Hola todas!
It has been 2 weeks to the day yet it seems like a month. a quick low down of our movements :Our journey begins in mexico city....

expecting chaos and danger we found a bustling, hot and lively centre. the metro system was huge and organised and there was a constant stream of sales people through the carriages offering musica pop, sweets and so on. our hostel was next to the largest and oldest cathedral
in latin america. (note:any mistakes bad enlish no use of capitals etc is by mike not loyise). unbeknown to us at the time we were about to set off on a quest following aztec and mayan ruins from one side of mexico to the other. it started at the aztec site just north of mexico city, Teotihuacan
It was not a bad way to spend valentines day enjoying some merlot we exported from air france on top of the sun pyramid. Funny the affect that climbing pyramids/mountains has on people, there were masses of group hugs and people getting emotional and "spiritual man" on top. Could not get Mike to join in the group hugs, shame! Some even had there crystals out on charge! Amazing energy up there, would be an awesome spot for some shiatsu! here louise
is happy to be pointing at the sun pyramid whilst on top of the moon pyramid.

so after 3 days in mexico city we took a 6 hour bus south to oaxaca. It was during this time we both realised our bellies were not quite right! this is the first entry to our poo diaries. check the category "poo log" for more movements! Another vibrant little City which contained the largest market either of us had set eyes upon. it was here we tasted the delightful chapulines(to all the boyds reading yes you can call me chapulines). These are salted, fried crickets! Yummy! The saying goes if you eat them then you are to return to Oaxaca! louise was hard at her bartering skills and was called cheap by a local selling tortillas as she tried to beat her down from 20p to 15p. the action she used was to raise her arm and tap her elbow with a fist (cheapskate). a great photo opportunity arose when a sweet old lady appeared and louise quickly positioned herself to meet the smiling pose. the shot was taken and we walked on only to realise that not so sweet old lady expected compensation of 50p. we didnt have change so 25p was offered but this was not accepted and she continued her onslaught for payment. her persistent tugging and threats of the police became too much and mike was forced to grab a machette from a vendor and brandish it in a violent manner. louise then deleted the shot(praise the digital camera) and the lady was forced to retreat. We Stayed at the enchanting, Magic hostel, which was very friendly and hippy! This was inviting after the over populated,sweaty streets and bustling markets! Met an old Californian wizard, who looked remarkably like Gandalf! He was quite a character and obsessed with fruit and back walk massage, he passed on his skills to us which have come in handy after our long bus journeys! we visited some mayan ruins at monte alban and also witnessed, alledgedly the oldest being on the planet. he/she is a tree
who has been dated back to an age of somewhere 2000 and 3000 years. the trunk measured at a circumference of 58m. woooh!

Next stop was San Cristobal! 13hr journey on a smelly old night bus, 2nd class. sure worth it!. San Cristobal is a Magical place set high up in the mountains, there is still an indigenous population that are descendants of the Mayans. They are really beautiful. Unfortunately i could not get any photos, they believe that the camera is an evil eye and steals part of their soul! They are very proud people and you get the impression that they are not to keen on gringoes! Legend has it that an American tourist was hacked to death with a machete for taking photos inside a church there! The markets and colonial churches
here are spectaclar, so colourful! we did a day trip to canyon sumidero which included taking a boat up and down and getting to witness a couple american crocs in the flesh and howler monkeys. when the spanish conquestadors invaded native warriors were said to have hurled themselves off the steep cliff tops which reach up to 1000m in height rather than submit.

so with an itch in our feet at the thought of the carribean we jumped a 15 bus to tulum(pronounced chulum). Me and Mike were the only gringoes and i was the only girl out of 40 Mexicans! I could see why after the journey, as it only had a couple of stops and there were no toilets! The men would all get off and pee together by trees, whilst i had to run off in the other direction to find somewhere hidden! Anyway it was a cheap ride and worth it as we arrived at the sea, at last! It was dark, around 5am but you could feel how white the sand was(Mike disagrees at this point and says you can't feel colours, what do you think?) and it felt smooth like plain flour. Either way it was the caribbean sea, yipeee! When the sun came up we realised we chose a good spot as the ruins were really close jutting out along the coast! the water was clear and turquoise, hey the water felt like it was turquoise(not bad for a victim of colour blindness). so we had a kip in our tent then took a cabana for 3 nights. it was a simple shack with a bed and mossie net and slowly the room and everything in it was covered with the fine white sand.(if you have not noticed yet we are switching back and forth like a record to write this). the ruins were magnificent and gave you a feeling like you had gone back in time as glanced over from the water. dragon lizards
guard the ruins and its easy to believe that the spirits of the mayans live on in their form. evenings were spent drinking mohitos sat on swings at the bar. we met a couple who were on a trip gathering photos of action man
fighting baddies in front of various mayan ruins in mexico and guatemala. the photos are for a book he is writing which is about action mans adventures around the world seeking various keys which will unlock many secrets.

now we find ourselves in palenque sat in an internet cafe. we left tulum yesterday morning and headed for chichen itza which is the largest mayan site in mexico. its great pyramid kukulcan
in the heart of the site was overwhelming and a funny site watching fat americans trying to get up and down its steep stairs clutching on to a rope. louise was forced to use the rope as she was wearing her new cowboy boots with slippery soles. wheres louise? On Spring Equinox the sun castes a shadow across the pyramid which forms a huge sepent that slithers from the top to the bottom where there is a huge stone head! Striked lucky and got a lift from Andrea, a Mexican lady who happened to live in Merida, the town we were heading to. She not only took us to the bus station, an hour away but also took us to her home and to her coffee shop where she shouted us Cappucino! Then took an 8hr bus trip to Palenque, the worst yet. It seemed the driver would stop to pick up every villager in sight!Hitched the rest of the way by freight truck. cool! So here we are Palenque! Thick, green lush tropical jungle and Robinson Crusoe setting! to be continued...