Showerless in Bacalar

We have finally reached civilization again having just been for our remote cultural Mexican experience in what The Lonely Planet describes as the 'sleepy town of Bacalar'. Sleeping is not the word, dead is the word, aged and dead. But hillar none the less. Even the ATM snoozes solitary in the middle of the town square.

It's a very strange little place. Most of the restaurants seem to only really open during the day, and then rotate with each other as to who will have to stay awake for the evening trade. There was about 10 restaurants in the place but only the choice of one or two each evening!

We definitely felt like we were getting back to basics, particularly when we realised that we had no water in the whole place we were staying. Yes that's right, no tap water, no loo flush and no shower water. Our saving grace was a quick kayak along the lagoon and a dunk to 'freshen up' in the lagooney water mmmmm yummy. As if the kayaking wasn't already making me reminisce about my D of E in Norway, the lack of showering definitely reinforced this nostalgia.

So after a swety journey and a couple of boat rides later we have arrive in Caye Caulker, a little island off the coast of Belize and it is beautiful.

Literally, we have discovered paradise island. All the buildings our beautifully colourful and the reggae beats are pumped continually through the streets as the lobster and shrimp grills on the bbq.

The island is so small you can walk from one end to the other in about 20 minutes and has a lovely community feel, all the more enhanced by our hostel, Bella's. Its the place everyone recommends if you say your off to Caye Caulker and its definitely worth a look in - but get there early cos it fills up fast! Last night it was a full moon so we all sat out and had a big bonfire and a horrible amount of rum - a trend that seems to dominate the island, most food places offering free rum drinks with your meal. I've gone from hating rum, to braving rum, to enjoying rum in about 2 days!

And maybe the highlight of the island has been the shower this morning. Yeah, it was freezing cold, but it was wet and there was shampoo and soap. Heavenly.

So for a few more days in paradise before we head to Peru and hit the hills. I have a feeling that this showerless trend may reach new heights...