Hello,

We have been thrown back into the developing world with it's cheap prices, general chaos and a plethora of smells ranging from the delicious aromas of local cuisine to others which are altogether much more unsavoury!
We arrived in Cancun on the 20th April after our ridiculous 8hr journey from Miami. As we landed and took of from Mexico city, where we made our connection, we noticed the whole area as far as we could see was covered in what we took for fog or smog. Flying though this area was also unusually turbulent. We later discovered that it was not fog but volcanic ash from the erupting volcano, near Mexico city!
We stayed in a very friendly hostel in downtown Cancun for the first night and enjoyed a cerveza in some bars. Simon also got to experience the mexican passion for football while watching el Classico with the locals! However we decided that we would move hotels for our second night and stayed in a nice but cheap hotel on the beach! The following day on the 22nd we got a bus to Merida from where we had a day tour of Chichen Itza, one of the new 7 wonders of the world and perhaps the most impressive Mayan ruins in Mexico. We had a very friendly English speaking guide who showed us around the ruins and then took us to a cenote (from the mayan world meaning "well") which we swam in. It was very refreshing after a long day walking in the sweltering heat! Whilst we were in Merida we visited the market in the town square where there was traditional dancing taking place. The finale was very impressive as the dancers (some of whom were very young) balanced trays of drinks on their heads whilst dancing!
From Merida we took a long bus ride to Palenque. We will return to Palenque again on our way to northern Guatemala. The town was very pretty in a jungle setting but the Mosquitos will not be missed! The following day we had a tour to Palenque's architectural site with Mayan ruins deep in the jungle. Here we got to explore for ourselves and learn about how this ancient civilisation lived. We then went to misol- ha, a waterfall which is very impressive. You can walk right underneath it and get completely soaked! We decided to hold out for the highlight of the day, the Agua Azul! This is a breath takingly beautiful wide waterfall which is not very steep and as a consequence creates lagoons of the most incredible bright blue. We wasted no time in jumping in and spending a couple of hours relaxing. Sadly, the bus to our destination after Agua Azul was not so good. It took considerably longer than expected and the winding mountain roads were not terribly pleasant! However, San Cristobal is a lovely mountain town and the hotel which we are staying in is the best we have stayed in for a long time (and one of the cheapest!). Today we went on a boat trip in the Sumidero canyon. This incredible national park hosts monkeys, tonnes of birds and numerous crocodiles, which were bigger than their Everglade cousins! We really enjoyed floating down the wide river in the canyon!
Tomorrow we have a needed day off from bus journeys and are going to explore San Cristobal a bit more. Mexican buses on the whole are comfortable and the roads are good. However, we are not looking forward to our journey into Guatemala where the buses become 15 seaters, the roads become very winding and the routes are not direct because of the mountains...!
However, the country is so beautiful and exciting, we hope the busses will be worth it!