I saw three mermaids doing loops and swimming to the sandy bottom. I wasn't sure if I had drowned, or was suffering from narcosis, or if I had perhaps swallowed the worm from a mezcal bottle by mistake. I just had to keep breathing and following Paulo's fins, our guide, because I'd never been scuba diving before and was getting seriously freaked out just for a minute. This was some dive for a first one though, and I really was thrown in at the deep end amongst th...

There is something about renting bicycles whilst travelling that makes me chuckle, as you never quite know what you are going to get. The size might be vaguely suitable, you might get some sort of brakes, and if you are really lucky you might actually be able to use more than one of the gears. Cycle and maintenance are two words that are rarely seen together, and I have seen chains in this town that are rustier than a ship's anchor, but with the only aim being to...

I was beginning to wonder why we were lingering in Mérida, but then the dancing started outside the Minicipal Palace. It started with some live music and dancers in traditional Yucatán dress, which means fancy white shirts and hats for the men. The music, and in fact the food too has now taken on a more Caribbean flavour. This normal Sunday event, where streets are closed to all except cyclists and pedestrians continued into the afternoon, with dan...

They didn't have metal tools. They didn't have horses, or any other animals that could be used for work. What amazes me almost as much; when dripping with sweat as I walk around this jungle setting today, is how they built cities like this in such heat, presumably with their bare hands too! Palenque is the Spanish name. No one knows the real name, but it is thought to be Lakamha, meaning "Big Water" because of the water systems that were built to support life ar...

I've never seen anything quite like the interior of the temple at San Juan Chamula. The Tzotzil people live in this town, and worship John the Baptist rather than Jesus Christ. They practice strange rituals in the temple, such as rubbing people with eggs and eating food that induces burping to let out evil spirits. We found none of that going on, but it was a surreal place nonetheless, with thousands of candles along the walls, pine needles under our feet, priest...