Bowels, borders and a proposal. 19 March - 24 March

The first overnight bus delivered us to San Cristobal de las casas in a reasonable condition , despite being 2 hours late and horrendously twisty with road  bumps every kilometre. We staggered  off the bus 14  hours later, grabbed a coke so we could continue living, and held our map upside down, heading in the complete wrong direction. As you can imagine, there was not a lot of friendly conversation to be had walking  uptown. An isn't travel fun? moment .

Streets of San Cristobal

At the top of  one of the hills in San Cristobal

Still smiling after 14 hours of poo infused bus

This town was beautiful and it is indeed a special place for  us as there must have been something in the water that made Julien propose to me! Great. So so great! We love San Cristobal!!
Apart from doing the good old street meandering, filling our bellies with Mexican delights and visiting churches, a highlight was a 4 hour horse ride through the hills to a indigenous Mayan village, San Juan Chamula. We were the only people on the trip, and our lovely guide  Pancho hardly said  a word to us! So off we went, onto the giant horses and up  up and away into the wilderness, past rivers with Mayan people cultivating the land and woman sitting alone in the shade to weave beautiful clothes. Julien rode in style, whilst I didnt  move with the horse but instead  bounced my way along resulting in sore legs and other unmentionable things.

Mayan village San Juan Chamula

She was much nicer in person  - she weaved our beautiful blanket

Pancho and Julio

At the village we  went into a church where  indigenous Mayan rituals still take place. Yes, as a tourist you can pay to watch which was intriguing however we felt quite disrespectful of their culture. They removed all of the saints from the once Catholic church and covered the ground with hay and candles. Chickens were     sacrifised and Fanta and Coke was drank as it is thought to cleanse the body by burping out                         demons! Quite different to health class back home!It was a really weird experience and we kind of felt like perverts as we weren't exactly invited in  and just sat and watched... Anyway it was interesting and an experience if nothing else. As I said before we saw these beautiful blankets being weaved in the paddocks and we couldn't help but buy a beautiful big mexican rug to drape over our bed or the couch in London.

So that we both have an even stamp on what we do on our travels, we sometime have a day when one of us organises, and the other goes with as they will have the following day to plan. My day was brilliant of course, very relaxing and included the aforementioned trip to the village by horseback. The next day was Julien's . He will take over now to give you his turn of events.

So the next day was my day. That morning I woke up and thought, yea I should propose today. And that's exactly what I did. I should say something first. The men get the really hard job! It's bloody stressful and scary being the man and having to organise this proposal business. What, organise a ring, plan a decent time, be romantic about it and then ultimately put your neck  on the line and ask your girlfriend to commit to a lifetime with me! Anyway, after all that nervous energy and anticipation, it was time to plan the perfect proposal and do what I had been waiting for...

SHE SAID YES!!!

The main thing was that she said YES straight away and it  was a really amazing moment! Still all these weeks later we are still so happy.

Its so exciting and what a relief! After getting the ring made, trying to find the right thing to say and where to do it, it all worked out splendidly and she accepted!!       

We were in the Mexican highlands, in a beautiful little city called San Cristobal de las cases in the Chiapas state. My proposal plan didn't go quite the way I had planned... I ended up propopsing twice... The original plan was to walk to the top of a mountain and ask her there. Unfortunately there were poisonous snakes and spiders up there which I didn't realise and Jen had a slight freak out so we headed back to town for some food and a rest. 

After a short lived nap I turned to her and asked her to marry me. It was very intimate and low key which I liked. I then had to improve on that and do it properly on one knee at sunset with a local handmade copper ring (as the proper one is in London waiting for her). Youll al be pleased to know I went out and got a bottle of Veuve, some ice and some champagne glasses (no small feat I cn tell you in Mexico). Got down on one knee, and told her how wonderful she was and did it properly. As it was two years to the day that we went on our first date, it was fitting I think. WE had the best night out. So much champagne, good food, more wine, skype dates with family in too many different time zones and we awoke the following morning, engaged and with a somewhat elevated head pressure. Such a great experience and we are so happy!

Little did she know that today was the day...

First things first - a celebratory cup of tea

Dinner complete  with virtual ring and a real rose!

So after the excitement of that we were all jiggered up and beaming for several days. We spent another couple of restful days in San Cristobal before we decided to head for the border and go to Guatemala. I say several days because then we were hit with horrific food poisoning! Our first week as an engaged couple was spent in a hotel room  in Huehuetenango (not so much a happening place as a stop off point for adventures further inland) worshipping the porcelain God and taking our turn.

The ring waiting for Jenny in London

Veuve of course

First things first though, the border crossing... The Mexican, Guatemalan border is unlike any border crossing I have ever had. Normally there is the exit booth at the actual border and the entrance booth for the next country directly on the other side of the border. You would think that, but anyway, that wasn't the case. After getting a taxi to the border, we walzed into Guatemala without an exit stamp and were very quickly ushered back to the nearest town (ten min drive away), for another taxi fare of course, to get a stamp. This was no easy feat either. The queues were long and we were sent to the bank down the road to pay an exit fee. The exit fee we had already paid when we arrived in Mexico, however I think the passport man wanted to put his kids through private education. As we couldn't produce a receipt from the airline signed by the CEO of the company we were  forced to pay again. I hope his kids are studying very hard. We crossed the border and what a difference. There were no more airconditined buses and instead of taxis there were tuk tuks .It was great! 

Then something happened. Jen was struggling at the border and she knew something was happening down south. We were supposed to have another 3.5 hour bus ride to Xela to get to the Hostel we had booked for the night. We only lasted 2 hours in the local chicken bus and had to check in to a hotel. After reading all the horror stories of Guatemala we are sitting on the bus and it gets dark very quickly ... Rambo is being played on the DVD player extremely loud, and all of our fears of Guatemala come flooding to our minds.  Fortunately there was no problem, and we arrived safe and sound ready to coma for a couple of days. By this stage I was feeling fine and just looking after Jenny. A lovely Guatemalan man ran off the bus and got Jenny some pills which he said would help. We were a little suspicious so thanked him politely and put the pills in our pocket. A lovely gesture all the same.

WE made it to the hotel, ordered plain rice and went to bed in our luxurious hotel room complete with running water and an ensuite. Jen struggled all night, and then about 8 hours later I was in the same position and we had to just take turns with the bathroom. 

What a start to our engagement! After a few days of this we were finally ready to get on another bus and mission it to Antigua, the beautiful colonial city, famous for Spanish language schools and not much else. It was fantastic there! We ended up spending two weeks there with local families learning Spanish  and our teachers made sure we did that, boy did they crack the whip! More to come on that soon.

Lots of love from us both, hope you are all well. Just remember, we love hearing from home and what you are up to so send us some messages and keep in touch. So long for now. xx

The Yucatan - Mexico 14-18th March

So it has been a while since we have updated the blog, and I´m (Julien this time) sure you are all dying to know what we have been up to since then. It has been a very exciting and busy time since our last post, what with our engagement and the ensuing celebrations. We are now winding back the clock to 14 March when we left the white sands of Tulum and headed inland to the baking and beautiful cities of the Yucatan and the cool pine forests of the Chiapas.

Valladolid town square sunset

Valladolid town square at night

Next stop on our travels was the small Yucatan town of Valladolid. Valladolid was the perfect choice! Just a small town, often avoided on the tourist trail, it couldn´t have been a better place to stay. We were overwhelmed by the colonial architecture when we got off the local bus and meandered the narrow, cobblestone streets to find a place to stay. We muttered some english, french, and would you belive it, Spanish words and came across the best hostel yet, La Candelaria. We checked into a dorm room for 3 nights (obviously pre-engagement). We were ready to explore Mexicos culinary delights and explore some villages surrounding the town. It is worth mentioning now that the Yucatan peninsula is famous for it´s natural sink-holes made from limestone - here called Cenotes. The are formed by the limestone eroding and filling with rainwater. They are some of the most beautiful swimming holes around!

Chocolate made by hand by local Mayan women - Valladolid

At this great hostel we met a kick ass couple from Arizona! We hit it off sipping a local brew whilst relaxing in the hammocks out back in the garden. This started our partnership for the next few days. Great times with Tobin and Kristin. Tobin, if you are reading this, we can´t stop quoting your comment after Kristins mishap on the rope swing in our best American accents 'you went big baby!¨

First adventure was a bike tour of the local cenotes and villages. OSH back home would have a field day if they saw us! No helmets, a semi-detached cycle way and plenty of pòt holes along the dusty Mexican highway, just for fun. The cenotes were outstanding, and the perfect way to cool off after some exercise in the 30 plus degree heat.

At midday, in the hope of finding a restaurant or just something to eat, we cycled into a remote village. Coming into the village we were met with a royal welcome. People came out of the shops shouting HOLA, children ran on the road to practice their two english words, and electricians suspended from live powerlines doing routine (i.e. once in a lifetime) maintenance welcomed us vocally. It was incredible! Anyway our stomachs were growling and we had a Jennifer Holmes wilting slightly in the heat. Food was top of the list. No restaurants, the next best thing was chips and a large glass bottle of coke each to keep us going. We met our Mexican family there! They couldnt believe it when we walked in and wanted something to eat and drink. I don´t think they were accustomed to foreigners there (the prices hadn´t therefore been hiked for the honky who popped in for a drink). Before we knew it there was a make shift table with chairs for us to sit at, and the wife of the shop owner was there giving us some boiled eggs and tortillas to welcome us. It was amazing. We spoke our three words of spanish and communicated as much as we could with our hands as well. They photographed us (now framed on their shop window I´m sure) and we had the most amazing time!

Disco Cenote complete with lights and Staligmites - Valladolid

Well deserved coke and chips

Our Mexican family from the village shop

Next stop, police escort underground with torchlight to another cenote under the town sqaure. Yes, the electricity was down, and the policemen offered to take us down anyway. Quite an experience. This is where you remember all of a sudden those horror stories of missing tourists and corrupt Mexican police. But after Tobin said ´but I looked in his eyes and I knew it was safe´ of course we were fine. We lived to tell the tale (we´re alive parents so dont stress!) and it was in fact quite an impressive cenote.

The next water hole we stopped at was one that sold Corona. Again off the tourist trail, this bar was a concrete shack with a pungent toilet off to one corner and local men singing at the top of their lungs! The music was unbelievably loud which made aural discretion very difficult... I´m sure his words didn´t match the song and he was singing something much more a la sextet than a la song to the girls in our company.

Serenade from Mexican pavarotti - Valladolid

Local bar, near Valladolid

A slow and wobbly bike ride delivered us home in one piece ready for some more food and tequila tasting. Yes, a trip to a tequila store in Mexico, means you leave there inebriated having tasted at least 9 different tequilas. For some this was a pleasant experience, but Jenny turned green, and university memories came flooding back (not the good ones!)

Valladolid´s 16th century convent

No clothes!

View from the hostel in Valladolid

Valladolid was a blast but it was time to move on to Merida via Chichen Itza. These are some amazing Mayan ruins, one of the recent wonders of the world (or something like that). It was well worth getting a tour guide, however it made us feel that our generation is severely dumbed down. We couldn´t build something like that if we tried! The sheer engineering, mathematics, astonomy and physics that went into the building of these structures is truly impressive. The tour was amazing, and we learned how the royal Mayans disfigured their childrens heads to show wealth, how they followed the sun with all their buildings and how they were all made around sacred numbers and special acoustics. The arena, for example, creates an echo when you clap`, however it echos only seven times for each clap. Seven is a sacred mayan number. Seriously amazing!!!

CHICHEN ITZA!

Tour group final photo, big smiles after we had just learned about the penis and ear god (same guy apparently)

Mayan cemetery

It seemed like a heat wave had come through and the temerature soared to 38 degrees when we arrived in Merida later that afternoon.  Nonetheless, this place is a fairytale city, coming alive at night and in the weekend with the markets. And it was a pleasure to stay in a colonial building , overlooking the town plaza from our private balcony for a pittance. Where else in the world could we afford to do this!? We soaked up traditional food and had to get out of there pretty quick to cool off at the local beach (an hour north by local bus). Progreso was a great beach town, much nicer than we had heard. It´s places like these where you meet some locos (crazys) with no teeth from America who own restaurants and treat their Mexican Staff very poorly. Regardless, the fish and chips was a slice of home, and they were washed down with yet another beautifully made Pina Colada, only ruined by the rubbish tequilla shot on an empty stomach on the house. Closed off nose helps.

The engagement story and San Cristobal de las Casas is to come in the next installment. We need to head off home for some food and then off to the natural hot pools for some well earned relaxation (it is! We´ve been in school studying spanish for the past two weeks).

Jenny is very good at shopping - Merida

Merida market and some traditional dancing

Sunset at Progreso after a day in the sun

Merida town square, just before we got abused by the waiter for not giving him a big enough tip

Progreso beach - well worth the trip