Mexico!

Hello! I´ve been backpacking in Mexico for a couple of weeks now & it´s fun! Landed in Mexico City in the middle of a downpour, which was a sign of things to come (every evening there it chucked it down for about 2hrs, with rain like i´ve never seen before in my life!) I was fairly nervous flying to Mex City as it finally dawned on me that i was now on my own & that i´d bothered zero with the Spanish.. but i knew i´d be alright almost the minute we landed as i just couldn´t wipe the stupid grin off of my face!! Mexico City was, well just big. Really big. It´s one of the 3 largest metropolises in the world along with Tokyo & NYC, but i think with 20mm people it must hold the most people? The shanty towns go for miles in each direction, it´s mad. Went to a place called Teotihuacan (try pronouncing that!) an hour out of the City, which used to be the capital of Mexico before the Spanish came and created Mex City... anyway, this place has two huge pyramids, the Pyramid of the Moon & of the Sun.. the pyramid of the Sun being the 3rd biggest in the world after one just near Puebla (Mx) and the great pyramid in Egypt. Went to Oaxaca (that´s Waa-HA-Ka) after Mex City with a couple of guys i´d met, a Norweigen girl Jill & a guy Nat, who studies Spanish & Portugese. Result! Myself and Jill went up into these mountains 2hrs out of Oaxaca to do a jungle trek... the 3 of us were meant to do it but Nat was violently ill the night before. He was in bad shape, but the guy did eat a manky looking pasty off of a street vendor AND accepted a deep-fried grasshopper from a random bloke on a town bus! Which was it?? Take your pick! Anyway we decided not to pay 12 dollars for a guide (i´ve already turned into a tight-wad!) as we reasoned that it´s only a 4hr, 8km trek & we were assured that it was well marked. Got lost. We saw two signs the entire day & both of them were in the first half an hour! We later found out that we´d got it right for the first 3hrs, but took a wrong turn at a virtual T-junction only 20mins from the village we were looking for! What was funny was that we´d spent at least 10mins debating whether to go left or right (you´d think there´d be a sign there of all places wouldn´t you?!) What wasn´t funny was that the entire 45mins walking the wrong way was steeply downhill.. So when the path became overgrown - never a good sign - and we turned back, it took an hour and a half to get back to that junction. I was knacked after the 1st 5mins (i´m not joking) whilst this girl was seemly taking a stroll in the park. Apparently she hikes in the mountains a lot at home! Wonderful! Apparently i was panting and cursing anything & everything under the Sun that final hour! Anyway, the Cabino we got at the final destination village was pretty cool with great views of the mountains etc. So worth it in the end i guess. After Oaxaca, the three of us again travelled together to the Pacific coast, a place called Puerto Escondido. I got biten to hell and back, repellent or no repellent. They say don´t wear dark clothes, as this attracts the mossies... well basically i´m screwed aren´t i?!? I was pretty glad to get outta there & left Jill & Nat there. I went along to another beach town called Puerto Escondido for a day then on to where i am now, San Cristobal de las Casas. Favorite place so far. Cool little town, again at high attitude, so no humidity & the views are amazing, lots of travellers & the locals are ultra friendly. Was gonna stay here for just a couple of days, but going to stay for about a week now as taking Spanish lessons (equiv of 6 pounds an hour for 1 to 1 classes!!) The most fun so far has been picking up the Spanish & i do actually know quite alot to be fair. I´ve picked up heaps these past 2 wks & am listening to my Michel Thomas minidiscs.. So now with a little formal training, i´m slowly more able to be a little cheeky with the locals (which is fun!).. and piss taxi drivers off (which is also fun!) Sorry mum.. Anyway i´ve written a short novel so will leave it at that.. next week am going to continue Spanish lessons in Guatemala whilst hopefully living with a local family, which should be fun. The town though is under one of the most active volcanoes in the world, so keep an eye on the BBC website!