taking a photo of the Golden Gate bridge ... read more

Day 348 - Friday 12 September With no idea how long it might take to cross the border we decided to go early so at half past six in the morning we were at the bus station buying our tickets to Brownsville the border town on the US side. As most Mexicans cant go to America not surprisingly the bus was empty and me and Russ were the only passengers. It didn't actually take us long to cross and we soon found ourselves in Brownsville. Now being in America I expected to be able to revert back to speaking english but all i'm hearing around me is Spanish. After 6 months i'm starting to get sick of it. There was more bad news in store. Because Hurricane Ike is due to strike Houston later tonight they've ... read more

Day 347 - Thursday 11 September We arrived into Matamoros around lunchtime and im actually surprised at how big the place is. Its far bigger than any of the other border towns I've been too but like many of the others theres absolutely nothing to do here. As we were not crossing until tomorrow morning we checked into a nearby hotel. Its an absolute dive and not cheap but will do for the night. With nothing to do I spent most of the rest of the day and evening twidling my thumbs waiting for tomorrow.... read more

Day 346 - Wednesday 10 September The bus had taken four hours longer than it was supposed to and we didn´t arrive into Veracruz until 1:30 pm, 23 hours after setting off. Luckily the football wasn´t starting until 2pm so we just had enough time to find somewhere that would show it. It was right at the start of my trip that England last played Croatia in the euro qualifiers, and i´d stayed up in a Bangkok bar until 6am to watch that dreadful game much to the glea of some Irish blokes in there. It was good to get some revenge. Once the game had finished I only had a couple of hours to pass until my next bus was due to leave. So after getting something to eat there was no time for any ... read more

Day 337 - Monday 1 September After spending all morning on the internet booking travel tickets we made our way down to the ferry point in the hotel zone. We got there just before 1pm but the next boat doesn't leave until 2 so we hade to wait around an hour in the scorching heat. As Isla de Mujeres is only just off the coast of Cancun it only took twenty mins to get there and with it being such a small island we were booked into some accommodation and down the beach by half past three. It looks like a nice little island so there should be a few relaxing days ahead and as I hadn't expected to be on any more small islands again it was a nice surprise. I don't know how hot ... read more

Day 333 - Thursday 28 August Well the bus did arrive safely into Cancun about half eight in the morning but unfortunately for me Mexicans are a lot shorter than I am. There had been absolutely no leg room and my legs had got crushed all night long meaning I hadn´t managed to get an ounce of sleep. To make matters worse Cancun looks like quite a big town. The hotel zone down by the beach is well out of our price range and the hotel prices the taxi drivers are quoting in downtown don´t come into my definition of cheap. Luckily one of us was in the boy scouts and I´d noted down the address of a cheap place we´d found on the internet. We took a taxi over. After sleeping through the morning, mid ... read more

Day 331 - Tuesday 26 August The bus dropped us off in Palenque about seven in the morning and we checked ourselves into a nearby hotel. As the bus driver for some reason had been playing music all through the night and we´d had to all get off the bus when it refuelled at four I'd had a lot of broken sleep. It was off straight to bed. I was up just after lunchtime and we went to have a walk around the town. Its just like many other small towns I've visited, rather pleasant. As its such a warm day though I soon decided to leave it until later this afternoon and used the hotel pool instead. Early evening we carried on our eploration of the town. As its such a warm night we didn't ... read more