Arrested Development - Ex-Pats Mexico

21) Pedaling into the Past, Coba. Yucatan's highest temple, surrounded by an extensive network of ancient limestone roads - perfect for rented bicycles, or you can hire a three wheel bike/taxi to show you the highlights.

22) Quality Birding and Dining, San Blas. Over 300 species of birds available to see within an hour of the bay. A guide is available, http://www.birdingsanblas.com, with tasty stops for breakfast and lunch along the way.

23) Minimalist Chic Hotel, Mexico City. Designed by the legendary Ricardo Legorreta, and opened in 1968, the Hotel Camino Real stands one of the great modernist structures of the world. It does include references to Mexican history and culture. http://www.caminoreal.com/mexico

24) Surreal Shangri-La, Xititla. A visit to the estate of La Pozas, in San Luis Potosi has been recommended by many Mexican travellers. Built by Sir Edward James, who envisaged an "enchanted garden" - and committed 200 workers, 20 years, and seven million dollars to make it so. "The overall effect is that of stumbling into a lost jungle civilisation designed by Dali or Escher......proving that the rich really aren't like the rest of us".

25) Of Pirates and Conquistadors, Campeche. One of the first Spanish settlements on the Yucatan Peninsula, dating back to 1540. Many sights and sites http://www.campechetravel.com. "Residents of sunny Campeche are so friendly that, throughout Mexico, campechano has come to mean an easygoing person".

#21 Cobá. This Mayan ruin is about a half hour from Tulum in Quintana Roo. I haven't been there in about 5 years but it was one of my favorite ruins and in those days we took people there all the time. It is in impressive jungle, high canopy, with a lagoon at the entrance and lots of birds and wildlife. Spider monkeys are everywhere, crocodiles, egrets, oropendulas, parrots, toucans. There are reconstructed ruins and many that have not been touched. it is interesting to see how they look when they are found, many are just mounds covered in jungle, how they look with the vegetation cleared and how they look reconstructed. Last time I was there you could still climb the main pyramid, that is becoming rare.

#24 Xilitla. I'd wanted to go here for many years and we finally went year before last. It is an incredible place. It's not large, I had thought it would be much larger. The location is beautiful beyond words, the whole of the Huasteca is a gorgeous location with lots to offer besides visiting Las Posas. It is the kind of place where you can't really take a bad picture, there are so many dramatic shots around. The story of Edward James is interesting, the prototypical black sheep of an aristocratic English family, perhaps the illegitimate son of a king, going off into the jungles of the Huasteca and building a folly.

I think the Huasteca should be one of the places recommended for off the track tourism in Mexico. The farthest north rain forest in North America, it is lush, with numerous rivers, waterfalls, orchids, canyons of ferns and incredible beauty. It is famous in Mexico for adventure travel, there are dozens of places that specialize in taking the fit rappelling down waterfalls, mountain biking, kayaking through white water, scrambling up vine covered walls, diving into crystal pools or lounging in natural hot springs. Just reading the brochures made me wish I were younger and fitter. I saw no foreigners while we were traveling there but there were many national tourists - well, I can't really tell if someone is from Mexico or not if they are speaking fluent Spanish so some of them could have been from other Spanish speaking countries. That said, most were in cars with Mexican plates, many from DF, Edo de MX, and Jalisco.