We could now see the light at the end of the tunnel, it could be interpreted as a feeling of infinite nostalgia and, at the same time, great joy at having realised what it means to have completed this final leg, something we have dreamed of for so long. These last few weeks have certainly let us appreciate every second of this amazing adventure and how wonderful it is to have so many people anxiously waiting for our homecoming. In fact, it's been one of the most rounded weeks of the whole trip as, thanks to the "change of engine" that we made for a few days, we managed to (once more!) get right out of our comfort zone... So we've gone from pedalling with all our might, to walking for hours on end through the streets of the capital, to enjoying food of the highest quality in a lovely setting, to putting the icing on the cake during a visit to a butterfly reserve; where the little guys had flown all the way from Canada for our delectation. So, we weren't the only ones to have travelled so far! We finished up enjoying some volcanic hot springs, softening our skin with cold, sloppy mud.

We started the week waking up in the middle of a small Oaxacan town plaza, where we were forced to spend the night after time ran out on us the day before and we couldn't go any further. So close yet so far from the hoped for destination: Puerto Escondido. The excitement of putting an end to this eventful week of cycling made us pedal so fast that, in the blink of an eye, we burnt away the lovely breakfast we'd had at a little roadside bar. Also, the uncertainty over exactly how hot it would get, given we were now at sea level, got us up pretty darn early. But after having spent time in other parts of the country (e.g. Baja California Sur & Sinaloa) the temperatures here were a pleasantly tolerable surprise. We'd heard a lot about this cosy town on the Oaxacan coast and, although inevitably touristy, it had managed to maintain its local essence in hidden corners, which we did our best to make the most of. After finding a little hotel to hide away in, have a shower (after nearly a week!) and rest we went out for a walk through the streets and to cool off with a celebratory refreshing beer before eating some of the best home made sopes in town. We ended the afternoon with a good old siesta and at sunset we headed out once more to discover more of the town. It didn't take long to find a local bar serving tlayudas, those sort of folded Mexican pizzas with lettuce, salsa and cheese, and beers in the cool breeze of the evening.

We had planned for today to be one of gastronomy, and by George was it! We start off the feast breakfasting quesillo cheese, rolls and, why not, a 'cafe de olla' spiced coffee. We became regulars at the town taco-street of excellence which had about 5 different stalls within a few paces of each other. Rob had already investigated which was the most successful and it really didn't disappoint; they were fantastic! Bellies stuffed, we packed up all our stuff in the hotel and headed down the hill for the beach where we found an idyllic looking spot with views of the entire bay and took the chance to have a refreshing beer and record some podcast material. Later we cycled over to the bus station. 14 hours of journey were awaiting us until we'd make it to Mexico City the next morning. So we had to make sure we weren't to go hungry by filling the panniers with nosh! After getting the bikes and bags into the cargo hold, with plenty of onlookers gawping away as we dismantled our stallions, we got on the bus, which was in much better nick than we had imagined given that we chose the cheapest company we could find. The excitement lasted only a short time... The bus started the journey on the most zigzagy roads imaginable and it wasn't long before we were clutching a plastic bag close to our spew-holes just in case! In fact, this experience reminded us of a boat journey we'd taken in Madagascar where, instead of a magazine or some sort of entertainment, everyone was given individual buckets (you can imagine what for...). Obviously on that occasion they were, regrettably, well utilized. It wasn't until around 6 hours into the journey that the roller coaster ride ended and we could finally get some sleep for what remained of the trip.

In the end, after such a rough journey (literally), we hadn't eaten any of the food we'd brought along, so on arrival at the bus station of Mexico City we looked for a free bench to have a dinner-midnight-snack-breakfast! Then, in the morning rush hour, we took on the traffic of this immense city but soon came across a couple of lovely ladies selling coffee on a street corner and decided to order some to warm up and have a friendly morning chat. Our first task of the day involved finding a hotel for the next three nights which, for some unknown reason, didn't prove to be as simple as it sounded. Every hotel we tried was full and the receptionists were very mysterious about it all... After asking in at least three hotels we found one that seemed to have a little space, but they wouldn't be able to confirm until three in the afternoon. So to burn some time we decided to spend the morning visiting the "Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe" home to the patron saint of Mexico. It was an enjoyable pedal over and on arrival, after passing through the various Covid prevention measures, we managed to sneak inside. Here we saw various dedicated folk arriving in the most punishing of ways, on their knees! Or carrying large framed portraits of the Virgin herself. This is because the 12^th of December is the official day of the Virgin of Guadalupe and as a preventative measure against the pandemic it was going to be closed the days around that date. So all her adoring fans who had made the pilgrimage for that day had to arrive a few days beforehand, before the complex closed, in order to thank the Virgin or ask for her help. We also looked around the museum there and strolled around the grounds which had gardens, waterfalls and chapels a plenty before heading over to the hotel and tucking away a fine selection of traditional Mexican food on the road opposite. Once there we started to understand why it was such a hardship reserving a room, it turned out to be the kind of establishment where you rent a room by the hour rather than the night... The receptionist wasn't particularly helpful and after a long while of exchanging odd misunderstandings we could finally set ourselves up in the room. And waiting to surprise us here was... a life-size sticker of a sexy police lady on the glass bathroom door! Everything else was great though (no spunk stains in sight) and brand new. So we decided it was going to be our base for the next few days.

We got a good rest and with energy levels maxed out we hit the streets on foot to discover the city. Without even planing it, we ended up on a street food tasting tour along the way, trying gorditas, huaraches, tlacoyos and even some churros with pink dough in the middle (We'll never know if this was a decorative touch or a cooking mistake!). We also popped into a few markets where we bought a ton of dried chillies to bring home and checked out plenty of arts and crafts that were on display. We walked and we walked and we walked... After having a beer in the Plaza de los Mariachis we managed to get back to the neighbourhood of our hotel where we had a dinner that consisted of a few animals' worth of meat in a bun and ended up rolling home to sleep it off.

This morning felt like Christmas morning, all excited that it was going to be a day of celebration since we'd booked a table at what is known as the best restaurant in Mexico, Pujol. So as keep up the previous day's escapades we parked the bikes at the hotel and took to our feet once again. Stopping at a bakery we'd had recommended, which was indeed very nice, we ordered a pastry of Guayaba and some coffees between us. The day continued on the tourist trail, now in a famous park called Chapultepe: full of lakes, ruins and museums. Although it was all sadly closed due to the pandemic, we didn't let this dampen our spirits and found a bench with nice view out over a lake where we recorded some more podcast stuff, letting our legs rest after the long walk. At around 2 pm we headed towards Pujol where we were welcomed with open arms, even though we'd rocked up much earlier than we'd reserved. The wine menu made a brief outing before we converted the prices to euros, which quickly made us opt for the more acceptably priced beers instead! (we're talking bottles of wine more expensive than the already expensive taster menu). After this it was plain sailing, and what an experience! They started off handing us a smoking, hollowed out pumpkin containing saucy carrots, later came a ceviche covered in edible flowers and the main courses ended in the incredible star dish: over a year old Mole Madre with a blob of the freshly made stuff in the middle. And that's missing out the 3 or 4 courses in-between! Before you could say 'pudding' it was time for desert, for which they took us to the outdoor terrace and surprised us with a marathon of puds. The menu suggested we'd get just the one but we ended up with 4! In part due to a small logistical error on their part as they brought us an extra bit of cake thinking it was our anniversary celebration (well it was our end of journey celebration so we didn't feel too guilty). We just about managed to walk out of there, with our blood sugar through the roof! After such a feast we thought it best to walk it off; the hotel being a good 7 km away there was no doubting that this was going to work! Not without the odd break along the way we finally made it and fell into bed completely exhausted.

Once more we got things going, this time to pick up a hire car from the airport and, although sticking with the same total number of wheels between us, the engine upgrade was a welcome treat. Once on the Hertz forecourt we thought it would be a simple process and in no time we'd be driving into the sunrise, but it slowly turned into the most stressful of exchanges imaginable. They didn't have the size car we needed to fit the bikes inside and justified the smallest car I'd ever seen by saying it was "similar" to the class we'd reserved. The only similarity we could see were the four wheels... And they wanted to charge us double for the next size up that we could actually get the bikes into. After an hour or so of exchanging opinions we decided the best thing was to leave the bikes chained up in the car park and take the smaller car. Only to get the whole thing over with we didn't regret this a single bit. At last we could get all the rest of our stuff into the little car and cruise off into the Mexican rush hour once more. We started out tackling our first task of finding a couple of bike boxes, another thing that sounded simple but ended with us tearing our hair out. For some reason it was impossible to find suitable boxes so we spent the entire morning calling up some bike shops and showing up in person at others until after about 10 tries we finally chanced upon a place that had some and we were able to reserve a couple by phone. Thank Christ! Now with this issue resolved we left town for a Monarch Butterfly reserve. These little critters migrate all the way from Canada and stay in Mexico over the months of winter before returning to Texas to lay their eggs on a special plant. In Mexico they mate and feed on the sap of the trees that fill the mountains around the border between Mexico State and Michoacán. It was a spectacular experience where, after a hike up the mountainside, you can enjoy being surrounded by thousands of butterflies fluttering about all around you. Our guide also mentioned that in the nearby town where he lived, the traditional alcoholic drink of pulque was still commonplace, a drink that is taken from the fluids of the agave plant: initially called "aguamiel" before fermentation begins. Armed with his brief explanation of "ask at the petrol station how to find it" we showed up at the house of a nice lady who filled up our massive Thermos flask to the brim for less than a dollar as well as a glass full for tasting. Without wasting any time at all we made for our next stop of the day where we planed to spend the night: the volcano of Toluca. It was now getting late and we were running out of daylight hours but we didn't count on getting turned away on arrival as it was a natural park that was closed due to the pandemic... So we make a rapid 180 and thought it best to go back to the butterfly car parking area. But we met some guys driving what I can only describe as a tank ascending the volcano's dirt road and they said the people at the butterfly reserve had tried to charge them a shit ton of money to stay in that parking area. So we decided to burn some time before trying our luck, hoping no one would be around when we got there. Oh the benefits of having an engine! With night well upon us we arrived and parked just off the main road there, pulled down the back seats and slept right in the boot... Although, given the tiny size of our miniature car, it didn't look all that comfortable we got caught up in the excitement of the novelty while laying out the sleeping bags. It was certainly clear by morning that it's a thousand times more comfortable in the tent!

At 5 in the morning we were in gear, not only because we were in desperate need of stretching our legs but also to avoid being seen before daybreak. We drove to the next town situated by a lake, called Valle de Bravo, and parked in the town plaza where Rob couldn't avoid taking a nap. I, however, got stuck into a good book and as soon as I saw a street seller with coffee I jumped out the car to grab breakfast! After a drive around to see the town in the daylight we carried on our merry way towards "Los Azufres", some natural hot springs we'd been told about and where it was possible to camp (in the tent this time!). The place really was in the middle of the mountains and, although pleasant, we were hoping for slightly warmer waters... The instructions were clear: firstly take a dip in one of the thermal lakes, then cover yourself in mud, wait in the sun for 15 minutes until it was dry, then hop in the steam rooms till it turned to liquid again and finally clean yourself off in yet another thermal lake. Although the water wasn't quite as warm as we would have liked, actually the worst part was the mud. It was freezing blooming cold and on top of that we had to wait out in the blustery open air for it to dry on us! We weren't far off hypothermia by the end but a lovely group of Mexicans took our minds off the suffering for a while so we could dry up and jump in the steamy-hot wooden shack that had steam bubbling out of the mud on the floor. Being bear foot like Rob is not recommended! After our thermal session we cleaned ourselves off and got comfortable drinking pulque in the warmth of the car, discussing the impact of social media on society... When the sun had finally gone down behind the forested peaks of the mountains Rob decided to jump back into the thermal lake for a swim and a steam while I preferred to jump into my warm sleeping bag to read for a while and enjoy our last night in our little mobile home, Mr Tenty.