Buenos Aires to Vegas - The Trek

The trek was nearing to a close now. Vegas was just around the corner... only one night in Mexico City was left... so I decided to make the most of it! I had taken the express bus from Puerto Escondido... a 12 hour ride as a opposed to the standard 18-22 hours journey. I arrived early in the morning at the bus terminal and cabbed it to Amigos hostel in the city centre. After settling in I was surprised to meet some friends from Tulum who were staying there too. The hostel is quite large and includes bed, breakfast AND dinner in its $17 price... not a bad deal. The place however was eerily quiet as Mexico City had become a tourist repellent due to it being Swine Flu Ground Zero. I had a feeling there were more staff there than guests! Despite the short time of my stay I still wanted to see the city a bit. We walked out to the main square along the wide avenues. I had heard only negative remarks about the city such as it being noisy, polluted and crowded but I found it quite the oppos...

Another overnight bus meant I wouldn `t miss out much Pacific coast beach action in Puerto Escondido. The bus was chilly again but I did have my hoodie so I got a few winks in. I arrived at the bus terminal around 7am. The Mayflower Hotel was just a short walk down the hill so I checked in and had a wake-up shower. The place was very quiet due to the early hour so I went to the local supermarket to stock up on supplies. For a large supermarket, they had a disturbing lack of basic things such as tomatoes and bananas! I took a brief stroll to the beach and watched all the fishing boats come in with their catch. The inner bay near the hostel was calm but as you walk around to Playa Marinero and Playa Zicatela , you get to see the large rough surf the area is famous for. Puerto Escondido is world renowned for being the "Mexican Pipeline" of surf spots. The best surf apparently comes in around November time and professional bodyboarders and surfers flock to ride some of th...

My bus ride from Cancun went by in a blur. I must have slept for the vast majority of the 15 hour ride and before I knew it we were cruising through the Chiapas highlands as the sun was rising. There was a thick fog in the tree covered valley below which caught the morning sunrise in a spectacular way. Up here the temperature was decidedly cooler... to the point I had to don my long pants and hoodie again! San Cristobal is another colonial town that is situated in the Chiapas region of Mexico. This region is fairly high up and is covered in pine trees and undulating grassy hills. The cooler temperature, fresh air and untouched surroundings was quite exhilarating and beautiful to look at. San Cristobal actually hangs in a little depressed valley which we descended into. Sunrise in the cloud covered Chiapas highlands The town, as you might expect, is post-colonial and has retained much of its character such as narrow cobbled streets still intact after many years. The buildings are ...

I´ ve dedicated a whole blog entry to this day as it was pretty hilarious! Despite my initial preconceived notions about Cancun of it being a tourist cesspit, I had heard really great things about the nightlife. As it was a Saturday night, John (Eng) and I decided to book tickets to the famous CoCoBONGO nightclub in the Cancun Hotel District. 4 days of calm in Isla Mujeres was going to be replaced by a huge American-style party extravaganza. We were booked on a party, bed and breakfast package. Once we got off our ferry, we took a cab to hotel Sotavento at the yacht club. The hotel was of similar style to Pocna with everything in white and in a Greek villa style however the hotel was much larger and more professionally run. The hotel district in Cancun is like a separate city. One long highway stretches along the coast which is totally obscured by huge resort complexes that dominate the entire seafront. Moving into the centre of this area, there are large marketplaces and just a...