If it weren't for all you stinkers at home Abi and I would have moved to Mexico by now!

Abi and I have fallen in love with Mexico, hence the fact we are still here after spending almost two months in the country! Following Christmas we made our way over to the main land to a city called Guadalajara. This contrasted quite considerably with Baja California and being immersed in a fully fledged city was a welcome shock to the system. Guadalajara has an artsy bohemian feel to it, and like much of main land Mexico had a sense of youth and vibrancy. In fact the youth of Mexico as a whole appear to be effortlessly cool. The punk and rock scene are 'in' and long locks are modelled by young men in a way that no English bloke could pull off successfully! Whilst in Guadalajara we experienced the hustle and bustle of a food market selling all sorts of wierd and wonderful new things for us to try, including some crystallised honey and a tiny cup of very rich caramel/toffee which we later found out comes from goats milk. We've had the pleasure of doing this in pretty much every city we've been to, providing a perfect opportunity for a spot of people watching and a cheap meal. We also hired bikes once more as the local council very thoughtfully close the main road that runs through the centre of city on Sundays, giving power over to the pedestrians for a few hours each week. Other activities included checking out Orozco's murals, some impressively scary paintings depicting the Mexican revolution, and going to see Lucha Libre wrestling for an evening which was undeniably homo erotic. Each wrestler sports his own tightly fitting costume, complete with a full head mask and some times, if your lucky a cape. They then proceed to bend each other into all sorts of crazy positions, jump on each other a lot, and then eventually one of them sucumbs to his opponent. Although the whole charade is nothing more than a pantomime, it makes for a highly entertaining night particularly for young children, who eagerly wait around the ring in hope of getting their favourite character's autograph.

From Guadalajara we took a brief detour to Tequila, yep thats right there is an actual town called Tequila! We took a tour around a distillery and were naturally obliged to try some of the local produce. Despite our slight inebriation by the time we finished I managed to retain some information, that, if you're avid drinker of the stuff, you may find interesting. The one distillery we looked around produces 64 thousand litres of Tequila per day, someone clearly likes it! The agave plant that Tequila comes from is in fact a giant bulb from the Lilly family as opposed to a cactus... Oh and much the same as Champagne, it can only legally be deemed as Tequila if it comes from from the state of Jalisco where Tequila the town is located.

From Tequila we headed for Guanajuato where we welcomed in the new year with a night of salsa and yet more local liquors. Here we had a slightly bizarre experience when visiting some mummified bodies in glass cabinets with a group of Mexicans who were a little too keen to get their picture taken with a corpse. Each mummy had a small caption next to it stating something along the lines of 'hi, I'm Pedro, I was burried alive when I was only 23, before I died I liked hanging out with my friend Pablo, who is now lying next to me...' slightly distasteful to say the least as the bodies where still far too fresh for my liking, skin, eyes, pubic hair, and all!

From Guanajuato we swiftly made our way to Mexico City with no real expectations of particularly liking the place but a strong desire to start making our way down south. We were blown away! The second we exited the tube into the Zocalo we were hit with a buzz that only a city of such magnitude can provide. We headed for the streets straight away in exploration and discovered what appeared to be a mariachi convention! There were well over a hundred mariachi bands all simultaneously entertaining different members of the public at once. We paid 1 pound for a rendition of Guantanamera (shamelessly cliche, but a classic all the same). We then spent the rest of the night talking Spanglish to some Mexican youths, and got truly inspired by the idea of a Mexican themed party which we are intent on having upon our return, all are invited of course but only on the condition that you dress up as one of the following:

A cactus
A mariachi band member
A dia del muerta skeleton
A taco
An Aztec or Mayan coolio
A Lucha Libre wrestler
A piñata.... or anything else Mexican inspired!

The rest of our time in Mexico city was spent getting a cultural fix from various museums and galleries, and learning a little more about Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and her infamous mono-brow. We also took a rather colourful trip on a canal boat...yep that's right Mexico City has canals! Heading to the canals on a Sunday afternoon appears to be a popular activity amongst locals and tourists alike, the river heaved with families picnicking upon their own private floating dining room. For once the popularity of this activity only added to our enjoyment of the experience as the canals were alive with colour and the sound of good banter. Whilst being punted down the river we encountered a very scary 'doll island' created by a local man with the intent to fend off evil spirits. Anyone who has watched a 90's horror film involving clowns or dolls will appreciate why witnessing several dolls heads and various limbs hanging from a tree is enough to keep you up several nights in a row trying to think of happy thoughts!

We also had our first taste of prehispanic culture when visiting Teotihuacan. This is an enormous archaeological site just outside of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramids in the world. Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas and during its hay day it would have had more than 100,000 inhabitants roaming arounds its busy streets. When visiting the site its easy to get lost in wonder as to what it would have been like when thriving with life. This was greatly enhanced by our guide who went by the name of Gorilla and quite frankly was a complete dude, so cool in fact that when he removed his sun glasses from his face he was left with a distinct aviator tan line. During our journey throughout the site he told us of his experience of taking peyote (an halucianagenic which helps you find the inner 'you'), along with giving us our mayan names according to our birthdays. Abi must now be refered to as Tochtlimixtla which means The heart of the rabbit in the moon, and I am Alttzintonalli, Fire waterfall! He also told us that according to the Mayan calendar, the world is going to end on the 23rd of December 2012 so you folks better get living your dreams quick!

Naturally Mexico City wasn't the cheapest of places to fall in love with, and therefore a few nights couch surfing were in order. On this occasion we stayed with a girl named Alisa who again turned out to be perfectly sane with no intention of killing us. I hope the sceptics amongst you are beginning to see that we aren't in fact risking our lives by staying with complete strangers throughout this trip, and that sleeping on random peoples sofas is nothing more than a cultural exchange?!

So from Mexico City to Oaxaca. On our way to Oaxaca we were accompanied by Rob, an Aussie friend we made in L.A, with whom we spent a few brief days exploring the city before starting language school. Learning Spanish for a fortnight provided us with a much needed challenge of testing our brain cells after two years out of education. It also acted as a complete sanctuary as we stayed with a host family during this time and experienced the delights of a home cooked meals and sheets that smelt of fabric conditioner. The family we were staying with were warm and welcoming and having a base for a short time was absolute luxury. We did however discover that they are keen members of the church of Jehova, and spent one evening eating dinner with 20 of their friends whilst watching a film about 'brotherhood'. There wasn't much hope of converting us though, given that it was a week before my birthday, and I'd be damned if I wasn't going to celebrate in style!

Whilst at language school we spent our weekends exploring the surrounding mountains by day (including a cheeky skinny dip under a waterfall) and salsa dancing by night. Oaxaca itself is yet another vibrant, cosmopolitan city, full of life. People appear to be permanently socialising. Its the sort of place you find yourself content sitting in a small cafe and simply watching other peoples daily routine play out before your eyes, their lives set against a back drop of cobbled streets, stunning churches and distant mountains puncturing a perfect blue sky. In fact if it weren't so darn far away from the UK I'd be tempted to up and move there! Whilst staying in the city we met a fare few Mexicans with whom we shared a beer or two. Each one of them turned out to be hard working, intelligent and great conversationalists, a million miles away from their American stereotype of being idol sombrero wearing lay abouts. In fact Mexico itself is so much more developed than I had anticipated, obviously the country still has its fair share of social issues, poverty being one of them, but I feel a little niave to have expected such a lack of wealth. You may, or may not know that Mexico for the large part is classed as a North American country as opposed to Central American, therefore the concept of referring to the U.S.A as 'America' can be deemed by some people to be quite offensive.

Briefly before I forget I must mention the local grub, as I'm sure if you are as much of a food fan as we are, you'll be keen to find out whats on the menu. One thing that has to be said about Mexican cuisine is that there is a serious lack of veggies. We have pretty much survived on tacos, tortas and rice and beans for the last two months, which is perfect for the cheese lover in me, but alas I am struggling with the lack of green things in my daily diet. On the plus side though, fruit is in abundance, and if you are feeling a little lazy you can simply pick up a litre sized cup from a street stall full of pineapple, papaya, mango, and just about anything else you fancy, for 75p. Chilli and fresh lime juice is sprayed on pretty much anything you put in your mouth (including beer) and I have also discovered a new found love for guavas. Street stalls sell a range of arse widening snacks including a cup of maize mixed with chili, lime (of course) mayo and cheese, delicious comfort food.

Lastly on a more general note I need to throw in a few facts that don't fit in nicely with any of the other paragraphs, but deserve a mention all the same:

1. In Mexico the 24th of December and the 6th of January are actually considered the most significant days of the Christmas period, not the 25th.
2. All of the Christmas trees in the public squares are sponsored/owned by Coca Cola.
3. Having shiny shoes must be very important to Mexicans as shoe shining stalls are absolutely everywhere!
4. A popular method of advertising throughout Mexico is to attach a loud speaker to the back of a truck and drive it around the streets at a snails pace obnoxiously loudly, one of the country's less pleasant attributes.
5. What else? Ah yes best of all live music is everywhere, including on the local buses, where you will often find a musician or two hop on, busk for 10 minutes and then hop off again!