So much to write, so little time

There is so much to write about and so little time, so we hope you are enjoying our more regular updates on Instagram, which is easy to post when we have temporary wifi access in places like cafes.

Following Mexico City and the beautiful Puebla, we have visited various places, which have included further Mayan ruins, jungles and waterfalls.

We went from Puebla to Oaxaca, where we had a small but welcome pool in the courtyard at the hotel. This became the 'meeting up' place for the group, and we spent a lovely couple of evenings there chilling by the pool with beers we had all purchased from the local Oxxo shop (like Spar in the UK). Of course, Sal (our guide) joined us and, in true Mexican style, would bring a bottle of Tequila! We had an orientation walk when we arrived at Oaxaca, which was a complete delight. We headed past the Spanish built cathedral to their market area. One market particularly blew our senses; we entered what only be described as a 'bbq corridor' - full of smoke, smells, and the cooks' noise calling out their wares. We posted (1 April) a video on Instagram.

If only we could do 'smell-vision'. So we sat with the locals in the food market, ate alongside them, and embraced the atmosphere. The food was the best we'd had, washed down with beer and laughter as we watched the locals enjoy copious amounts of meat and fried grasshoppers. Everyone enjoyed the experience so much that some of the group went back again the following day! Sal truly has helped us to immerse ourselves in Mexican culture - something we just would not have experienced on our own. He bought food samples from the market for tasting, including those crunchy grasshoppers!

From Oaxaca, we visited Monte Alban (Mayan ruins) we thought were spectacular, high up on a hill and with many restored buildings to walk around and up (including a ball court with sloping walls). We spent some time on the way back with a few of the group going to a local church and found a speciality coffee shop where we were introduced to Chemex - a speciality coffee made in quite a particular way - it was delicious!

After spending a couple of nights at Oaxaca, we had a long bus ride to Palenque. Quite a different place altogether and one that we found was only visited for the nearby ruins, not a town you would spend much time in like Puebla and Oaxaca.

The climate was considerably different from what we had previously experienced - far more hot and humid. The landscape also changed markedly along the bus route. Apart from the cows looking very malnourished, you might have thought you were in the UK! The route to Palenque was at significant altitude; mountains and valleys lined our route with sheer drops down the side of the road. This led to hair raising moments when the coach driver decided to overtake!

At Palenque, we saw some Mayan ruins that we decided from all the trip were our best - we truly felt like we were on the set of Indiana Jones; the ruins were embedded in the jungle, which gave it more of a sense of mystique compared to others. Monkeys swung deep in the trees, and we could hear unfamiliar birdsong above our guide's introduction. Martin also joined the group for a 'jungle walk' examining the 90% un-excavated areas and taking part in termite tasting.

The afternoon was an optional trip to some waterfalls deep in the hills. With the temperature hitting 35c, many of the group welcomed this cool offering. Sal had arranged a local guide who showed us where to walk and jump down the various waterfalls and took well over an hour or so - it was busy with locals but again, few others. We reflected to Sal that there's no way anyone would be able to do what we did at those waterfalls in the UK. It would undoubtedly be cordoned off with restricted access, even for a paddle! Cool local beer and coke finished the outing.

After two nights in Palenque, we went to our next destination, Merida. En route, we stopped off at Pirate town, Campeche. Finally, we were back by the sea - we both realised we'd missed it! The town was very picturesque, with colourful houses, the part remains of a defensive wall and notably high pavements - you had to be very careful walking along the streets. Locals were selling lobster and shells down the parade, which we posted onto Instagram (4 April) with photos. After a refreshing frappuccino, we got back on the bus to get to Merida. A couple of hours had been enough to see the best of Campeche.

Merida was another lovely town, with a typically Mexican town square, churches, bars, restaurants and cathedral. One thing of interest here was the white stone lovers' chairs' dotted all around, something we hadn't seen anywhere else.

Some of the group decided to go on a trip to another set of ruins; we chose to explore Merida a bit more and took a trip on the open-top bus - which was totally in Spanish, so Martin negotiated a discount, saving all of £1.80! Although we didn't understand a word of what they said, it enabled us to see lots of lovely buildings, watch locals out and about and get a sense of the town. We decided to go back to one of the buildings we'd seen, a mansion house built by a wealthy Cuban businessman - we posted on our Instagram some pictures (4 April) that included French doors made of Tiffany glass - no expense spared at all. Still, the building itself was pretty modest in size. This was their equivalent of a National Trust property.

The next day saw us taking a trip to Chichén Itzá, one of the world's seven wonders. It was sweltering, and the ambulance they had on-site was very busy when we were there; obviously, too many people were not keeping hydrated enough. It was busy and quite touristy, and we decided we'd preferred the ruins at Palenque - but we couldn't have come to Mexico and not gone to this site. We spent one night in a small town called Valladolid. What struck us there, in particular, was that there were mopeds everywhere! Jacqui even noticed a young couple riding along with their tiny six-month-old baby in tow. The mother was just holding him on with one arm; unfortunately, we couldn't get our phones out quickly enough to take a photo!!

Sal kindly offered to take us to a local bar, and we eagerly followed. Again we were able to immerse ourselves with the heavily tattooed locals. Jacqui commented to another lady in the group that she wasn't sure if women were allowed as there were none in the bar. Never short of finding someone interesting to talk to, Martin struck up a conversation with one customer paying his bill. The man had rather wild and wiry hair and thick-rimmed dark glasses (reminded us of a cross between Groucho Marx & David Baddiel). He was Egyptian and told us how the bars used to be 'men only' but are getting better now. He then proceeded to explain how he'd moved to the USA for 20 years, was now living in Mexico and then intended to go live in Cambodia soon. Once you've emigrated, he said, you get the urge to do it again...

It's not just been about the country and the places we've been - a lot of value has been added by all the interesting people we've met and the conversations we've had with them and the wider global travel family.

We stopped off at Tulum archaeological zone on the way to our final destination, Playa del Carmen. These Mayan ruins on the seafront were quite different from what we'd seen before and far more refreshing to walk around with the sea breeze following us on our way. We had a good couple of beach bar hours with some of the group before boarding a local, rather rickety, minibus to take us to the hotel - it was a bit like a scene out of the in-betweeners, but for 100 pesos each, we weren't going to complain!

M&Jk