Dani

Tucked deep in the jungle in Chiapas, southern Mexico, the Mayan ruins of Palenque are set in one of the most spectacular surroundings in Mexico.

Sumidero Canyon is located directly between San Cristobal de las Casas and Tuxtla Gutierrez in the state of Chiapas. The Canyon was formed by the river Grijalva and is 35 kilometers long.

No trip to Mexico is complete without spending at least a few days in this modern yet traditional, culturally-rich, forward thinking gateway to Latin America.

Although Valladolid is with 45,000 considerably big, it has more the feel of a sleepy Mexican village, with pastel colored colonial buildings and a tranquil town center. A lot of the women still wear the typical Mayan dresses and sell hand-made dresses and other crafts around the town square.

Without fail, every single person we told warned us against a trip to Mexico. Don’t you know how dangerous it is there, they would warn, speaking of killings, kidnappings and drug crime. Don’t believe the hype – Go to Mexico!!!

Unlike the hippie/backpacker friendly Zipolite, the Mazunte locals still live very much off the land.

The ceremony was originally held to reconcile the gods for rain and a rich harvest and is still very important for the folk groups as the indigenous culture still plays a significant role in Oaxaca.

Being built on various hills, San Francisco has a number of viewpoints for magnificent vistas of the city and the bay. Here are our Top 5 views:

Though its name sounds otherwise, it is not located by the Golden Gate Bridge (although you’ll find two huge parks there too: the Golden Gate Park stretches for 47 blocks from Stanyan Street to the Pacific Ocean – it’s more than 3 miles long and half a mile wide, which makes it even bigger than New York’s Central Park and its 4.12 km2 (1.589 sq mi) makes it one of the largest urban parks on the planet. You can easily spend an entire day just exploring the broad parkways and the variety of activities the park offers.

San Francisco was one of our favourite cities during the American leg of our travels. The city is filled with life; it could take a lifetime to discover all of its secrets. It could also take a big budget if you’re not careful. However, with a bit of planning, exploring the streets of San Fran doesn’t need to eat through your budget. Here are the Globetrottergirls’ tips on getting the most out of San Francisco on a shoestring budget.