Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve.

For the first time in 3 weeks we got off our bums and did some touristy stuff. We went to a cable car with Mick, Karen and their two kids Lindsay and Lee. Views were quite stunning from the top and the cable car ride a little scary for Karen. We also went to the nearby waterfalls which weren’t so good as it’s the dry season. You can see from the pics that L & L did slide down the 7 pools but, because it was so dry, their bums got a tad bruised.

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Christmas Eve night we had a big dinner at the guesthouse including turkey, stuffing cranberry sauce, cake and pud with custard……yum. All followed by the worst karaoke ever!

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Christmas Day we went for a long walk on the beach and had a lovely Sea Bass in ginger sauce in the evening…..more yum! Back at the guesthouse we sat outside our cabin for a quiet drink and an early night…..no chance……Zack had a further treat in store for us….21 year old Scotch from the Chivas Distillery which he had been saving for a special occasion. Neil was allowed to open the box, followed by the velvet pouch and finally the porcelain bottle. The scotch was very smooth indeed but not sure we could justify the cost of 64 GBP (tax free!!). Luckily for Zack, he had received it as a gift. What started out to be a quiet nightcap on our own turned out to be yet another impromptu bash outside our cabin ending about 1.30 a.m. as a number of other guests joined us with some more drinks. Great night.

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Unfortunately, the Mini Christmas Pudding and custard plus the 3 Christmas crackers we had brought from home got forgotten in all the excitement…..what a couple of losers we really are!

Boxing Day back on the beach followed by a Sting Ray dinner, part BBQ and part in sweet & sour….yes, yum!! Back to the guesthouse for another attempt at a quiet evening. You guessed it, Zack brought out the rest of the Chivas so we brought out the crackers. Luckily, as we travelled next day, this did turn out to be a fairly quiet evening and a relatively early night.

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Next day we went for a long walk to the next quiet bay with marina, had a light curry with Rajek in the British Raj and then headed for the ferry to Georgetown, Penang Island. True to form, Zack gave us a ride to the ferry which was on the other side of the island…..he is such a nice man.

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By the way, we have now mailed our suitcases back to the UK and become real backpackers!! Well almost, our ‘rucksacks’ also have wheels so can double as wheely cases as well as backpacks….how clever is that.

Parting thoughts? This has been our first true guesthouse experience and it was excellent. Very friendly, very social and we’ve met people from all over the world, swopped stories of travel, life at home and plans for the future. There has been the occasional hiccup with barking dogs at night and building work by Zack but overall our preferred choice of accomodation is definitely a guesthouse. NB. The barking dogs were actually next door in the Chinese Restaurant, Zacks dogs were very well behaved and a great source of amusement.