Sat 10th Feb

Waking up at half 3 wasn’t too bad as being ill meant I was asleep by 9 and had therefore gotten a decent nights kip.

0420 and the bus came, only 2 more to pick up and away we were.

My group this time consisted of me, 2 germans and 4 Mexicans plus our driver.

Far too early and dark to engage in any chatter, I curl up on the back seat for the long journey ahead.

As anyone who has travelled through Chiapas will know, a comfy ride this was not as every 150-200 metres are speed bumps, slowing us down to below 10kmh for each and every one!

4 hours in, we make a breakfast stop. Still not feeling 100% I decide to give this a miss and eat what I’ve brought with me. Must try and move on from bags of Cheetohs though!

I catch up with the 2 girls I met yesterday and also get chatting to 2 girls off my bus. They are hanging out of their arses from getting in at 0330 then getting straight on the bus for this tour. I polish my invisible halo and take comfort in my moral high ground that for once this isn’t me. I started most tours in Central America like that last year and I’m not keen to repeat it!

I’ve waited over a year to do this trip and it did not disappoint. So glad that I’m feeling a bit better to actually enjoy it too. Cost of trip and shuttle – 450 pesos

Agua Azul was simply stunning. A gorgeous place of natural beauty.

I only wish I had a bit more time there so I cd have swam up to the main falls.

Misol Ha was also stunning and the walk behind the waterfall totally refreshing

En route to Palenque and Larry texts me to say he’s enjoying the match build up with a beer. Gutted to not be watching this one with u Laze…but my day has been pretty cool so far. A wales win wd top it off nicely 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (did google result when got in thou and know this not to be the case).

The Mayan ruins at Palenque were magnificent and splendid. A guide wd have been useful but at 95$ I relied on my guidebook and a bit of google!

Phenomenal place with such great history and interesting stories behind it

End of tour and it’s bloody hot – time to head to next hostel. Only here for a night so have decided to ‘rough’ it in a dorm. Get put in one of 12 full of men – now normally this would sound like Xmas come early but still not feeling great n as a first attempt in a dorm, I’d like just girls. Get moved to one of 3 girls all from the UK so have a good natter with them n swap useful info on our future travels.

With another early start, I grab a bite to eat and goto bed…on to Guatemala tomorrow 🇬🇹