Espanhol

Sarah reaches Merida after the overnight bus and meets Rosa at her guesthouse.

Before Wednesday's breakfast, Rosa shows Sarah her room and helps her try its hammock.

At Wednesday's breakfast, Rosa asks Sarah about her plans.

On Monday morning Camila, a traveller from Monterrey, joins Sarah at breakfast, and the two women find how much they have in common.

On Sunday the streets around the main square of Merida fill with food stalls, and Sarah and Camila spend the day there, from cochinita at lunch to lime soup in the evening.

A Tuesday on the beach of Progreso leaves Sarah sunburnt and covered in mosquito bites, so she goes to the pharmacy.

On Wednesday Sarah and Camila book Thursday's tour to Chichen Itza at a small agency in the centre of Merida.

That same Wednesday evening, Rosa's son Tomas stops by in his white minibus and offers to drive Sarah and Camila to Chichen Itza himself, so they cancel the tour.

On Thursday, Tomas takes Sarah and Camila to swim in their first cenote, but a phone call changes the day, and Chichen Itza has to wait.

On Sunday evening, Elena calls from Oaxaca to ask when Sarah is coming back, and Sarah tells her about her first weeks in Merida, the cenote and the day at the restaurant.

The road trip begins.

On the way to the beach at Progreso, Camila and Sarah stop at a petrol station, where the attendant fills the tank, shows them the pump starts at zero and gives them directions.

On Thursday, as promised, Tomas drives Sarah and Camila to Chichen Itza, where his friend, a Maya guide, shows them the great pyramid, the ball court and the way to the sacred cenote.

On Friday the road trip begins.

On Saturday, on a country road north of Valladolid, the rental car gets a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere, with no phone signal, and a passing mechanic stops to help.

On Sunday morning at Rio Lagartos, Sarah and Camila find a boatman on the jetty, with nothing booked, and go out on the lagoon to see hundreds of pink flamingos, and a crocodile.

On their last night on the coast, a storm blows in from the sea, and the power goes out in Sarah and Camila's little hotel in Rio Lagartos.

On Sunday, on the long drive back to Merida, Sarah finally asks Camila why she travels alone, and Camila tells her about her old life in Monterrey.

On Monday, the last day with the rental car, Tomas is late for lunch and Rosa is not happy.

The car is back, and in Rosa's courtyard, over horchata, Sarah and Camila tell her the whole road trip, from the very beginning.

In Bacalar, the famous lagoon of seven colours is grey under the clouds, and Sarah and Camila can only hope for sun.

On a sunny Thursday in Bacalar, Camila keeps her promise and teaches Sarah to paddle a kayak.

Back in Merida, Sarah decides to stay for Christmas and calls Valeria in Guadalajara to invite her.

Valeria flies in from Guadalajara on the night of the posada on Rosa's street, and at last she meets Camila.

At midnight on Christmas Eve, Rosa's courtyard is full, and there are hugs, toasts, wishes and presents.

The day after Valeria leaves, Sarah and Camila spend a Sunday on the beach at Progreso, talking about what comes next.

On New Year's Eve at Rosa's house, the old year is swept out, Rosa hands out twelve grapes each, one for every chime at midnight, and Sarah and Camila walk round the block with their bags.

On New Year's night, Sarah takes Camila to the bus station, with a bag of Rosa's tamales for the journey, and the two friends say goodbye.

On Friday, January second, Sarah's last day in Merida, Rosa makes a farewell lunch, Sarah gives back the hat Rosa lent her, and Tomas drives her to the three o'clock bus to Oaxaca.

On Friday, January second, Sarah's bus leaves Merida at three in the afternoon for the twenty-hour journey to Oaxaca, and the woman in the next seat wants to hear all about her trip.