Today is the last day of our 25 day honeymoon in Mexico so I thought I'd tell you a bit about the trip before we fly home tomorrow and I forget what a holiday is.
We flew into Mexico City and had a few nights there alone prior to joining our tour group. We felt that those few nights were special as we got to explore Mexico City a bit on our own first and enjoy being newly weds. The chicken tacos at the hotel restaurant on our first night were the best thing ever and, after 20+ hours of flying, saved us from being too jet lagged, I believe.
We walked up and down the main streets of Mexico City and practiced our Spanish {I was terrible}. We also caught the Turibus which gave us a good tour of the city and pointed out all of the main attractions. The Turibus was a hop on, hop off bus and we jumped off at the Museum of Anthropology to have a look.
Once our tour began {Intrepid - Mexico Unplugged}, we visited the pyramids of Teotihuacan and also Xochimilco {or otherwise referred to as 'floating gardens'}. We enjoyed both and it gave us an exciting taste of what was to come and the variety of what Mexico has to offer.
Next stop on the tour was Puebla. Here we went to the wrestling, which was fantastic! We had ringside seats and it didn't take long before the whole tour group were standing and cheering the wrestlers on with beers in hand!
The next day we toured the city of Puebla and I took no less than 100 photos of the pastel coloured, colonial style buildings.
On our first day in Oaxaca we toured the bright and vibrant city and had our first taste of Mezcal {a distilled alcohol native to Mexico}. Tom took to it instantly, as I suspected he would, and quickly earned his status as the best drinker in the tour group.
The next day we visited the ruins of Monte Alban and Atzompa. They were both spectacular and breathtaking sites. Following this, we went to Hierve el Agua which is a petrified waterfall and several natural turquoise green springs. There were so many photo opportunities as the whole place was stunning and we enjoyed a swim in the springs.
On the way home, we stopped at a Mexican families personal Mezcal distillery and saw the process for producing Mezcal. We tasted a few different types and also had the opportunity to buy some bottles. We bought cherry Mezcal, most of which was drunk that night!
The next day we toured the city and also stopped in at the Museo de las Culturas which was a beautiful building containing many artifacts, some from Monte Alban.
From Oaxaca we caught an overnight bus to San Cristobal. Traveling by overnight bus was painful but it ensured we didn't miss out on a day of exploring.
San Cristobal would have to be my favourite city of all visited in Mexico. With it's Spanish colonial style buildings and located in a valley, it had a beautiful atmosphere.
We did a quick city tour and then caught a bus to a small town about half an hour away called San Juan Chamula. This place felt really eerie from the minute we stepped off the bus. Our tour guide told us that we have to be very careful of taking photos. We cannot take photos of any of the authority of the town and also inside the church which seemed to be the main feature of the town. We were also advised that the town is internally governed and the Mexican law enforcement don't set foot in the town.
Our tour guide took us inside the church and warned us again not to take photos {as we would be beaten and there would be nothing he could do about it} and told us that if we felt uncomfortable in the church, we should quietly leave.
Inside the church the ground was covered in pine needles and people were lining many lit candles up on the floor in areas all around the church and praying with bottles of coke and some were sacrificing chickens. It was incredibly eerie and something I haven't stopped thinking about since I left.
We got back to San Cristobal and our tour guide took us to a jewellers and showed us how to identify real amber and jade. This was something I really wanted to see and I ended up buying 3 pairs of beautiful earrings, one for me and one each for mine and Tom's mums for Mother's Day.
We had the whole afternoon free so Tom and I went off by ourselves and found a little tapas place where we shared a bottle of wine, pasta and plenty of complimentary tapas. It was a really nice afternoon and by the time we had almost finished the second bottle of wine, the rest of the tour group had joined us and we had a very merry evening. We went back to the hotel at about 11.30pm but not before stopping and purchasing the best Nutella crepes I've ever had!
The following day we went on a speedboat through Sumidero Canyon. I admit I was petrified as the waters contained crocodiles and I wasn't sure about the safety of the vessel we were in. It was a really hot day and everyone got irritable quite quickly but I enjoyed the trip nonetheless.
In the early hours of the following morning, we took a bus to Palenque but on the way we stopped at two amazing waterfalls - Agua Azul and Misol Ha. Both were absolutely amazing and very different from each other. Agua Azul consists of many small blue waterfalls cascading into one after another. Misol Ha is also a beautiful waterfall that drops into a lagoon where we were able to swim.
We have an early night in Palenque and then in the morning head off to Parque Nacional to see untouched ruins. It was really interesting because we could see what ruins were like prior to excavation. We got to climb into an underground tunnel which possibly once was a temple. We then visited the actual Palenque Mayan ruins, which were probably my favourite ruins, and got to see the tomb of the red queen.
Afterwards, we stopped at a shop and stocked up on beers and snacks and headed off to what would be my favourite place in the whole of Mexico, Cascada de Roberto Barrios! With no tourists around, we visited this water hole which is located in the middle of a small village. The waterfalls were magnificent and we had great fun jumping out of a tree into the water and exploring the many waterfalls and caves.
It poured with rain whilst we were at Roberto Barrios but that didn't ruin our time, it just made all of our belongings very wet! Tom and I took turns at holding up our towel so the other could change, I went first and then helped Tom. All was going smooth until the towel stuck to Tom's back and he grabbed at it and I dropped one corner so a few Mexican girls got a flash of his bum!
At the end of the day we headed back to the hotel and had a shower and then went to the bus station for our second and last overnight bus ride.
Our first day in Merida was a quiet one. We were all very tired so after a shower and a bit of rest, we did a city tour and then booked our activity for the next day.
The activity was to visit three Cenotes or sink holes. These were incredible, very beautiful and only a little bit scary as they were water holes under ground. We got to the first Cenote by a cart pulled along rickety train tracks by a horse. It was fun to begin with but there was really no control over the speed of the horse so we went quite fast and I was waiting for the whole thing to tip over at any minute.
The next day we headed to Playa del Carmen but stopped at the ruins in Chichen Itza on the way. To be honest, I was pretty over ruins by this stage and these ones were packed with tourists so whilst they were incredible to look at, I was very ready to leave quickly.
When we arrived at Playa del Carmen, Tom and I dropped our stuff off and went for a stroll. We stopped at a bar {as we so often do} and had a drink before heading back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group for dinner. As it was our last night together, we ended up having quite a few drinks and many many random shots, all the while swinging on bar swings {something I'd like to see introduced into my dream house}. It was a sad goodbye at the end of the night.
Tom and I headed off to Cancun the next day for a week of relaxation before the end of our honeymoon.
And that's just what we did.
We went on a tour one day to Tulum, which was spectacular! We also went to Xel-Ha which is a natural water park. There we watched a dolphin show {I'm now obsessed with the idea of swimming with dolphins} and swam in the beautiful waters.
The last week has been spent laying on the beach, drinking and eating at our all inclusive resort. It's our last day today so we booked a beachside cabana and have had our own personal waiter to bring us food and drinks.
Tomorrow we head home but it has honestly been the best honeymoon ever and a wonderful experience that we'll never forget.
Here are a few photos of our trip {but hopefully not too many as I don't wish to bore you}
