On Monday morning we had been looking forward to our second free* walking tour. We were to discover the historical centre of Mexico City, and gain a greater understanding of its' history and culture. Unfortunately the guide had a car accident on the way to work meaning that our tour was cancelled. The other guests who were booked on the trip decided to do the hop-on-hop-off bus tour for the day, but this really wasn't our cup of tea, so we decided that we would visit the pyramids just outside of the city, at Teotihuacan. At the advice of the hostel receptionist we took the electric bus to the north bus station. This was by far the dodgiest place that we had been, as there were so many tramps and drunks hanging around that we literally ... read more

We had been having a really great relaxed time in Puerto Escondido after spending so many hours on the bus over the past week, but we were keen to continue travelling. We had not been very impressed with the standard of the beaches at Puerto as they had a lot of black sand and the currents were too strong to swim in the sea on the main beach at Zicatela. It was also far too dangerous for beginners to surf, so we were unable to rent a board. We had originally planned to stay in Puerto Escondido for five more days to take some Spanish lessons, but we had not found a school to enrol in time. We decided to move on to Acapulco, as it was kind of on the way to Mexico City, our ... read more

We arrived in Oaxaca early on the 1st of November. Even in Chiapas we had seen posters advertising Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, it was supposed to be a massive event. It had been so busy that we were unable to find any hostels with online availabilty before we left San Cristobal. Fortunately our Swedish friend Daniel had checked into a hostel the previous day, and had been able to make a reservation for us too. We would be staying at Casa de Don Pablo, and it turned out to be a really great place. Upon arriving in Oaxaca we were surprised. From what we had read on the city we thought we were headed somewhere even more quaint than San Cristobal- we had expected to be stepping back in time to see ladies dying ... read more

We stepped off the bus and were shocked- it was freezing. People were wearing scarves and winter jackets. When we had got on the bus it was sweltering outside; we had climbed up the mountains and here we were in minus figures (well not quite but it felt like it). It was close to midnight and we had no reservation. Fortunately, the local hoteliers turned out for us and were in their element flicking through their A4 folders showing us their accommodations in which we could stay. As it was dark we didn't want to take any chances; we turned down a lift from a friendly Mexican (whose hostel we weren't staying at) and attempted to catch a taxi to Rossco Hostel, which was part of a group of hostels of which we had already stayed ... read more

For the third day running it was raining in Merida. We had wanted to visit the nearby cenotes (sinkholes underground) which you are able to swim in, but had been told they were only worth going to if the sun was out, as the sun shines through small holes in the ground which lights up the caverns. As this was the only trip we really wanted to take in Merida, we decided to cut our losses, and made our way back towards Playa del Carmen, via Chichen Itza. We were advised in our hostel that we could take the second class bus to the ruins for half the price of the first class bus, and that it would only take an extra 45 minutes. We decided this wasn't too bad, and made our way to the ... read more