I previously had a day and a half in Lima when I passed through on the tour but I was sick and in bed most of that time and consequently I didn't get to see much of the city. I liked what I had seen so I was very keen to go back and explore some more. In these five days I was lucky enough to meet up with a few friends and go to some nice places while, in between times, I was organising a trip to the Amazon Rainforest in the north of Peru. I was sitting on the pl...

When I was in Rio and I decided to extend my trip I knew that I could hang out with Helena for a couple of weeks in Mexico but beyond that I had no idea what I was going to do or how long I was going to stay on the road. I considered going to Cuba but it was difficult to arrange that in a rush. What I wanted was to be based in one place that I liked for a little while so that I could think about what I was going to do and contact people back in London. When I tho...

Isla Mujeres is a beautiful little island in the bright turquoise Caribbean Sea. It is a very touristy place. We had to stop overnight in Cancún because that is where the boats depart for Isla Mujeres. Helena was convinced there were bedbugs in our hostel in Cancún and she didn't sleep a wink for worrying about them but I was so tired after the two big nights out in Mérida and a long day walking around Chichén Itzá in the heat that I was out for the count s...

Chichén Itzá is an ancient Mayan city and one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. I had a tiring day trekking around the site in the sweltering heat - it was an amazing, exciting place to visit. The main building, El Castillo, is extremely impressive - a huge pyramid with steps on each side guarded by stone serpents. It was built in accordance with the movements of the sun and on both the Spring and Autumn equinox shadows in the shape of a serpent are cr...

Mérida is a great city and we had a lot of fun there. When Helena and I arrived in the early evening, after eight and a half hours on the bus from Palenque, we were starving so we went straight out for tacos washed down with Corona beers. The town seemed eerily deserted and most places were closed but when we came back later the main square was packed with people - they must come out late at night. We went to a cool bar where we could sit outside, which was goo...