Moving on: Our last week in Mexico.

After finishing our classes and leaving wonderful Tlaquepaque, we took an overnight bus back to Mexico City (D.F.), spent the day there, and took another overnight bus to Oaxaca. We drank unreasonable amounts of chocolate, took dawn photos of the city, and generally wandered before hopping on yet another overnight bus to get to Huatulco.

Huatulco was meant to be a short stop to change buses and head on for another hour or so to Mazunte (aka calm beach) but, as soon as we boarded our second bus (at about 7:00 AM), we were informed that the main road was blocked no buses could leave. We went to eat breakfast, then came back and waited a few hours in the station, hoping that the road would clear and we'd be able to continue to the water (about which I'd been fantasizing for weeks). No dice. Additionally, I was getting impatient from having gone on 3 overnight buses with no shower in between. So, around noon, we gave up and headed off to find a hotel.

We were lucky to find an available, clean and cheap room nearby. Additionally, the owner was extremely friendly and happy to practice his English on Jay (who in turn used the hotel owner as his own Spanish practice). We unloaded our bags, took much-needed showers, and washed our clothes before heading into town to wander, eat, and find an internet cafe to study in.

We spent the next day in Huatulco as well, and took the night bus back to Oaxaca when the roads cleared up. Another day in Oaxaca, another night bus - this time to Palenque, the city, from which we visited the amazingly beautiful ruins of the same name. Lush, jungle surroundings, beautiful buildings, pretty waterfalls, and really sunny weather. Plus, there weren't actually that many people. Way better than Machu Picchu on my oh-so-objective-ruins-scale. Photos to come.

Currently, we're back in the city of Palenque, having just returned from the ruins. Tonight we have another night bus (hopefully the last for a while) to Chetumal at the border of Belize. From there we'll take a series of short buses into San Ignacio and enjoy the jungle of Belize. Internet availability might be more scarce, so if you're wondering where we are, we're probably having wildly amazing jungle adventures or being intimidated and held in custody by border patrol. You never really know. :-)

All the best, and stay tuned! -JJ

For now, we only have updated photos from Tlaquepaque uploaded. Photos from Oaxaca, Palenque and (soon) Belize will be up as soon as we get the chance.

Tlaquepaque, Mexico