seeing in new year with the zapatista's ...

On New Years Eve we left the sweltering heat of Palenque for the 5 hours bus ride to San Cristobal de la Casas in the highlands of Chiapas.

Famous for being the city captured by Zapatista rebels in Mexico's failed 1994 revolution, San Cristobal is a perfectly preserved example of colonial architecture and boasts a vibrant bar and restaurant scene. A fine location for seeing in 2008.

Back in Guadalajara we had learnt a useful lesson - if you start drinking early enough then most bars in Mexico will provide you with complimentary tapas style snacks, thus removing the need to go out for dinner.

So it was that at 4pm we found ourselves settling in at the wine bar which would be our home for the next few hours, and as the evening progressed we found ourselves in the company of two recent graduates from Leeds University and a French girl who had recently been studying in Coleraine in Northern Ireland.

It was almost like a taste of home.

At midnight we enjoyed fireworks in the cities main plaza before I escorted a rather excitable Melanie (above) back to our guest house where following a ten minute struggle lining our key up with the lock on the front door we were eventually rewarded with sleep.

And a two-day hangover.

Happy New Year.