Palenque, Mexico

Sammy and Rod lookin' purty.
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Valentine's Day was spent cramped on a bus, not even accidentally sitting by a gorgeous stranger. Sorry Kathy! We went past loads of green fields, murky rivers, scrawny cows, humping dogs, terrorist police and an electricity station which had loads of little shrubs outside shaped like lightbulbs. I managed to squash a mozzie on my window near the beginning of the journey and it had caremelised and lost its legs by the time we had got to the highlands.

Our hippy hostel place was cool and did the best pesto pasta ever. We were going to go swimming before it got too dark and cold, but the pool was full of grot and frogs. But we did peek at all the people who have lived out the back in hammocks for the past fifteen years. They told us not to buy any booze in the bar area and said that the town down the road gets them ten times as much alcohol for their money. Fifteen years well spent!

Buses, rockets, hammocks

Pretty pyramids!
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The next day we set off already, after a cold night in the huts. The ruins at Palenque were cool, and nearly all of us fully understood the Mayans' thinking behind their architecture. West to East, Death to Life, trees that look like crosses, early space rockets. Peasy.

Anyway, then we broke down on the way to the Agua Azul waterfalls. But we happily took the opportunity to buy yogurt drinks from a surprised shopkeeper at the side of the road. Looked like he hadn't seen a customer in years. Jesus, was this the beginning of all our stomach bugs?