As time is not on our side, we whizzed up to the northern Mexican coast, to a town called Merida. The majority of the towns we've visited have been so colourful, the people incredibly friendly and the sightseeing amazing…Merida didn't let us down.It's a relatively cosmopolitan town with heaps to see and do, so we set up camp and stayed for a few days, visiting a new 'Wonder of the World' - the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza (yes, yet more ruins). What a nightmare…swarming with tourists (the majority on day trips from Cancun) and street-sellers alike, we were literally fighting our way around the site…constant detractions from the ruins themselves. Bit of a disappointment to say the least - we only stayed a few hours then shot off to catch the bus back to Merida, relieved to have left the tourist madness.

Our journey on from Merida took us to a town on the east coast, lapped by the Caribbean - Tulum. White sandy beaches and crystal blue sea, perfect. Tulum is surrounded by cenotes - sinkholes in English - where you can jump in and swim in the fresh water. We hired bikes for the day so we could explore the cenotes, mistakenly hiring cheap(er) bikes from our hostel…James' back tire was flat and my seat constantly moved…needless to say a few colourful words and kicks were flying around! The cenotes numbed the pain somewhat, snorkeling in clear waters through caves with millions of fish and turtles, was just amazing.

As we couldn't walk for a few days afterwards, we chilled in Tulum and sat on the beach with the aim of topping up our tans…unfortunately the weather turned and all we got was a black sky and hours of drizzle…this didn't dampen our spirits though as next stop, Belize (previously British Honduras)!