As I was on my way to Puebla, the capital of a different state, I was excited by the chance to be back in a big city but also the feeling of the end was dawning on me. Without that much time left I was ready to make the most of the next few places before returning to real life. Puebla is a large university town. It is very pretty like most cities I've visited but it has a strong European feel. As it was lunch time when I arrived I grabbed lunch at a nice cafe around the main square, read my book and people watched. Once I'd finished I headed out to see as much as I could before my second bus of the day to Mexico City. I first hit the main square and cathedral - which was amazing, even for someone who would has seen enough churches to be quite content not to enter another again. It was very grand with huge organs and a giant shrine dedicated to the Kings of Spain. In the main square it turns out I was quite an attraction in myself with various people asking to take photos of hold their baby - I don't think Puebla had many tourists! I obliged, feeling guilty for all the 'sneaky' shots and photos I have wanted of their culture and indigenous people. I also went to the oldest library in Central America, which again had beautiful interior design features and of course the odd book. After a meander through the streets, coming across a 'Woolworths' still going strong I headed to the Revolution museum, housed in the house which one of the main battles in Puebla took place. Although in Spanish I managed to grasp some of the information about the revolution, the infamous battle that took place here alongside seeing a traditional Mexican household. Within the rooms the evidence of the bullet holes in the walls, mirrors and furniture remains and is quite chilling imagining what went on in that room and the effects it had on Mexican modern history. Once I'd had my fill of attractions I grabbed some snacks for the bus and made my way back to the bus terminal.

Once in Mexico City, been slightly overwhelmed with the size of the bus terminal but also excited been back in the fast pace world, I headed in a cab to our hostel to be reunited with Cassie. We went for a walk around our area, the "centro historica", to see if we could go get a quiet drink. After our luck of bumping into someone with, how shall I put it...unusual social skills, we had to change these plans to make a quick escape. However we did get to see a really cool, easy going Mexican beer bar!

After a long day we retired early around midnight ready for a big day of sightseeing. Waking up, ready to become the ultimate tourist we (we meaning Cassie, Ally from our dorm and I) filled up on our buffet breakfast and hit the Metro. Been back on the underground was nice, good training for returning to London. Here the Metro stops were labelled with various drawings as well as names which made things easy for us non-Spanish speakers to remember the stops. We also noticed that there was always a women only carriage on train. Although not noticing this while getting on and suddenly realising mid-ride was quite unnerving, once I saw the signs it was quite nice! Especially at rush hour with the pick pocketing risk and been packed in like sardines it was a quite the luxury. I may bring it to London, however I think British men are a bit more reserved than the Mexican so maybe not so much of a need! Our first stop of the day was the Santa Angel markets. Once these were done, we headed to Coyocan - the student and arty area. This district was gorgeous with a beautiful bustling square, lots of street performers, artists, cafes and restaurants. We headed straight across to Frida Kahlo's house, the Blue House. This is where the artist was born, grew up and then lived with her husband Diego Riverea. The museum housed numerous art works, sculptures alongside rooms in her house left as he did, including her art studio and bedroom. It was so interesting and we all enjoyed reading about her life and seeing how this translated into her art. By the time we were done we headed back to the square for some refreshments. Here we saw some indigenous Mayan dancers which resembled very closely a Native American dance. I got my usual frozen yoghurt and Cassie got her usual iced mocha and we sat around the fountain to people watch. After a few minutes I was having my portrait done for a local artists and Cassie was been chatted to by a group of teenager also asking for photos. After I could move and the artist made his way (I wasn't impressed with the work, not the closest likeness although it was for him not me) we got a few photos with the boys for the laughs then made our way back over to the "centro historico". Here we looked at the main Zocalo, Cathedral and Presidents building. We headed back for dinner and then got ready for our night out in the city. As we met people earlier on in our trip we asked where to go and ended up going to an electro night in Condensa, which apparently is the cool student hipster area to go - perfect for a group of cool kids then! So once in the cab and a palaver of finding the address we realised it was not open till 2am. So after a few blurred bars before, one of which was apparently was a gay bar which I didn't notice, we made the club. However only through the back door as it was not a gringo club and I didn't think the amount of alcohol we had consumed helped. But we were finally in and having a great time! Here however is where a Mexican girl, for some reason befriended us and invited us to another after-party later. So after dancing to the music which was really good, another mezcal shot (which here means glass apparently) off we went to a location unknown to us with the group of local girls. Here it was a lot easier getting as they were friends with the bouncers and walked straight in. It was a really cool venue and the music again was amazing. Next thing we knew it was time to leave and it was 10:30am on Sunday morning!

After a really good night out Hannah (another girl from the hostel), Cassie and I were not on top form shall we say. By 1pm we managed to get a grip of ourselves and headed to another district out of the centre for the famous boat trips. Not really knowing much about it but after been recommended to do it I was pretty excited. It was a pretty long journey which was not made easier by the headaches but once we were saw the Xochimilco signs leading us to the boats we realised it was definitely worth it! Ally, Hannah, Casse and I hired a boat and with our own guy to steer it we headed down the canals. Imagine a Mexican version of the gondolas in Venice, that is the only thing I can relate it too. They are very colourful with a long table under a cover and seats either side. After a few quite canals, seeing the surround area and houses we arrived at the main canal. Here, luckily as it was a Sunday afternoon, there were lots and lots of boats! All with various gatherings of people, primarily Mexican families. We only saw one other tourist boat which was nice getting a real experience of what the boats offer. Alongside the families enjoying full tapas, various Mexican cuisine, wine and beers there were also all kinds of other boats for anything you could possibly want. Street, well river I guess, food, markets and souvenir sellers alongside live music, buskers and dance groups! The atmosphere was lovely and everyone seemed to have a lovely time. I couldn't think of a nicer location to have your Sunday dinner! After an hour on the boats, calling over the corn seller we enjoyed our mini sample of the Mexican street food with chilli and lime and called it a day. That evening we all relaxed in the hostel and Ally and Hannah got the night bus across to Puerto Escondido after some recommendations from us!

Monday was my last Bamba included experience, the Teotihuacan Experience. This, like in Oaxaca was a full day seeing various features. First stop was the plaza de las tres culturas in which at the one site you can see the ancient indigenous culture of the Aztecs ruins, the colonial period where the Spanish invaders destroyed the temples and constructed their Catholic church on top using the same volcanic rock and finally the modern high rise buildings of today's culture. This is also a point of interest due to a political tragedy involving the Tlatelolco massacre. This was the killing of student and civilian protesters as well as bystanders by Mexican government employees that took place during the afternoon and night of October 2, 1968. The violence occurred ten days before the 1968 Summer Olympics celebrations in Mexico City. While at the time, government propaganda and the mainstream media in Mexico claimed that government forces had been provoked by protesters shooting at them, government documents that have been made public since 2000 suggest that the snipers had in fact been employed by the government. Although estimates of the death toll range from thirty to three-hundred, with eyewitnesses reporting hundreds of dead, evidence is only available for the death of forty-four people. According to the reports 1345 people were arrested on October 2

This is the second most visited church after St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the Basilica of Guadalupe. This is due to the Virgin Mary providing a sign to a saint that she wanted this cathedral built here in her honour. The sign she left (her image appearing on his cloak) is shown here and hence is a sight worthy of pilgrimage for many Catholics. Here, with four Aussie travellers I met, we explore the gardens and climbed up to a view point of the city. Next stop was an obsidian and tequila factory. Here we saw how the cactus was used to create various products, such as needles, inks, and thread alongside tequila. We also tested various tequilas which didn't go down too smoothly after Saturday night but the guide was not taking no for an answer. I don't think Mexicans can comprehend that someone may dislike tequila. We then saw the working of some various obsidian ornaments and masks, this was really intricate and skilled work and the different colours of various stones were stunning. We then quickly moved on to our final stop, the Teotihuacan Archaeological site. This includes two of the largest pyramids in Mesoamerica, the Avenue of Death and other residential structures. The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is also a subject of debate. Possible candidates are theNahua, Otomi or Totonac ethnic groups. Scholars have also suggested that Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic state. After climbing these gigantic steps to the top we took in the view then meandered down the 'Avenue of the Dead' back to the bus. It was a long day but really impressive. I was however glad to be finished with the final typical tourist 'tour'. It was a great way to see it in a day but I was definitely done! Once back in the city I met Cassie and we went down to a recommended restaurant for one of our last night in the big city together to get some typical Mexican food. We went for the house special of enchiladas. I had a vegetables and cheese one and Cassie had the chicken. It was not your typical British 'Old el Paso' version of enchilada however, it was more like a cannoli but with tortilla instead of pasta. It was delicious however and we were thoroughly happy with our choice. The restaurant was in an old typical setting with traditional furniture, beautiful tiled walls with waitress in traditional clothing. After a lovely meal we headed back to the hostel to get our things and make our way over to the bus station for our final night bus together to Sayulita. This was a real treat for us, we had a pack lunch, internet and headphones plus the air-con was not blasted to an artic temperature! Both in utter luxury we settled down for the night on the way to my final destination!