On Thursday we left Vegas and went to Lake Mead (the man-made lake created by the Hoover Dam). We thought we’d hire a boat and mess about on the lake for a bit in the sunshine, then stay the night there. Unfortunately, as soon as we got out on the lake, the sun went in. We still had fun though, as it was about 90 degrees. However, on the way back into the Marina (at 35mph), the Gool drove the boat through some shallow water (he’d seen the warning marker on the rocks, but not the small one further out…

We made it across the border last Saturday night (actually, anyone with a couple of $US could have made it over the border – the guy just got on the bus and asked us all to “push the green button”! Probably a bit harder to go back… ;o) We took a bus to Nogales, where we crossed the border, then another to Los Mochis and a third to El Fuerte. We stayed in the most gorgeous authentic hacienda in El Fuerte, which was just so full of character. Here’s a picture, but there are more here too. On Monday we…

We were in Mexico City for 3 nights (Wednesday – Saturday). Two nights would have been enough for us (it’s a big, slightly grubby city and we weren’t particularly enamoured with it), but when we went to catch the bus to San Cristobal de las casas on Friday night, they were all full, so we had to wait until Saturday. We did find a nice restaurant in Mexico City, just around the corner from our hotel – we just wandered into what looked like someone’s backyard, because there was an amazing smell wafting out. They have this set-up where you…

We’ve been in Palenque (well, El Panchan, up the road really) in the jungle, in a cute litte cabana (not sure how you put the squiggly bit over the n here, but it’s a nya sound, like pina colada – cabanya). Yesterday we got up early and went up to the “ruinas” of ancient Palenque. We took a jolly English-speaking guide with a couple of lovely Aussie girls and spent a good few hours learning all sorts about the ancient Maya people and their city. Apparently there are over a thousand buildings at the site, but over 90% of them…

We got to Merida in the early hours of Saturday morning, shattered and decided to nap on a couple of benches in a pretty square near this old church. Unfortunately there were some particularly vicious mosquitos there and we both got bitten all over. My fingers swelled up so much that I had to wear my wedding ring on the wrong hand for the next few days. We got another bus to Chichen Itza as soon as we could and got there in time for the sound and light show that evening, which was very pretty. The next day I…

We’re now in Chetumel, the Mexican border with Belize, waiting for a parcel from home to arrive (various geeky bits, books and much needed moisturiser for me) – it hasn’t arrived yet and the Correo (post office) is shut on Sundays, so we’re here for at least another 2 nights, if not more. It’s very hot and humid here, but not as many mozzies as there were at the beach, so far at least..! We spent most of our days in Tulum lying in the shade reading our books and chilling out, but we did find time to build quite…

We’re still in Chetumal, waiting for our parcel to arrive and getting itchy feet. It’s not so bad, as we have a relatively cheap, nice hotel with free Wi-Fi and even a disco PrayStation™ on the roof (see pic below), but there’s not a great deal to do here. Probably the most exciting event for several decades happened on Sunday night; Mexico won the Gold Cup (footy) 3-0 against the USA, which was cause for much celebration here – cars driving up and down the “strip” (7 or 8 restaurants and bars on the sea-front) with flags out of their…

We finally got our parcel last Thursday in Chetumal (thanks Mum and Dad!) and got straight on a bus to Belize City. We got fined at the border for not having our Mexican tourist cards (remember the official at Nogales had just asked us for $5 and waved the bus through? Well he was supposed to have given us a tourist card to get stamped in a Mexican bank and then hand in on exit), so that was annoying. We arrived in Belize City and got a “taxi” (random man in his banger of a car) to take us to…

Yesterday we went to Tikal, which meant another hideously early start (4.30am alarm to catch a 5am minibus), but it was well worth it. On the road to Tikal, we saw ocellated turkeys (a cross between a peacock and a turkey) and pacas (very cute rainforest rodents – Duncan, you would like them!) at the side of the road. There was even a sign saying “Jaguar crossing”, but unfortunately we didn’t get to see any of those shy, nocturnal creatures. We got to the entrance just before it opened at 6am and then took a 4 hour guided tour around…