Victor was very helpful in settling ya in. ya e spent the day walking around the surrounding streets, drinking beer and cocktails and eating nachos and sushi.

At 9pm our hostel gave everyone who was there free beers and pizza (what a win!) and they said they usually do it from Sunday to Thursday.

We met Natalie from Vancouver ( she runs an NGO) , Jose and Gonzales from Argentina. Kyle from Newwy (Australians are everywhere) and a Brit who I can’t remember. There was also a Canadian called Justine and a sweet German called Stephan who went traveling with his girlfriend and they broke up on new year. Looks like he will join us on our walking tour.

Most of us went out afterwards to what seemed to be the only bar open on a Wednesday. We had bizarre cocktails with mini popcorn and cayenne pepper on the rims and got quite sauced. We all committed to doing a boat tour tegethee on the canals which sounds like such fun!

We slept so well our first night, and woke up to peaceful street noises, some quick Duolingo and rumbling tummies- on to the free hostal breakfast

She also showed us where to get street food and good pastries and sweets.

Interesting fact about Mexico City is that it was originally an island, however when the Spanish conquered the town they drained the lake. This has made all the foundations very unstable as there is water about 3 meters under the surface

We also went to the beautiful post office and the Palace of Fine Arts-where we are planning to see a show.

We also went to the cathedral. This statue is made of 4 million keys donated by citizens of the city to build this statue to honour a priest that was basically a celebrity way back when.

We also went to the tile building which was stunning

After the tour we went back to get street food, bought some jerseys and jeans (we packed for super warm weather!) and then headed back to the hostel to meet up with Alex, Kyle, Natalie and Stephan to head to the canals.

We bought some beers and snacks and Ubered to the canals to save time. There was a group of bikers who tried to hustle us into changing our direction which was quite scary but we got there eventually and our Uber driver helped us to get an affordable boat.

We spent two hours going through the canals, bought a song from a mariachi band and had a merry time.

Stephan told us a hilarious story about a chicken which Kyle almost topped. It was again super helpful to have Natalie with us as she did all the Spanish communications for us

We ubered back to the hostel but Andy was quite tired and feeling sick so I left him to sleep and walked around with the boys in search for food. We finally found a small restaurant that had a lot of locals in it. There wasn’t any vegitarian good but r was a nice outting.

We headed back to the hostel at 9 for more free beers and pizza. I also met Chantal from the US/Australia/Peru and chatted with the crew some more. Hopefully we will see Kyle along the way as he is heading to Oaxaca as well.

We stayed for about two hours and had some blue tacos outside. We then walked around the square a bit

We were back on the luxury bus by 1:40 and got back to CDMX by 3pm. We headed back to Regina and read our books for a couple hours.

We decided to do sundowners at Torre Latinoamericana with Alex. I had honey glazed salmon and Andy had Tempura prawns

The view from the 41st floor was absolutely breathtaking

We walked back through the streets which were incredibly busy.

We got back to Regina and decided to check out the roof. It was surprisingly busy for 8pm. We bought margharitas and listed to the “important international djs “

The decor was beautiful and the crowd was mostly locals. Still no one in shorts or dresses.

The music got louder quickly so we went back to he hostel lounge to finish our drinks and promptly went to bed around 9pm.

We took sleeping pills and used earplugs just in case but we managed to get some good sleep.

It really is too much to see. I really loved the little carvings, especially of what was clearly domesticated -and loved- dogs. I also loved the art work and bead work

The architecture of the building was quite something, it was a pity that we couldn’t have a snack in the middle and absorb it more

We then walked across the road to a park in Condesa. We bought really yummy churros on the way.

We were quite tired from walking around so we relaxed on the side of the river for a Br and watched families on row boats go by

Once we had received we went off to the Museo de Moderne de Artes (Or something like that)

That was my favorite museum in CDMX so far.

We saw rooms dedicated to early photography

And other rooms dedicated to female artists and the female struggle

Other hilights were the portraits by Frida Cahlo

After that we were quite exhausted so we went to the cafe. I had hot chocolate and Andy had a cuppicino. There were some really cute squirrels there as well and we had delicious guacamole and broken up quesadillas.

We then went to a different section of the park and read our books for two hours and watched people walk their dogs

We booked a food and mezcal tour in Condesa and La Roma which we headed to at 5. A guy called Paco took us, and Gabriel was there again with his girlfriend Ana. We had a whale of a time and only went home around 9:30

Barry the Irish guy, Doris and Ross the Americans joined us

At the first stop we had delicious shrimp tacos and discovered mango habanero sauce!

At the second stop we had grasshoppers - surprisingly delicious

I was happy to eat them on my taco, but couldn’t bring myself to eat them on their own if they dropped onto my plate

We then had the blue tacos

And had a mezcal tasting. It’s unbelievably strong but I enjoyed it. It was best with some orange slices and warm salt.

Afterwards we went to a hipster market to have churros and hot chocolate from el Murro

We then went to a final local restaurant to have tacos el pastor after wh I her ubered back to Centro Histrico with the Americans

It was the most magical day. Restful and exciting and we didn’t feel rushed at all. We finally feel like we have done most of why we wanted to do in Mexico City so we have decided to leave for Puebla tomorrow

We then went to the cathedral and Mass was being held so some of it was blocked off

We did however see the biggest organ I’ve ever seen! The music it was playing was beautiful as well.

The Templo Mayor is on the other corner of the Zocalo so it was a quick walk to there.

Other than the architecture I found it quite bland. I wasn’t impressed my the mural and hat was mostly why I wanted to go

We then went back to Regina, checked out and headed to the bus station and caught a two hour bus ride to Puebla.

We got to Gente de Mas around 3:30pm and it felt like we were the only guests there. The hostel is beautiful, and we would have loved to drink on the rooftop with fellow travelers as that hasn’t happened much yet

So we decided to walk around Puebla and find some of the famous mole!

We finally settled on Fonda st Clara and we’re both very happy with our food. We did get fixed into buying local beer which was 4x normal beer however

The hype around mole is warranted. It takes 40 ingredients to make it and each mouthful renders a different taste.

Afterwards we went to Rooftop Skye bar for sunset drinks

And then walked around a bit more

We were exhausted so we were in bed by 6ish ( mexicans have really early dinner ). Again, we would have preferred to have some beers upstairs but alas!

See the snow capped mountains in the back drop!

As we arrived our water gave us chocolate and custard centered buns and coffee.

I had a delicious salmon dish and Andy had something Mexican

We sat up there for a while absorbing the beautiful view, and planning our day

we then walked to a cathedral that was built into the side of some ruins

And saw some dancing on a pole

We then walked around Cholula for a bit

After that we went to the sweet street and a cool zocalo

We had dinner at a local restaurant and slept early for our early bus the next day to Oaxaca

We got to Oaxaca around 2pm and walked to Casa Angel Hostel as there’s no Uber in Oaxaca

I forgot my toiletries bag in the terminal so we went back to look for it but had no luck

We booked a tour for the following day and bought some street corn!

Oaxaca is probably the prettiest town to walk around as most of the streets are cobbled, the houses are quaint and all the houses are kept in relatively good shape

We then had beers at a cool bar before heading to our hostel for roof beers with Maria and Rigmor

It was beautiful on the rooftop of Casa Angel Hostel

We also met a Brit - Patrick who is trying to get into politics/become a lobbyist for climate change. A Swiss guy and Carlos a Mexican loving in LA. He is getting his first tattoo tomorrow, it’s of a paintin a Japanese artist made listening to a jazz album that Carlos loves. The artist was also in the American concentration camps so the piece is unique and significant to him.

After a few drinks we went in search of fish tacos. Some Americans - Tony, Sierra and Amy joined us. Unfortunately the fish place was closed but we found some epic food down the road and gorged ourselves for 60 pesos.

We went straight to bed after that as we were quite exhausted!

The surrounding garden was beautiful though

The Santa Maria church runs the tree and looks after the gardens

We then headed off to a Mezcal Factory

That was pretty cool. The 8 year mezcal was so tasty and smoothe. The horse looked unhappy though

We hen went to a fabric weaving place and the Mitla Ruins

We then had some buffet lunch

And finally headed to hierve al gua where we also had mechaladas

This one had 3 Coronas, tomato paste, dried chili and lime. Delicious! Basically a Mexican bloody mary

We then headed back to the hostal and drank some beers with Rigmor, Maria and Carlos. Carlos has just gotten his first tattoo, it was beautiful and I think he was very happy with it.

I met a wonderful German Cale’s Fung. Her mum is Vietnamese and her dad is Cantonese. They moved to Germany when she was 2 and her 3 younger brothers don’t talk their parents native tounge but hey understand it so she has to be involved in all conversations. She says it’s like living in a Netflix series it’s so laughable.

She moved out of home at 18 because her parents wanted her to be a good Asian girl. After 2 years of not speaking to her hey finally reconnected and now they let her love the life she wants

She got a tattoo when she was 18 of the sun for being a female in Chinese

We drank and laughed until 11 and then went to bed

Turns out Amazon want to fly Andy back to Cape Town for an interview which is absolutely crazy but I’m so proud of him.

It will likely be the end of January. We spoke about it and looked at flights, I Skyped Phil and then we had some breakfast with Carlos.

We found a dry cleaners and then walked around the streets with Carlos

As always there were cathedrals

As well as a few fruit stands and goodies.

We had authentic Mexican hot chocolate and went into a public library

We also went to all the big markets in Oaxaca including the meat market

Afterwards we went to a contemporary art museum which I loved

Committed to the dog art as always

This one looked very similar to the ugly cute dog I found in the anthropology museum

Thw boys got some take away coffee and I got some pistachio ice cream and we headed back to the hostel for a nap

We then went up to the terrace and I made a bunch of friend girls: Helena an aussie who is fluent in mandarin and drop dead gorgeous, Maria a Swedish girl living in Oslo of Lebanese heritage who speaks afghan, Vivian from Switzerland who has been traveling for a year with her boyfriend but he’s just gone back for a job. She goes back in about a month as well. Phuong joined us later, and there was Carla a red headed Brit who was traveling with Helena.

Patrick got his portrait sketched for 100 pesos and David a cook from the Netherlands told me about a 3 day race they do on his island which involves riding a 2 seated bicycle swimming in the freezing water and lots of injuries

There was also a Brittish couple and a mysterious couple that no one could place. Carlos was of course with us with his big red rose hanging over his ear. He played us some relaxing music and we all talked for hours.

We then had a salsa class which I thoroughly enjoyed. The instructor kept shouting ‘separate!’ And ‘let’s go girls’ and it was hilarious.

We then all walked a block to a rediculously cheap taco place and then headed out for some live salsa. I danced with an oaxacan guy who had joined for the salsa class. We had some mezcal and sat in the open terrace.

We then headed to a more night club place where the mysterious couple took out coke and offered it to everyone out in the open. Andy and I decided to go home and leave them to it

We also bought some street snacks: pumpkin seeds, nuts and fresh slices of sweet potato.

We went back to bed and at 4:30 headed to the infamous la Pez for fish tacos

They were delicious and we loved the lemon and cucumber water/sugar

We then went back to the hostel. On the way we happened apon a Mexican wedding celebration

And as always the views of the sky were breathtaking

We then went back to the hostel and drank a few beers up stairs. I chatted to Carlos about anarchy, to David about falling in love to easily and to Phuong about sibling dynamics and finding a career you love

It was a bitter sweet night as it was our last night. Patrick also left to Puerto escondito at some point in the night

We went to bed around 11pm

I left my backpack at the cafe which was very stressful as it had all my money, cards and both of our passports in it.

I am clearly too relaxed in Oaxaca!

Around 11am we caught a taxi to the airport with the Danish girls. Andy studies and I wrote articles and then it was flight time. We also ate some of the street snacks I bought he day before. They were delicious! Peanuts covered in chili, garlic and lime

After our two flights we caught an ADO bus to near our airbnb and then taxid from the ADO station. The direct taxis were 800 pesos va 80 peso ado + 100 peso direct taxi from there. You do the math.

Got home around 10pm and chilled out until 2am with ubereats and went to bed

We cooked a super late fish and roast potato lunch with salad and drank wine from 4:30

We were in bed by 11pm

Absolutely breathtaking.

We got a beer and tuna burger for 70 pesos as we arrived

It was so delicious (and cheap) we had it again for dinner

We spent the afternoon swimming and walking around the town (and getting icecream ofcourse)

We had some beers at the bar and then had mojitos at a bar near the Zocalo called I Scream Bar

We were in bed by 9pm. There wasn’t much of a vibe outside and we hadn’t made any friends yet

The moon was full and yellow and beautiful

This is the Yak at night

Andy woke up around 7:40 and brought me some coffee, bless him

The call went very well, we had some breakfast and now it’s time for our first Bacalar adventure!

We walked around the zocalo a bit and hired bikes that were too small for us

We cycled to Cenote Azul and swam around

We then went to a place called Aluxes on the way back and had ceviche

It was tasty but would be better as a tapas than as a main dish

We then went back to the hostel and chilled for the rest of the day

It was slightly overcast

We hired a kayak for 250 pesos for one hour which was a bargain and canoed to the top of the rapidos

We then relaxed for 3 hours and read our books. Ofcourse we got some guac

We then caught a taxi back with a couple from the Netherlands and had delicious lunch at Mr Taco just off the zocalo

We bought some ice creams and hen went back to the hostel to read and have a few beers

We went for a long swim and hen back to mr taco for dinner

There was a super cute dog there who’s owner had to keep coming to find him

We had an early night and were in bed by 9

We then went to el manati and worked for a few hours and felt productive. We chilled at the hostel and had two burgers - it was burger day again

There was also a big bonfire and we met some more people from the Metherlands brought Katrine who we had met in Oaxaca

The sunset was absolutely breathtaking

Andy was handsome as usual.

There was also live music at the bonfire which we loved. And the crew we were with got up and sang a song

It was rainy in tulum. Lucky our backpackers - Lum - was 3 minutes from the station. We unpacked and headed out for beers

We got stuck in the rain for quite a while, headed back for showers and then went for cocktails to El Capitan

We headed back to the hostel and had drinks with Rigmor and Maria. It was their last night and hey had a night on the town planned

We met a New Zealand couple from Wellington (apparently the weather is even worse than London) called Callum and Gemma

We also met an Italian called Benjamin. We drank and talked. They gave great advice about colombia and then we went out for some street food

The cycle was pretty chilled as the roads were empty

We cycled two kms further to the Car Wash cenote. We were the only ones there apart from the divers and it was serene

We then went to zacil ha which had a zip line but didn’t stay

We went back home and looked for a laundromat then chilled while Andy hand washed some clothes.

We then went out for burritos

And wandered a bit before we went back to Lum

We napped and then had a drink at the hostel followed by street burritos. Officially full of burritos! And an early night

We happened upon the really tall ruin and climbed to the top. It wasn’t a very impressive climb. Maybe 3 minutes to get up

We had a small picnic and then bikes around some more

We then caught a collectivo back to tulum and went to the best fish restaurant in the world.

It was called Sabor de Mar

Four dishes cost us 300 pesos including a good tip.

We then went home and witnessed a massive thunderstorm so thank goodness we didn’t go to the beach!

Agter chilling a while we went for dinner at El Dorado which was highly average so we went home, had a cocktail to celebrate my offer from CrossBoundary and headed to bed as Andy is flying early in the morning

I made some breakfast, had some coffee and met a cute doggie

I met Paulo an Italian who is working at the hostel. He was a pro basketball player and had two bad years so he got out of it. He’s studied agronomy and wants to study further in that field. Jennifer from the Netherlands who organizes parties and Emily from Paris/ New York. She is a luxury fashion manager. We cycled to the beach, it was unbelievably beautiful

We swam and talked and chilled

Helena from Oaxaca joined us and then I mostly hung out with her.

Shes a medical doctor back home, and has a live in boyfriend from Spain. They’ve been dating for 6 years or so and have had an open relationship for the last two years which seems to work well for them.

We rolled around in the sand, swam and did a tiny bit of yoga

We then cycled to La Eufemia about 6kms down the beach and had delicious tacos there

The cycle back was beautiful as well

We then went back to the hostels, showered and had gin and tonics with Paulo and Laura and spoke about true crime.

Met an Australian guy called Jordan/Gordon who’s a plumber back home. And took about 12 Europeans to the street food which they all loved.

Bumped into Gemma and Callum there which was lovely and got Gemma’s contact.

Helena and I left early around 9:40, said goodbye and I went to bed

Also bumped into Kyle from CDMX there. Jordan told us all about his dad being a bit of a philanderer and finding out about more and more siblings as he gets older. Must be tough. Could explain why he’s slightly off and quite self important. Can’t decide if he’s a good egg.

We then went for lunch back at the amazing fish place Sabor de Mar.

We headed straight to the beach after that where I swam and had a beer and then headed home as I was worried I was burning

The sky was beautiful. I showered and then had my salad for dinner. I went into the terrace to read my book, Manno joined which was nice and peaceful, but then Jordan came and started projecting.

We decided to mission to get the soft potatoes from the chicken place on the corner. Fun and short.

Manno and I then stayed up until midnight playing jenga and talking about being twins

He has some cool stories as he was an organ transplant transporter and has flown all over Europe picking up body parts! He’s also skiid way up north and slept with huskies in Iceland. He lives with his twin and they are both consultants in law- they don’t look alike however.

Rowena, the Brit who took us there, was also pretty great. We bonded over being red heads and she’s trying to make up her mind about whether she will sleep with this passionate Mexican guy. Only downside is that he slept with her sister 8 years ago. Her sister is pretty chilled though so I told her to go for it

We also met an American called Laura who is hilarious.

We went to Cenote Crystal and Escondido. They’re the best cenotes I’ve been to hands down.

They were both empty which was lovely and had great jumping spots

The walk between the cenotes was also stunning

We stayed there until around 2:30 and then went back to the hostel. I found a really great smoothie cafe: Liquido y solido and had two smoothies while I read over my CrossBoundary contract.

I then went back to the hostel, fetched Jordan and met the other two at a beach bar called Ojo de Agua (eye of the water)

It was nice but so over priced

We then had sundowners on a terrace and cycled home in the dark which was pretty exciting

We then made dinner and chatted. I saw Tara again. She’s a doctor at a drug rehab facility in Amsterdam but she’s off South African descent.

She also lived in Congo for 5 years and has a brittish accent- who knows why- I enjoyed her though as she was thoroughly different

I had some tea and hatted to Clementine. Another room mate, she’s a stripper back home which I found intriguing. She is loving traveling alone away from her girlfriend.

I then went off to bed, quite pooped!

There were some kite surfers and doggos and I read my book.

I bumped into clementine there. She told me about how she got into stripping- to save money to open her own preschool, and the weight of her sisters neediness, the wonderful ness of her primary partner Kaya- she’s poly and pan - and her love for bondage and things alternative.

She said she was introverted but all she wanted to do was talk which I didn’t mind.

After a few hours we went to la eufemia for lunch but I only had 150 pesos and she only had card so we were a bit skint!

I then cycled home and she stayed on the beach for longer.

It was another relatively quiet night. I sat downstairs and talked to Laura - from Chicago and works in trauma Counselling for depressed and anxious people. Her friend Jacqui who does the same thing, and Liza the German who is obsessed with diving and had an interview the following day for a new kind of project management (she’s currently in the music industry )

I planned to wake up early with Laura and do a yoga class and the. Go to the Paradise Cenote

It was the clearest of all the cenotes. Probably because it caught the morning sun so well and as it was lesser known wasn’t disturbed as much.

We had it pretty much to ourselves other Han a Chinese tour group that were doing under water photographs which was good entertainment.

We stayed until 1:30pm and then headed back

Laura was keen to check out sabor de mar so I got some really good tacos for my last meal in Mexico!

I caught the 3pm ado bus and chatted briefly to a Welsh girl who was about to start a doctorate in stem cell research.

I had to wait in the airport for ages as my flight was only at 1am.

The flight and waiting was uneventful. I was mostly looking forward to seeing Andy on the other side.

I landed around 2am, rushed throug immigration and was at the La Guaria hotel by 3am fast asleep