Before we play catch up, Sue has an announcement to make. Phill has his first ringlet. We know, madness. Question: How many Mexicans does it take to turn on a rear projection TV? Answer: 5 Question: How long does it take 5 Mexicans to find the right channel for the England v Paraguay World Cup match? Answer: 26 minutes. We decided to avoid this type of pre-match nonsense for future games by checking into the Crowne Plaza in Acapulco. Guess what. They only paid the cable company for the Mexico games. Acapulco is not perhaps the picture postcard you might imagine. It can be dangerous, though not usually against tourists. The sweeping beach however is pleasing to look at and all taxis in the city are VW Beetles. Its quite a sight! Local buses are airbrushed with film titles, such as Matrix and Lord of the Rings and look truly pimped! Having witnessed cliff diving and wandered the streets of a less than innocent Acapulco, Sue bundled Phill (who was now clutching a clump of hair in one hand and the World Cup schedule in the other) on to the next long distance bus south bound. We arrived 6 hours later at the Oaxaca coast resort of Puerto Escondido. A wonderful surf town, some 15 hours by bus from the nearest airport and thus short term tourist herds. Picture swaying palms and rolling breakers. That said, nothing is what it seems. It was 34 and humid by day, 29 and humid by night. Our ankles endured more take off and landings than Dallas Fort Worth as mozzies made a meal of us. The only other frustrations were our fellow backpackers who are not living up to the billing of fun loving types. 17 Eton boys descended on our budget bungalow encampment and 'air hair laired' their way through the Sweden game. Our temporary neighbours, a European couple, were the rudest we've met thus far and earned the title 'Austrian Hymm and Austrian Her.' The unrelenting heat finally got the better of us and we headed for the hills. 12 hours on a swerving night bus follwed. We rolled through torrential rain, stray bull frogs and motionless snakes which littered the road ahead. The sleepless night was worth it as we arrived at the delightful colonial city of San Cristobal. This is a top ten highlight of our trip so far. Street after street of unharmed architecture and indiginous people going about their daily routines. At 2100 meters, the weather was delightfully cool, though it rains more here than dear old England. A two hour boat ride through Cañon del Sumidero's croc infested waters with 1000 meter high cliffs was a hoot, though beaten off easily by our evening at an indiginous festival in the town of San Juan Chamula. Mexicans were not allowed in this indiginous village, though they had no problem with the half dozen or so voyeristic gringos. This is Chiapas province - a troubled region. Largely ignored there has been civil unrest here for many years. Balaclava clad, gun totting 'Zapatistas' stand for the rights of these poorer people in Mexico's forgotten south. Or so we are led to believe! We are enjoying some cafe culture for another day or so before breaking for the border. Next up - Guatemala. Or should we say Portugal? PaSx