(apologies for bad grammer ect, Mexican keyboards are a little weird!)

Well i made it to Mexico in the end! Flew in one week ago to Guadalajara and went straight over to the small town of San Blas.

This is on the West coast and was a bit of a dissapointment. The beach was a bit dirty and the water was not too nice. It was not that hot either. On our second day we went for a boat trip though which was really enjoyable. We travelled along quiet rivers teeming with wildlife. Saw terrapins loads of birds and best of all CROCODILLOS! They ranged from tiny to huge and there were loads! We also stopped at a bar in the middle of the network of rivers which had a swimming area. (fenced off from hungry crocodillos i might add) We had a swim and a few coronas, it was really nice to swim in fresh water for a change. Had a meal in the evening and an early night.

Didn`t do much the next day apart from lay on the scabby beach. We did get a boat to another one in the hope that it was better, but it wasn´t. The evening was really cool as we went to a friendly bar for dinner and live music. The msic was quite poor to start with but as the number of corona increased so did the quality! At the end all the mexican musicians came and sang to us (as we where the only customers left in the bar) They where really good though and as soon as they found out that we where English tried to sing us beetles songs and Bob Marley which was sweet.

Left San Blas the next day with sore heads and headed for Oaxca city as there are reuins there. This involved a lot of bus travel accross the country. First to Mexico city and then to Oaxca. The buses are good though, nice, clean and comfy (well compared to some Indian ones anyway). However 12 hours is still along tme to be sat in the same seat so we where all very tired at the end of the journey.

Oaxca was a really lovely city. They had a big square with loads of resturants around it. It reminded me of an Italian Piaza. We went to see some reuins at Monte Albarn too. This was an clint city originally dating back to AD300! It was impressive that you can still walk on it. We hired a guide but he was really old and rubbish. We could not understand him and he was too frail to walk up and down the steps. I guess we sould have known better as all the guides where pointing and laughing at us when we choose him. We ended up paying him half to get rid of him and used the info written down and lonely planet to guide us!

We left Oaxca city and headed for the coast that evening. This too another 8 hours overnight. Was a bit scary getting on the bus as they search you and your luggage with metal detectors and frisk you. You also get filmed getting on the bus and when your sat in your seat. This is due to the amount of highway robberies which can happen in Mexico. Didn´t fill me with too much confidence but at least they are doing something!

Arrived at Oaxca coast in the morning and found a nice beach and hotel. This is where im writing the blog from. Really lovely here though perhaps a little too quiet. Spending a few days here and off whale spotting tommorrow as there is loads of sea life hanging about round these waters. Off to The East coast after so will update you when im there!

17/02/2007

Have nowleft San Ausinello where we where staying. Had a few nice days relaxing. The whale watching was really cool although we didn´t see whales. Did see loads of turtles (including 2 getting jiggy) and Manta rays jumping out of the water. Saw loads of dolphins too.

Had to also write about the surfing dog. There was a man who took his dog out in the sea and popped him on a surfboard. He then pushed the dog with the waves and the dog surfed in! He even picked up the coard and dragged the board i by himself. The best bit was that the dog loved it!

Anyway, after San Augstinello in Oaxaca we moved to Pallenque and onto Playa Del Carmen near Cancun......see next blog