The overnight bus from Palenque left at 5pm. The driver had already drawn the curtains so it was dark throughout. The journey passed fairly quickly and seamlessly, the only issue being occasionally boarded by people in white tops, who would look at us and go away again. This was a mystery to us until we were woken at 6am by another such chap, who asked to check our passports. Turned out it was the Mexican transport police, or something similar. The bus was pretty comfortable but was still nowhere near as nice as the Cruz del Sur buses from South America. They really were a class of their own!

We arrived into Mexico City a little later than planned, at about 8 .30am. We stopped at a bus station which was not our station, which caused us some early morning confusion in our tired state. We stayed on the bus until we reach Mexico Norte bus terminal at about 9.40am. It was full of people, which was a bit of a shock to the system. We hadn't been to a capital city in Central America since Panama City, except in passing. We were quite looking forward to a bit of city time.

Mexico City lies at about 2100 metres, so we were back to altitude. Despite the altitude, there were still loads of mosquitos around. The weather was warm but not the sweating heat of the rest of Mexico, so this was a refreshing change.

Before exiting the terminal, we decided to ask different companies about onward bus travel towards California in the USA. We asked about transport to Tijuana, to be told that it would take somewhere between 41 and 48 hours by bus. Knowing that this would be a total waste of life, we resolved to fly instead. Leaving the bus terminal turned out to be a challenge, as we joined a queue for a taxi, only to realise that everyone else already had tickets for a taxi . We were pointed in a direction to get tickets, and eventually realised that a grey unmarked booth was what we were looking for. We got a reasonably priced ticket for a taxi to Centro Historico, joined the queue again, and after a few minutes were on our way.

On arriving in Centro Historico, we sought out breakfast, which was surprisingly difficult to find. We got some cold scrambled eggs in a cafe and enjoyed the coffee. Ken went out to find us a hostel, and settled on Hostel Amigo Suites after the receptionist offered him a deal for staying for three nights. Plus the other hostels were expensive and pretty rubbish. We checked in, and could not get the internet to work. We traipsed up and down stairs to reception multiple times, were assured that it was working, but could not get it to work for us. This was a shame, as we needed to book our onward flight tickets. Defeated, we made ourselves presentable and went for an explore around the city.

First, we made our way to Templo Mayor. This was ruins of an Aztec temple in the centre of the city. It was shut, so we walked around the corner to Catedral Metropolitana. It was huge - we ended up using four different entrances to see all of it. Outside, there were four windows set into the ground, through which we could see ruins of an Aztec temple. It turned out that Mexico City was built on Aztec temples. The Aztec temples in turn were built on ground which was an island at the time, surrounded by a swampy lake . This unstable ground, plus the earthquakes which occasionally hit the city, means that Mexico City is sinking. We saw some interesting leans on various buildings around the city.

Next to Templo Mayor was the Plaza de la Constitucion, on which a big stage was being erected. This too was closed off. We did enjoy the sight of a huge Mexican flag being flown on the plaza, in front of the Palacio Nacionale, also shut.

In the course of travelling, much of our stuff had been ruined. This included Jayna's big backpack, which had developed a fatal hole. It had made it through bus journeys in a couple of Central American countries, but we feared it would not last a flight. We went shopping to see if we could find a replacement, without much success. We found quite a few bag shops, but none that had a backpack in the right (large) size. Nonetheless, wandering the streets of Mexico City in the historical centre was a pleasant experience. We found an internet cafe and booked our onward flights direct to San Diego. Not cheap, but it was a necessary expense .

We headed back to the hostel to do some much needed washing. The washing facility was token operated, like we'd used all over Australia in previous travels. This was what we had expected in South and Central America, but this was the very first place we'd been to which had this kind of lavanderia! As the washing machine was huge, we washed everything barring what we were wearing. It was awesome.

The hostel offered us free dinner as well as free breakfast. Unfortunately for us, free dinner was meat heavy. We had some pasta with a smattering of tomato paste, plus salad and a bread roll. After the night bus, we were pretty tired and looked forward to crashing for the night.

On Tuesday 11th, we went on a day tour to the Teotihuacan pyramids. This also included a trip to Tlatelolco, the Guadelupe Shrine, and a tequila factory of sorts. We started in Tlatelolco; another set of Aztec temple ruins in the city. We could see the remains of various structures, and had an explanation of these from our excellent guide for the day, Alejandro . We could also see a church on the edge of the site, made of the same material as the temples. Alejandro explained that the Spanish conquistadors declared victory over the Aztecs in 1521, and set about building churches and bringing the Catholic religion to the people of Mexico. The church we were looking at was built from the blocks of the temples and in use by 1524. We had a look inside the church, which had beautiful blue stained glass windows. Next to both the church and the remains of Tlatelolco was the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. This was an open space, named so because of the bringing together of the three cultures of the Aztecs, Spanish and modern day people of Mexico. It had a monument to 25 people who were officially recognised as having been killed by government forces, in a protest against the forthcoming Olympic games in 1968. Alejandro explained that this was an event that was hushed up at the time, with the media and governments around the world agreeing to suppress the knowledge that this event had happened . The monument was only erected 25 years after the event and referred to the 'other people' who were unofficially killed or unlawfully imprisoned, for years after the protest. Alejandro said that the actual death toll was estimated at being closer to 700 people, with lots still missing to this date. It was an incredibly sad story.

We boarded the bus and went to our next stop, the Guadelupe Shrine. A few kilometres outside the centre of the city, the Shrine was a collection of churches and a huge basilica at its centre. This is a Catholic site of pilgrimage, with an estimated 7 million Catholics making the journey each year during just three days of December. It is the third most visited Catholic pilgrimage site, after Jerusalem and the Vatican. It was certainly popular on the day that we visited. We took in the basilica, a building with a capacity of 7000 people, and the famous painting inside. We also took in the original, much smaller, basilica next door, with its impressive lean. There were plenty of other churches to explore as well . We had a look around some of the gardens and grabbed some greasy chips and a cup of fruit. Soon, we were back on the bus to head the 40 km or so to the Teotihuacan pyramids - the thing we were really excited about!

Before going to the pyramids, we stopped at a tequila factory. Here we had a demonstration of the versatile uses of a cactus plant which grows in the area. This included, but was not limited to, drinking the mildly alcoholic water of the cactus (all four litres of it daily), brewing from this water, using the central spike as a needle and thread, producing paper, and the flowers being used to produce dyes. Then we were given free 'shots' (small amounts of) various alcoholic liquids and liquors, which were delicious, and took a look around the shop. This was one of those places where we could happily have bought a lot of souvenirs - but we couldn't carry them, so we didn't. We waited for people to have lunch and, finally, we were off to see the Teotihuacan pyramids!

The Teotihuacan pyramids are huge . In fact, the Pyramid of the Sun has a volume of 1.2 million metres squared, and stands at 75 metres in height, making it one of the largest pyramids in the world. The area was a large city, started in approximately 100BC and, at its height, supporting a population of about 125000 people. We started off with our tour group, and wandered into the site, past grassy hillocks - actually unexcavated temples. The view was impressive, with two huge temples rising on either side. The first we came to was the Pyramid of the Moon, at the end of the Avenue of the Dead. With our tour group, we first went to the Palace of the Jaguars. Here we saw the preserved stucco on the base of some of the walls, complete with paintings of jaguars, shells, raindrops and geometric shapes. It really is amazing to consider how long those paintings have survived. We went around a temple, inside of another temple, and admired the preserved macaw paintings. We also went to a room with carvings on the pillars and more geometric shapes drawn on the walls . Here, we were let loose on the site, with a suggestion of climbing both pyramids - something we were only too happy to do.

First we climbed the Pyramid of the Moon. Only the first 47 steps can be climbed; the rest of the pyramid is closed off. Here we had an excellent view down the Avenue of the Dead, itself lined by temples. It was 700 metres walk down the Avenue of the Dead to reach the Pyramid of the Sun, though the avenue continues for about another 3km. Here we climbed the Pyramid of the Sun. At times very steep, it took us a few minutes to reach the summit for the breathtaking views. It was very windy, which was refreshing after the climb! Here we saw more temples further to the south, but alas had no time to explore them, or go to the museum, because we had to board the bus back to Mexico City. We only had two hours at Teotihuacan, which simply wasn't enough time. This was a shame as we'd really been looking forward to getting our fill of as many ruins as we could. Still, the experience was well worth the trip .

The bus back to Mexico City was lengthy due to the traffic. We were dropped off a 20 minute walk away from our hostel. It was either that or wait an hour and half for the bus driver to make it to our area of the city. Fearing that dinner would be meat heavy, we set about attempting to find the vegetarian restaurants we thought were on the way. We found one, which was shut, and didn't find the others. Eventually, we wound up back at the hostel, where dinner was indeed meat heavy. So we ventured back out and found a vegetarian curry place and had a delicious curry meal in an otherwise empty restaurant.

With flights booked, and the aforementioned bag problems, the need to go shopping was pressing. On Wednesday 12th, we set out, determined to find an appropriate bag. We were in luck and found one the right size, and negotiated a discount which then paid for lunch. We also did a little unsuccessful clothes shopping, as our clothes were old and tired. The clothes shops often seemed a little intimidating, so we made our way to C&A . Apparently, crop tops, stripes and small shorts are in fashion. We didn't buy anything. After dropping off the new backpack at the hostel, we decided to go to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, touted as one of the best and extensive museums around. We tried to flag down a taxi, without success, and then the traffic stopped coming due to a protest, marching towards the Palacio Nacionale. We swiftly abandoned the museum plan, and decided to concentrate on the local sights instead. The Palacio Nacionale was closed, possibly due to the protest, so we went to Templo Mayor - which was open!

There was some minor inconvenience at the entrance to the Templo Mayor, as no food or drink is allowed on to the site. As always our bags were full of water. There was a chap with a little shack near to the entrance who would take our water (but not our backpacks) and look after it. So after some confusion we finally entered into the site.

Templo Mayor was the most important temple for the Aztecs in Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). As was traditional for many Mesoamerican cultures the temple started off relatively small (compared to the finished product) in around 1325 and was updated six times between then and 1521, when the Spanish destroyed it. Each update consisted of building an even more impressive temple right over the original. Though the Spanish destroyed the temple and built a church out of its materials, they mostly just destroyed the upper layers of the temple . This meant that the excavated ruins of Templo Mayor were like a cross section; the bases of each of the building stages of the temple's life could be seen, like layers of an onion.

As mentioned before, Mexico City is slowly sinking. Because of this, the original phase of the pyramid was still mostly intact, although the very top of the pyramid was around the height of street level. We don't know how high the pyramid was in its first phase, but it had clearly sunk a lot. Only the very top level or two could be seen, the rest is still unexcavated beneath the streets of Mexico City. We saw some impressive serpents coiling around the front of the temple, more serpent heads decorating the outside of the temple, and a couple of frogs as well. We went into the onsite museum but had little patience for it, as the lack of water in the heat was giving us headaches. We left the site, walked back around to the entrance to collect our belongings, and headed back into the shopping streets, for more unsuccessful clothes shopping attempts.

We went to the most adorned post office we've ever seen, and then to Mirador Torre Latino, a skyscraper with 44 floors. We went up the skyscraper to take in a view of the city. As mentioned before, the city is huge. We were given an excellent leaflet, so we could identify the main sights in each direction. We looked out from levels 37, 42, 43 and 44. Level 44 was open to the elements and it was very cold in the wind! After enjoying the views, we went back to the hostel, where we'd been promised a vegetarian dinner that evening .

We went to the rooftop for dinner, and met a lovely chap from Australia called Trent. We spent a long time chatting to Trent, had a delicious dinner with him (the hostel really pulled that one off), and drank cocktails, beer and tequila. It was a good day, and a fitting end to our Mexico journey.

The following day, we packed, checked out, flagged down a taxi and headed to the airport for our next destination – San Diego, USA!

Mexico is quite a country. It's massive, for starters, and hot. A, sweaty, uncomfortable heat that didn’t go away at night time. The variety of sights – beautiful Mayan ruins, cenotes, diving, islands, beaches, cities – makes for a great travelling destination. We were, however, disappointed with the food. We are big fans of Mexican food, and have eaten some great food in our time. The Mexican food in Mexico didn’t live up to our expectations - it was a bit rubbish. It wasn’t the cheapest country we’ve been to, particularly for accommodation, but the standard of the accommodation was good, the people were lovely and friendly, and the transport network was well developed and well run. The amount of English spoken in the country makes it easy to get around and do what you need to do. The country has a lot to offer people of all ages and tastes. We had a great time.

And goodbye to Central America!

Central America was hot, less diverse than South America, had increasing influence from the USA as we travelled further north, the people were great and friendly, the water activities were fantastic, and the food was so so. Each country had it’s own charms and had different things to offer. We were rushing somewhat, having spent longer than planned in South America. This was a shame as we felt we didn’t do some countries justice as a result. We missed the food of South America, and in particular, the plethora of high quality and cheap vegetarian comedors. We were easily able to travel around and the bus system served us well. We saw a lot of poverty and a lot of beautiful places. If you like heat and water activities, you’ll love Central America!