Belize City - Living in the Lap of Luxury

After a few days chilling in Placencia, we left for Belize City, Simo in tow. Unfortunately we weren't able to convince Greg and Elise to come with us, as they were both obsessed with the idea of making it to Costa Rica for Elise's birthday (which was in a couple of weeks). We said our goodbyes, and agreed to meet up for a birthday all-you-can-eat sushi at our favourite spot in Puerto Viejo.

So, we left Placencia with a just a short trip up to the Cayes in mind ... with a quick stop off in Belize City for a night out to the Princess Cinema and Casino! This was a place that Liz and I knew well from our hedonistic Trekforce days, and we were keen to relive our experiences. It didn't disappoint.

We arrived in Belize City at around midday, and set about finding a room for the night. Simo foolishly let me choose where we were going to stay, so, naturally, I picked the cheapest place listed in our guidebook. Simo, fresh off the plane from England, clearly used to his creature comforts, and probably on a much more accommodating budget than us - didn't know what hit him. He was appalled, and labelled the Sea Guest House (which was more than a just few blocks from the sea) not only the worst place he'd ever stayed in, but the worst place he would ever stay in - for the rest of his life. I have to admit - it wasn't great, but we've definitely stayed in worse places. It had a TV for goodness sake! In my mind that more than made up for the resident family of cockroaches and the holes in the wall.

But I digress. That night we went out to the Princess to get a real taste of Belizean culture and watched Batman: The Dark Night in the cinema. What a great film! Afterwards we hit the casino ... hard. Well, kind of hard. I lost 50 dollars on the Blackjack table within minutes, so Liz and I spent the rest of the night either watching Simo play, or trying our hand at 25 cent slot machines (which we were evens on by the end of the night - amazingly). Fortunately, by hanging around the Blackjack table, the casino waitresses often mistook us for playing customers, and served us a succession of incredibly strong vodka pineapple drinks. Now I remember why the Princess was so much fun ...

So, as Simo slowly amassed a fortune of 80 dollars, we sat playing the slots, and at some point during the evening (I think after around 4 vodka pineapple drinks) Liz invented the device that was to change our lives, and those of all sunbathers, forever. Yes - it's the (patent pending) luxury AIR-CON Bubble. Do you love sunbathing? But don't you find that it just gets too hot after a while? Then you need the luxury AIR-CON Bubble! The bubble surrounds your body completely, keeping you cool, whilst still letting in the sun's dangerous ... I mean ... tanning UV rays - allowing you to sunbathe in comfort ... etc. etc.

This is how we plan on making our fortune - nobody steal the idea now ...

Anyway, just before we left, Simo decided to bet his entire winnings on a couple of hands of Blackjack. Predictably he lost. His subsequent complaints of bad luck fell on dead ears however ... it's better to have won and lost, than never to have won at all ...

Next up, Caye Caulker.