Hola amigos!!!

We are now back in London but I thought I would fill you in on the last stint of our little adventure...

Our stay in Tulum, 7 nights in total, was so blissful it was painful to leave on Saturday when we needed to start the long drive back to Mexico City. Whilst there we did lots of chilling on the picture perfect beach (looking less like lobsters after a couple of days!), eating amazing food - our favourite spot was a little place called Hemingways with the best fish and views on the entire stretch of beach, and in the evenings a Mexican BBQ place called El Asadero which was basically just a very small restaurant set up in what felt like someones garage, serving the best steak ever - wondering ruins, scuba diving in local cenotes (underground freshwater lakes) and at Cozumel Island reef and touring Tulum's variety of accommodation........as we had only booked two nights at the amazing iTour (best group of guys ever running that place, and mega coffee every morning) we spent the following two down on the beach in our own little hut complete with hammocks facing out to sea, before heading back to iTour for another two nights (very sad to say goodbye when we checked out for the second and last time, and they were so lovely saying how nice us English are...Joe was feeling particularly smug when they said he looked just like Robert Pattinson.....I wish!) and then spending our last evening in Posada Luna del Sur - another beautiful little hotel the other end of the main stretch.

So, after all the chilling, eating, drinking, diving, more chilling, a bit more eating and some last cram-tanning sessions, we set off very early Saturday morning for our drive back to Mexico City. 12 hours on Saturday with a stop off in Acayucan - random little town where our hotel felt remarkably like Tuol Sleng prison - before another early start to drive the final 6 hours to Mexico City and our beautiful JW Marriott hotel. Bliss.

So, all in all, and aside from the 4-5 solid days and just under 4000 km's worth of driving, it was a fantastic holiday and adventure. Just a few days in I think we realised how mental we were driving from Mexico City to Tulum, and several Mexicans we met along the way confirmed this for us, but it was well worth it. Just a few pointers/warnings for anybody else thinking of undertaking the mammoth distances and crazy roads out there:

* Toll roads are ridiculously unpredictable - the charges range from 20 pesos (£1) to 200 pesos and more often than not the extortionate ones turn out to be the roads in the poorest condition (ie. pot holes the size of plunge pools!)

* They are not that hot on their road markings and signs, in general and in particular when it comes to notifying you of the distance to go until the next town - one will tell you there is 64 km to go, and just 2 km down the road the distance will have changed to 73 km. Keeps you on your toes I guess!

* If hiring a car fitted with a satellite navigation system that looks like it has survived the ice age and is called something seemingly-appropriate like 'NeverLost' DO NOT TRUST IT.

* Driving through mountains scattered with small towns and villages can be precarious at best...not because of the dangerously narrow roads, sharp corners or steep drops but because to try and stop you in your tracks in order to sell you various random wares, kids stand at the edge of the roads with ropes strung across them, ready to pull them taught as you approach - effective yes, infuriating definitely, dangerous...they're not arsed!!!

Right, off to get some more sleep and try and adjust my body clock back to UK time, otherwise guaranteed I will be asleep at my desk by 10am tomorrow!!!

xxx