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Craig and Limbster

Craig and Limbster

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    • Craig and LimbsterRejsendeLa Vida Colorida

      Guadalajara

      6. december 2019, Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      Day 400.

      For our final stop in Mexico we headed to Guadalajara. Roughly 7 hours north west of Mexico City so opted for yet another night bus, this one was certainly up there with our worst nights sleep - not helped in the slightest by the loud and continuous showing of spanish movies. The angry birds screening that kicked off at 1am it has to be said was my least favourite and certainly stoked some unusual dreams.

      Your luck has to run out at sometime, and it would appear that our run of couch surfing success was soon to come to an end. We arrived at Jonathan's House first thing, looking forward to a relaxing atmosphere and a nice private room (as advertised on his profile). In fact it became quickly apparent we would be having the lounge sofa also shared with the dog. After Jon left for work and we were left to our own devices things quickly fell apart and within the space of 3 hours the rather aggressive dog in our care had attacked an innocent pedastrian and we had gone and locked both ourselves and Jonathon well and truly out of his own house. A few bandages, a locksmith and a pretty poor night sleep amongst the dog hairs later we decided to head to '' The beach'' aka a nice hostal in town. It was goodbye to Jonathon for now and time for us to relax - you win some you loose some.

      Much to our surprise, we loved Guadalajara. The historic centre made up of plaza after plaza set this historical centre amongst some of the nicest cities we had visited (if you can put the cotton scarfs to one side that is). Watching the families gather at dusk around the zócalo was the best way to see in our second night here, the whole area bustling with children and families, sweet 15 photoshoots and plenty of Christmas decorations!

      When it comes to markets around the world we thought we'd seen it all. Then we came across San Juan mercado in Central Guadalajara, which it turns out is only a mere 40,000 square meters and the largest in Latin America. Its hard to describe in words quite how big that feels, and the choice at least for people like us who suffer with extreme fomo when it comes to food makes it extremely difficult to choose anything! With genuinely 1000s of indoor resturants, fresh fish, Japanese sushi, & Mexican favourites all at incredible prices it was near impossible - we could only eat so much after all. And it wasn't until I had just tucked into my Chilli Renno that I saw the plate of exquisite Japanese food, layered with langostines being passed over my head that I realised I had made my first mistake here, and likely not my last.

      But it wasn't just food, need a new watch? There's a thousand stalls happy to help and for bargain prices. As it happens I had just got my watch repaired, new straps and all for a grand total of £1 so I didn't need a new one - but who was I to refuse a little treat once in a while. 3 pairs of sunglasses, a new watch and plenty of food later we said goodbye to this crazy indoor world.

      We couldn't come all this way and not travel the extra 2 hours north by bus to the magical town of Tequilla. Home to 900 brands of tequilla, our first stop was to Tres Mujeres Distillery - home to many of them. Our private tour was a delight, setting us back a grand total of £1 (seems to be the theme in this country) we had an hour tour of the distillery, agave fields and plenty of tequilla tasting - in fact so much we were asking for half shots at the end. Using salt and lime is frowned upon here - so it's strictly just tequilla, deep breath through the nose and out through the throat. This seemed to get harder (for one of us) as the Tequilla grew more and more aged, cheaper tastes and all.

      A little tipsy we continued to the town of Tequilla, where there happened to be also an annual tequilla festival, if there wasn't enough already the zócalo and surrounding area was full of tequilla stalls and Mariachi music - all day long. Samples are strongly recommended and we quickly lost count of quite how many we had tried. Listening to a rendition of Andrea Bocelli's 'Con Te Partiro in the main square with tequilla in hand was certainly a fine way to end the day.

      It was also a sad day however, as today saw the end of the mighty green shirt, with me since day 1 and easily my most worn item of clothing. So much so it has worn so thin its nothing more than tissue paper. Luckily we were in the right place to drown my sorrows - it will never be forgotten.

      Back in Guadalajara and nursing a slight hangover from yesterday's adventures we were on the hunt for some good food. Limbster, (credit again) certainly nailed the research and landed us at the best pastor resturant in all of Mexico (in our opinion anyway), so popular that it is literally a two man job to be continously slicing off that fresh pastor to meet the demand from hungry locals - it was quite a sight. This alone was impressive enough until we hunted down the much hyped fish taco resturant which literally topped everything. For a mere £1; that magic number again, you got a big double wrapped taco, 4 large coated prawns or a slab of fresh fish finished with unlimited toppings, add to that live music and sitting amongst hundreds of locals looking as happy as you and this place can't be beaten!

      One thing we have learnt, that no matter what you read local Mariachi squares on a Saturday night is not magical, fun or entertaining. It's much better described as a hang out for the dodgiest characters in every town and a near certain place to go to get yourself separated from your possessions. We quickly did a turn and tried to remember this for the 3rd time we try to visit...

      Our final day we felt more than content with our time here, and decided to spend our Sunday in a more Mexican way - at the local rodeo. Certainly an interesting affair, and a way to see a different side of Mexican culture. Men and boys clad in traditional cowboy attire with the women and grandparents drinking and cheering as they lasso the next unfortunate cow the be let loose into the ring. Surprisingly Limbster got fairly into this activity - I even think I heard a small cheer at one point.

      It was goodbye to Guadalajara and back to mexico city via the dreaded night bus, here's hoping they opt for a showing of blue planet this time around.      Læs mere

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    • Craig and LimbsterRejsendeLa Vida Colorida

      Tepoztlan

      3. december 2019, Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Day 397.

      Deciding to escape Mexico City before visiting Mexico 2nd largest city was certainly a wise choice. Therefore we headed two hours out of town to a place called Tepoztlan, a small but picturesque mountain town.

      The plan here was to do as little as possible, and the hostels garden was made for doing exactly that, lots of green, hammocks and facing right onto the mountains for sunset. After a break from Couch Surfing we finally had space, bed covers and even some pillows - it might sound simple but it was certainly a treat.

      Day 2 I decided to trek to the top of the nearby rock, where there were still ruins of an ancient pyramid, plus great views of the city. Limbster decided to give this one a miss, hearing a little about the steep climb was enough for her to decide to stay put and set up camp on the outdoor sofa. It was indeed tough in the midday heat but the views alone where worth the sweat. Perching on top of the pyramid soaking up the views, at least until it was time to get back home and feed limbster.

      I arrived back to find a relatively angsty Ellie, turns out 24 hours of pure relaxing (even in this setting) is enough to drive her crazy. But was nothing a little walk and enjoying a sunset at the end of the garden couldn't fix.

      Short but sweet stay, one to come back to for sure.      Læs mere

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    • Craig and LimbsterRejsendeLa Vida Colorida

      Mexico City Part III

      1. december 2019, Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      Day 395.

      A short and sweet post for our final leg in this city, predominantly due to our combined exhaustion from the previous few weeks exploring this mammoth place!

      After saying goodbye to Laura we moved to our 3rd and final hosts in this city (and by far the best yet). Two young architects, keen travellers, great cooks and living in an apartment decorated exactly like we'd have our own!

      Spent the first evening sharing dinner with our host Tania and discussing tips from their recent trip to Patagonia! Great food although this really highlighted our recent trend of eating big (and fast) I blame L'il cesears.

      Our last big event on the to do list was a night at the famous Lucha Libre wrestling, so when Friday rolled around we were certainly ready. Putting money to the side for one evening we returned to La Coyoacana, the Mariachi Tequilla bar - and for once didn't hold back.. . Our waiter free pouring our choice of Tequilla with Mariachi live in the background was Mexico all over for us! Also now we are regulars we only had to wait a mere 40 minutes to negotiate our way inside time - not bad.

      We might have started the evening like this but it wasn't long before we were buying bottem shelf tequilla from the local gas station or sipping on unlabelled bottles of Mezcal in the local cantinas, the High life could only last so long after all..

      Mask on and giant beer in hand we found our seats amongst the lively crowd, ready for a night of wrestling entertainment, to my surprise even limbster was loving it, couldn't hold her back from jeering at the wrestlers on queue!

      Hadn't banked on the 25 minutes of surprise midget wrestling, we weren't quite sure how to take this but decided to immersive ourself and go with the crowd on this one. I had honestly expected another James Bond Premier moment from Limbster on this one but she more than turned up and we left only wanting more.

      It's been a while since we have experienced a true hangover but Saturday was certainly one. I blame the gas station tequilla at 40p a bottle it can't have been great stuff. But in our cosy apartment we were more than happy to embrace it, only venturing out to the local art market of San Angel. I can't speak for Limbster but I certainly enjoyed myself!

      Enjoyed a calm Saturday night out with Diego and Tania, totally tequilla free (strictly fancy Condesa coffee) which was exactly what we needed!

      Forgot to mention, after much effort and discussion Limbster has finally acquired some new walking sandals, gracias adios. It may have only added to her heavy bag struggles but but that's a problem for another day.      Læs mere

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    • Craig and LimbsterRejsendeLa Vida Colorida

      Mexico City Part II

      28. november 2019, Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

      Day 392.

      The sheer size of Mexico City and the fact that we'll be spending a few weeks here has left us with no choice but to break these posts up, if not just for my sanity alone, so here goes part II.

      After 5 days in CDMX we said goodbye to Mauricio and headed out of town to meet Laura, our new host who was a complete contrast in terms of person and location. A rather scatty, if not slightly crazy single mum who housed us in a separate apartment attached to her rather grand house on the outskirts of town - a real treat. Weren't big freinds of the rather scary and bite happy dog at first but learnt to love her.

      Our first chance to explore this tranquil part of town was going for lunch. After a stern discussion recently limbster decided to go big, ordering an array of local dishes she had not tried before, only gathering a vague idea as to what they were in spanish from the very kind owner. Amazingly this paid off and by sheer luck we were presented with a huge platter of local delights, that quite frankly we didn't know we had ordered at all. Spending a few hours here over a horchata and discussing future plans was certainly not the worst decision we've made.

      After the previous days unsuccessful attempt at shipping our goods to the UK we headed back into town to try again. I was dealt a fairly harsh blow early on and was informed Bri's Xmas gift wouldn't make it through customs, having to hand it over to the police after lugging it around for 5 weeks straight was a fairly sad start. Limbster didn't go unscathed either quickly realising milk based products once carried around for a month in the Mexican heat will not last. However things did improve, the Harry Potter style Palace post office was certainly a great setting to be packing our things home. Three hours later and 5k lighter we felt good - Now just to pray those skulls make it!

      After a long breakfast with Laura, and another pint of oxxo coffee for me we headed out to Xochimilco. With Laura's vague and exhausting public transport options in hand we slid ourselves into the much more economical backseat of an Uber (once out of sight of course) and were on our way.

      It's hard to describe a place like Xochimilco, known as the little venice of Mexico City - miles of pre Hispanic waterways, thousands of colorful Trajineras (colorful punting boats) and all the Mariachi and Cerveza you could ask for. Deciding there was only one way to find out what happens here we hired our own and set off. The following hour turned out to be one of the funniest we have had, cruising the backwaters with Mariachi Bands sailing past (boarding your boat on request) canoe sellers offering everything from more beer (of course we indulged) to the classic Mexican snacks. Watching boats full to the brim with family's dancing away at midday was certainly the highlight.

      After this surreal experience we headed to the more upmarket neighbourhoods of Roma and Condesa to explore, although this sounds casual this was actually a train ride, 2 metros, 2 buses and a 15 minute walk! But for sampling the oldest churros in town and for the first time getting that Xmasy feeling it was certainly worth the trip.

      After some serious persuasion I had convinced Limbster to head out to see the Teotihucan ruins with me. Although not a history buff she accepted and we were on our way, opting to crack out the ever stylish travel hat today becuase it was crazy hot and that forehead needs protecting. As well as being amazingly preserved it also has the world's 3rd largest pyramid, which we were quick to scale to admire the views!

      Sensing after pyramid number 3 I was loosing limbster we jumped back on the bus and headed back to town just in time to see the much spoken off sunset flag ceremony at the Zócalo. Watching the soilders chase down that flag as if their life depended on it (actually may well have done) was certainly entertaining, but not as much so as watching limbster eat an Elote. Never have I seen someone shamelessly make as much mess with a single piece of corn in one sitting.

      After hitting 25km walking for the 3rd day in a row we were exhausted, opting to end our evening with a night at the museums therefore seemed rougue, but was well worth the visit. Exploring the most grand art museum (accompanied with some live jazz) by night felt like something right out of a movie.

      Come Day 4 it was farewell to Laura and time to move more central. Left on a high after a visit to our favourite breakfast spot and collecting my newly repaired favourite shirt - it had certainly been a great stay!      Læs mere

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    • Craig and LimbsterRejsendeLa Vida Colorida

      Mexico City Part I

      20. november 2019, Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Day 384.

      After my initial protesting I was quick to take back my words regarding the night bus after enjoying a great night's sleep. However arriving into the city at 5am meant we needed to find coffee - Vips Diner would be our savour and we spent the next 3 hours milking our refillable coffee and watching this city come alive out of the window.

      For our first stint in this city we would be staying with a couch surfer called Mauricio. After deciding 8am was a respectable time to go knocking on someone's door we headed across town to his address. Thankfully the metro here is exactly like London, just much much cheaper (20p to go anywhere in the city in fact), it quickly became our new best freind!

      After a quick hello to our fellow Colombian couch surfers we headed out for breakfast - determined to find the local delicacy of Chiliqiules. Not to blow our own horn but if I do say so myself we smashed it, landing what had to be the best breakfast in all of coyoacan.

      Mexico City is huge, like really huge so it's a more pick an area for the day and explore kind of place. Our first day would be Coyoacan, the trendy part of town. Still buzzing off the 5 coffees this morning we headed straight for our first walking tour, which we slightly regretted as the guide took the history lesson to the next level.

      After a mere 30k steps on day 1 we decided to head back home for dinner and spent the evening chatting spanish (and a little inglés) with the very energetic Colombians and our Mexican host. Safe to say we now have some new friends to visit in Bogota!

      Best taco surprise tonight, on route for a naughty little cesears we struck gold with the best pastor tacos to date and indulged accordingly. Safe to say our excitement led to us consuming a little too much spice, the price of which I had to suffer later, note for Ellie green isn't always Guacamole..

      Markets here are nothing short of incredible, and we have dedicated hours to them already, and rightly so. I could barely contain my excitement as we explored the artisan market, only exemplified by limbster willingness to let me spend $ - it was an exhilirating 4 hours. The peacefulness of the craft Market however was quickly replaced with the local Sunday flea market nearby, never have we seen such a jungle of chaos in one place before. It seems obligatory for men and women young and old to explore said market with a beer in hand, regardless of the fact its only 11am. Not just any beer either, a 1.2 litre bottle (each!), doused in chilli and finished off with a helping of tomato juice, what more could you want!

      But it's not just the markets, the rest of the city is equally entertaining, from the daily and rather mesmerising Aztec rituals that take place every morning in the zocalo, to the wild and slightly drunken Mariachi band performances come night time, we have not had a dull moment so far. Plan to learn a few Mariachi songs and next time we can participate a little more, that plus a few more Mezcals...

      After walking tour number two we headed off to hunt out the popular dish named Pozole, which is known for historically being served with human meat, at least a good while ago back in Aztec times, fortunately its now just chicken and we had a great time. Limbster especially so, it's always easy for me to tell depending much she decides to splash around the table.

      Not wanting to miss out on the history side of this great city, come Sunday we began to visit the tranch of museums on our to do list. We went Sunday of course because entry is free, a fact limbster knew long before our arrival, doesn't miss a trick. The highlight was the famous Diego Riverias Mural museum, certainly my kind of art, if only they sold printed copies it would be on its way to England with the rest of our goodies.

      And like that 4 nights had flown by at our current couch surfers in coyoacan. Spending the last night with Mauricio playing all his favourite Latin america hits for us over a cup of enlgish tea was definitely a great way to end a very hectic four days!

      Note, I'm not one to usually humour the street acts but when it's a Zapata duo - who could say no!      Læs mere

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    • Craig and LimbsterRejsendeLa Vida Colorida

      Mazunteeeee

      14. november 2019, Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

      Day 378.

      After a month of exploring the cities and countryside of Mexico it was finally about time we headed to the Pacific Coast for some sun, sea and civiche!

      After a fairly unforgiving 9 hour mountain pass through the night we arrived in Pochutla, beaches are connected here by caminitas - effectively a pick up truck consisting of a few benches in the back and some tarpalling to protect from the rain. Amazingly they manage to fit 30 plus people in the back, although that includes 5 people hanging off the edge. That being said we jumped on in to a fully packed caminita and headed down to Mazunte - the tiny tranquil beach spot nestled amongst the palm trees that we had been waiting for.

      Through a combination of sheer luck and a translation error we found ourselves landing arguably the best accomodation in all of Mazunte (in our opinion), just 50m back from the beach and surronded by jungle was our two storey tree house with outside shower and fully kitted kitchen - which came in particularly handy for hosting freinds and preparing a few home made margeritas! By the end of our stay the hosts liked us so much they even threw in a free bottle of red wine - too generous some people.

      Our time here was everything we wanted it to be and a routine quickly formed; from waking to the noises of the jungle in the morning, enjoying our favourite 'smoothie bowls' in bed, watching sunrise and sunset, a big cold cerveza at lunch and swimming all day in the crystal clear waters - it was decided quickly we would be staying here longer than planned...

      Our relationship with the sea here however wasn't all fun and games. In fact the super large waves, although great for surfing meant you had to stay fairly alert not to be sent tumbling around. Sadly this is easier said than done and we were quick to say goodbye to both pairs of our sunglasses, that'll teach me not to play a joke on Limbster again. There was also the time Limbster got barrel rolled by two waves one after the other and qoute ''nearly drowned'' personally I think the panic in her waving arms was what caused the lightning quick jetski rescue...

      Mazunte was peaceful enough but venturing over a cliff or two meant you could find a beach all to your own, and we did exactly that for our first sunset here, enjoying the sun go down on the horizon on our own personal bit of paradise. Except for in the desert of India have we seen such starry nights as here in Mazunte, with little to no lights at night the views of the sky were magical and perfect for watching shooting stars.

      Mazunte however was soon to change, as the annual 3 day Jazz festival was about to descend on this beach town, and boy do the Mexicans love to party. Overnight every housefront was converted into a pop up cocktail bar, stages erected on the sandy beach and before we knew it we were sipping on our gigantic Mojitos, practising our salsa moves in the sea & listening to live pop up jazz bands playing straight from the beach.

      It seems though we're not quite the party animals we used to be, ending our Mezcal filled night with Lars and Julie (german amigos) come 2am seemed early by Mexican standards, who on the last day of the festival were still clinging onto their litre bottles of cerveza in the sea come 7.30am. This feeling was only exemplified given this was coincidently also the time we set off on our morning dolphin boat tour...

      Tha being said, we know where we'd rather be and watching a pod of dolphins splash about all morning is certainly our cup of tea. Due to some top analysis by limbster that morning too it turned out it only cost us £0.12p per dolphin, bargain.

      In a surprising turn of events, and certainly against the norm I only went and injured myself, after the initial disbelief that it was indeed me and not Ellie I began to notice the blood. In fact I had properly messed up the exact same toe limbster had with a mere trip on some dodgy concrete, nightmare. Although inconvenient I felt some genuine happiness to be using some of this giant first aid kit we've been lugging around, a few bandages and a Mezcal or two later and all was well.

      I couldn't finish this post without mentioning the nearby seafood on Zipolite beach, so good in fact we returned twice and absolutely blew our typical food budget out of the water. Huge fresh fish tacos, civiche (nearly as good as our own), and some awesome garlic soaked fish fillets - we certainly had our seafood kick we had been looking for, that being said none of these incredible dishes actually exceeded £5 - Mexico is incredible.

      After settling into this life for 8 days it felt really hard to leave, in fact we could stay here for a very long time. But reluctantly we said goodbye to the beach as it was time to see what Mexico City has in store for us...      Læs mere

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    • Craig and LimbsterRejsendeLa Vida Colorida

      Sierra Norte, Pueblos Mancomunidados

      10. november 2019, Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      Day 374.

      After venturing out of Oaxaca City for a few days it seemed we had the taste for the countryside all of a sudden. Limbster decided we would head up to the Sierra Norte for a 5 day trek after reading about warm cabin fires and amazing views, I don't think having yet considering the trekking part too thoroughly.

      The plan looked to be halted early on, after catching a bus out to a fairly remote roadside we needed someone to take us up the mountain, the problem was nobody was going. It was the first time we've taken to hitchhiking on this trip but it was our only choice it seemed, limbster was nominated for this job on account of her more friendly face. Fortunately we were picked up by a lovely couple in no time (on a one hour vacation) and taken to the closest town.

      Once there however things were just as tricky, it was an hour dirt track up into the hills and apparently nothing was running that day, the police offered us a ride but for an extortionate amount of cash (nice of them!)

      After a long wait a lovely old lady arrived at our same street corner, and she was going up to the mountains! We were in luck, if a local is waiting there had to be a way up today, and as if by magic a collectivo jeep pulled up a mere 30 minutes later - we were off.

      Turns out the mountains were cold, quickly rising to 2800 metres meant we were right up in the clouds, and therefore the weather could turn from baking hot to freezing in no time at all. We were quick to hunt down a local Tienda ran by a lovely lady and her mum, not only making us the best bowls of hot chocolate to keep us warm but incredible quesidillas to keep us fed, the rooftop mountain views were simply a bonus.

      We were to be bunked up in our first cabin with Hans, a lovely 70 year old Danish gent. Generously we let him take the double bed and opted for the bunks ourselves, besides we would be closer to the fire that night. Enjoyed some Mezcal over the campfire with our new American freinds, this couple alone managing to entirely change our opinion on travelling Americans and we didn't stop laughing all evening.

      It was an early night, us and Hans all tucked up by 8.30 on account of the cold, the huge fireplace in the cabin couldn't have been cosier and drifting asleep with the fire crackling away was a real treat. Turns out however Hans snores, need to bare in mind when obtaining next cabin.

      We woke the second day to find ourselves well and truly in a cloud, not only could we not see the mountains we could barely see our hands in front of us. Never less we began the first leg of our trek, still wondering if opting out of taking a guide (after being strongly recommended one) was a bad move. It turns out however our navigation skills were on point that day and we arrived safe and sound.

      After last night with Hans we decided to splash out on a private cabin nestled on the hill top. Having our own cabin was a real luxury, come nightfall we were quick to relocate the double bed right in front of the open fire, (arguably too close for the sake of the sheets). Once it got started it was perfect, we also got to use the bamboo chopsticks I've lugged around everyday for the first time - as perfect marshmallow skewers. It was a night to remember.

      Day 3 was a slightly longer trail, thus there was an increased chance of us making a navigation error. Fortunately thanks to the Mexican peso we made our way through to Latuvi safe and sound. Come the pm the clouds swooped in once again, blanketing our cabins, luckily limbster had planned this trip because there were lots of exciting activities to be had here, aka in bed at 2pm with Hans once again..

      The final day of trekking had come around quickly, today we wisely held back and waited for the clouds to clear, and it paid off - 15km of hiking through picturesque valleys wouldn't have quite been the same with clouds. This day was tough, and certainly 500ml of water between the 2 of us wasn't our smartest move, we tried to not entertain the thought of what would happen if we actually got lost. Even though there were a couple of snappy turtles / enojado elfos we successfully made it to our final clifftop destination, and proceeded to spend some of that money saved on guides on two well earned cervezas!

      As it was our final night it was only right we indulged in a private cabin once again. Couldn't resist that double bed and open fire combo. However this night was slightly different and saw us putting out our own fire for fear of our own safety, that being said we will certainly miss this cabin lifestyle when we're back in a 16 bed dorm tomorrow...

      This trip saw some cracking outfits from Limbster, they won't be shared here but will forever be in my mind.      Læs mere

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    • Craig and LimbsterRejsendeLa Vida Colorida

      Hierve De Agua

      5. november 2019, Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      Day 369.

      As the celebrations were beginning to wind down we decided it was time to escape the city and head up into the surrounding mountains for some piece and quiet as well as a little adventure.

      We had heard about Hirve De agua before arriving in Mexico, thanks to limbsters exhausting research there wasn't much we didn't know. But this one we thought was at least a tad of the beaten path. This dream was crushed fairly quickly once we started to notice to day trip fliers littered all over Oaxaca. Not to be defeated however we decided we would avoid those pesky tourists somehow.

      The answer it turned out was to stay the night, so that was the plan. An hour by plus plus a further hour hanging rather precariously off the back of a pick up truck and we were there! It could have been slightly slower but every couple for themself is our new motto, so we showed no mercy clambereing into those last few spaces.

      The setting was incredible, nothing in sight but rolling green hills, two large natural waterpools lay atop a petrified waterfall form a picturesque infinity pool over the mountains. Before heading in for a swim we had work to do to find somewhere to sleep, it was a fairly baron village so it would be a door to door process!

      This started at the entrance itself, where 4 rather uncharming and definitely drunk hombres tried to take us for a ride. Not having any of it we swiftly moved on. The spanish is starting to come in more and more useful, not a word of English is understood here and therefore asking for help and taking directions is all the more necessary.

      After a short walk we were in luck, a lovely lady who it seemed operated an open street kitchen, a Tienda and a small garden farm also happened to have two spare guest rooms available! Success. This meant we could be up bright and early the next day, long before the tour groups from the city arrived - we couldn't have been happier that our determination had paid off.

      Not wanting to miss out on today's sun we headed to the pools for a celebratory swim, more smug now than ever as we walked back past the still intoxicated men. The pools and scenery was more beautiful than the photos and it was exactly the escape we needed from the city. For a first Limbster was straight in, I barely counted 20 seconds of hesitation, a real improvement. Lying together on the edge of the pools looking straight down on the mountains together below was amazing if not slightly unsafe..

      Come sunrise the next day we scrambled down to the pools at 6.30am, it turns out we werent quite the only ones there but we could like with 3 or 4 other like minded backpackers and made a new freind in the process.

      This was somewhere we could have stayed a lot longer but it was time to head back and get prepared for some trekking..      Læs mere

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    • Craig and LimbsterRejsendeLa Vida Colorida

      Oaxaca - Dia de los Muertos

      28. oktober 2019, Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      Day 365.

      There had been quite the build up to day of the dead, rumblings in the hostels, posters, street art and most of all the vibrant decorations had started, and this was before we even arrived in Oaxaca...

      First we had the delight of taking a 12 hour night bus to get there, unfortunately we're not in India anymore and so the luxury of a double bed is a million miles away, seats with a slight recline only - it would be a long night.

      Oaxaca was like a playground for adults, in our opinion anyway! Great food on every corner, markets bustling with life and color, and never being more than 50 meters from the next Mezcalería (Tequilla bars), it being the home of Mezcal meant everybody wanted to show off their product even more.

      But the real reason we were here was for Day of the Dead. With the entire cities accomodation selling out 6 weeks in advance the place was booming. Fortunately we found a local couch surfer to host us, making us one of the lucky ones!

      As the days approached until the 31st of October the city got more and more decorated, giant skeletons on every building, brightly coloured altars sitting in every entrance hall - the excitement was starting. Not only that but the street artists are out in force painting and selling their DOD skulls - a particularly exciting thing to watch in my opinion, not for Ellie however, who has to be forcibly dragged over to inspect my potential purchases..

      To get in the spirit of the festival, and further our understanding of the history a Coco movie night was in order. Once we had our inspiration it was out the next day to purchase face paints. It seemed the entire city was enlisting one of the hundreds of street make up artists to get there face done - our idea, do it ourselves of course... Given we only count in tacos now I'd say we saved ourselves at least 40 x pastor, 1-0 us.

      To describe the markets here would be a post in itself, but the craziness is real and we couldn't keep ourselves out, each and every day we would be back there. Come the day of the 31st it was to buy Mezcal for the festival, not any Mezcal mind, ours came in a petrol tin - but for the price we couldn't complain. Petrol tin of tequilla & newly purchased bamboo shot glasses in hand we headed out. Take 1 at face paint was certianly eventful - 5 Mezcals, 1 Mexican friend, 1 interview with German TV and one angry Limbster. The latter apparently on account of me ''ruining her face'' - well I tried.

      It was slightly surreal, wandering the streets with everyone from elderly women to toddlers proudly wearing their best attempts of skeleton face paint, from dancing in the streets to elaborate and sometimes rather scary parades (thousand of people deep) making it all the more magical. Nothing however could beat the best part of the tradition - visiting the local cemeteries come 9/10pm each evening.

      Unlike your typical cemeteries at home these one would come alive (quite literally too in the mind of Mexicans) and made for a sight like nothing we've quite seen before. Families would gather around loved ones, decorate gravestones and light more candles than you could ever imagine. Celebrations would vary from a quiet meal with a Mezcal or two around a lost grandad to a real celebration - Mariachi band and all to sing the night away with old amigos. Even we didn't quite have the stamina, calling it a night at 2am seemed late for us - but the night was just beginning for the families who would celebrate until sunrise with their awakened loved ones.

      Its worth noting on Day 3 our face painting attempt had significantly improved, turns out limbster was better off alone, leaving me instead to fudge my own face this time (Me and my high expectations apparently). Sometimes the small moments are the best and sharing a beer and painting each other on a picturesque terrace balcony, overlooking this amazing city was certainly one of them.

      Although basic our couch surfers will be memorable and was a real throw back to the days of sharing a single bed in ellies teenage room, just less hot and stuffy, yes Mexico is in fact cooler than Diane and Paul's house on a winters night.

      Limbster found a new fave Mexican speciality Street snack, I'll do my best to explain how it goes, open a bag of crisps sideways, fill it with hot fresh sweetcorn, a wedge of mayonnaise, 1 or 2 limes over the top and finished off with a handful of queso and chilli - so bad but so good.

      Notes.

      In my experience when in doubt best to offer Cien, Limbster disagrees.

      If unsure you'll will like it, always buy two, particularly when buying art.      Læs mere

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