The lake of seven colours

Left Campeche on Friday 26th heading for Xpujil and a night at Hotel Calakmul. It`s a long drive across the peninsula and we had included the stop to break the journey as we didn`t know what the roads would be like. However all the roads in the Yucatan have proved to be good. They are generally straight, flat and well surfaced, with little traffic, the only hindrance are the speed bumps or topes which you find at the entrance to every town and village. There are quite a few double semi-trailers on the road, all over 35m long and often travelling at 100kph or more - I spent a good hour of the journey trying to stay ahead of a guy towing a pair of lpg containers and it was only the topes which kept him behind me! As a result we made it to Xpujil in time for lunch and decided to carry on to Bacalar.

The hotel Laguna at Bacalar is a 70's fantasy in concrete which sits on the banks of the lake with incredible views to the south over the lake - there really are 7 shades of blue - and the wetlands beyond. Although the building is a little worn, the location and views made up for everything else - we were swimming in the lake within 20 mins of arriving! Decided to check out Friday night in Bacalar itself and finished our meal just before they turned off the lights and rolled up the pavements.

Up early to watch the sunrise - the hotel rooftop bar allowed a clear view of eastern and western horizons - and then a swim in the lake before breakfast. The breeze was a bit strong for kayaking so we planned a day of sightseeing which lasted until lunchtime when we headed back to the poolbar to seek refreshment. The Mexican schools had just closed for two weeks for Easter, so we watched the arrival of three or four groups of holidaymakers - like our Canadian friends, the Mexicans appear to travel in packs - usually not less than 6 adults and 10 children at a time! With the pool now full of screaming wains, we headed for the lakeside which was marginally quieter. Dinner at the hotel was quite lively and thankfully the kids were dragged out of the pool before bedtime - I hadn`t quite reached Jimmy C mode but it was close.

In the morning we were joined for breakfast by two other refugees from the large family groups - an Aussie couple from Adelaide who are travelling from pole to pole on a pair of BMW touring bikes. They had started from the south of Argentine in November and hoped to reach Northern Alaska before the end of summer - in Linda´s opinion "the first interesting travellers we have met on the trip" (excluding canadian friends and family of course). As they rode off towards Campeche, we headed north to Tulum.