Hotel Quinta Real Monterrey

We did manage to leave for the border and as before it was a fairly painless crossing. Leaving the US we just left our visa cards with the man collecting the toll to cross the bridge. In Mexico we got stopped by the customs who just had a cursory look inside the vehicle, they then told us where we could park whilst we got our visa cards. I went there whilst Mary went into the office. As I was parking up the military decided that they wanted a look ...

... away for a couple of hours. aside from being a bit sunburnt last nite i appear to have got away with this wanton sun mockery - jo however has not been so fortunate! (i think we may be investing in shares in aftersun!) the hostel we're staying in has hammocks so iv got a good bit of hammock time in - god knows what im going to do when we get to guatemala! we're off to the ruins today which go all the way down to the sea and you can have a swim at the end! then ...

... a Cuban restaurant. Important to note here is that, contrary to the American perception of enchiladas, enchiladas in Mexico only promise "in chile sauce", the literal translation of the word enchilada. In reality it was just shrimp coated in a chile sauce... but they were mmm-mmm good. I don´t mean to mislead, as the more commonly known enchiladas exist too--I´ve eaten my fair share. Least favorite... probably flan, the ...

... to it yet! hope i dont get back to england to find it was the coctails that were good not the band! before we knew it it was 2am so ambled home. another sneaking silently in the dark pantomine ensued, altho thankfully minus plastic bag! Sat 2nd Was up early today as the commonwealth (minus robbo) were off a trip to 2 mayan villages, and i needed to by stamps befor we set off (only the chosen few will recieve a postcard!) Im not going to go into too much ...

... 2 hours there checking the net for places to stay that weren{t too $$ and all we could find were cabanas on the beach with just a bed in the room. We had heard these were doable b-c there was a breeze but they were insufferable without a breeze, and they were far from town so bring all your food with you, plus there were tons of mosquittos at night... Since i was sick it wasn{t worth it... i wanted my last week to be relaxing and not horrible, so we jumped on a micro bus and headed ...

... Then you chose the toppings for your tortilla and the meat is slapped in front of you in a giant bowl where you use your fingers to rip it apart and make your tortillas. We had both Beef and Chiroz which were very delicious. Gets a bit smokey though whilst eating as there are about 50 bbq´s cranking under one roof. After lunch we headed out of Oaxaca to a smaller town about 40 minutes out where they were having their local ...

... was getting late. Monterrey in an immense city and we know this since we got lost and went from end to end of the city! Luckily, after 2 hours of driving and asking for directions, we arrive to the house of Carmen and Oscar. We had a nice time with our friends and then we went to the center of the city which is really beautiful. We walked, around some government buildings and a few plazas in the center were we found a Mariachi group and someone imitating Juan ...

... to drink, beers and absolut the perfect combination. Didn't get home till 5, we had to climb the high fence to get into the house. Going on a trip in the morning, we only had two hours sleep. Esteban y yo still drunk somehow made it to the bus. Arriving in the town, we finally felt like we were in mexico, the weather y the people y the architecture. Climbing the steep ...

... where it is either sold for a few pesos (that helps people value the work of AMMAC and covers petrol money maybe) or given away depending on the level of poverty. As well as communities, food is also taken to old people´s homes, orphanages and places that provide meals for poor kids. As well as providing food, Baudelio also tries to arrange days out and fun events for orphans - a day at the car races, an afternoon at the swimming pool - all he can to show kids who have so ...

... I have no idea if it was because we were not supposed to eat there, or comitted some sort of cultural faux pas, or perhaps I just had salsa verde dripping down my chin... whatever it was, I didn't care...I was hungry. After that we went to see a movie...IN ENGLISH no less (with Spanish subtitles). The theatre was really nice...I have never had a rocking recliner for a seat at a theatre before. Once again, there is a huge difference between the haves and the have nots here.