Our snorkelling trip finished a bit early due to the “bad” weather: strong wind making the waves too big to be manageable in our flat-bottomed tourist boat. It’s actually quite nice timing for us as it gives us time to rest before going out for Xmas eve - we’ve picked up some tips on where to go from fellow tourists on the boat and we are determined we will finally find the island’s parties tonight!
We’ve been pointed towards the opposite end of Sairee Beach - a couple of kilometres north from our hotel. We set out on foot and as usual get surprised by the distance: we’ve already had a decently active day, and between the uneven roads and many steep up-and-downs (the paths here match the natural terrain rather than use any kind of levelling) we almost wish we’d accepted an offer from one of the few taxi drivers that hailed us. We do get to admire the sunset sky from the beach though, and after rounding a hilly cape we finally find the party: a stretch of beach clubs spilling over onto the sand, bright with lanterns and fairy lights and pumping out some (questionable) music from a few live bands and DJ stands. It’s exactly what we were looking for and we forget our tired feet as we check out the strip in preparation for later.
For the moment, we’re heading for food, and in defiance of the usual pescatarian Xmas eve meal we treat ourselves to spare ribs - always a crowd-pleaser. Our fusion Mexican-American restaurant does a mean margarita and I’m already merry by the end of the meal! The atmosphere in this part of the island is perfect to celebrate tonight: everyone is out, many people wearing Santa hats (an interesting accessory with shorts and a bikini top), and the live music gets quite a few dancing already. We decide to make the most of the experience with a bar crawl - Ollie assures me this is the British tradition for Xmas eve. We start off along the beach looking for a suitable first spot and spot flames in the distance - that looks spectacular enough.
The AC Bar has set up some seating on the beach, like many of its neighbours, but what sets it apart is a large, flat, cordoned off area right by the waves (and where the sand is in fact kept wet throughout the night) where a trio of dancers are performing tricks with blazing cords. It’s a mesmerising show as the flames circle round and round, scarily close to the dancers, and I’m in awe of how much control they have. They’re able to throw the cords into the air and catch them, pass them around their heads and backs, between their legs, and all to the rhythm of the music. One of them even does a whole section one-handed while smoking a cigarette which he lighted with his props! They cap it off with an almost fireworks-like display of sparks from coconut-sized flaming balls which lasts a good couple of minutes. The drinks are awful and the seating mats wet, but the show is well worth it!
This will be a hard act to follow but we’d like a place with a more chatty atmosphere - everyone in the AC was in their own little group. We hit gold at a diving club Xmas party where we join a German group’s pool game and have a nice time exchanging travel stories and tips. One of them mentions they got bedbugs from the night train, which is worrying since that’s how we’re planning to get to Bangkok! But overall it’s nice to meet other travellers and we always get some useful information from it. Game finished, we continue our way down the beach, soaking in the party vibes - it’s a lovely way to spend the evening. There is apparently a big rave somewhere on the island (there’s adverts everywhere) but we’re not quite sure that will be our scene - we’ll keep to the bars tonight.
As we get closer to our hotel, things quieten down, but just before tucking in, we spot a French cocktail bar - can’t pass that up! It’s crammed but ordering in French immediately gets us served and we enjoy the nicest cocktails we’ve had so far (on the entire trip) on the beach, even having a quick chat with our neighbours about why they ended up settling here. It’s such a pretty, relaxed place I can understand the draw - one does wonder why work in an office in grey London when we could just open a cafe here. This has been a perfect close to the evening and we head to bed feeling we celebrated in style.
Xmas day is a lazy one for us - we just manage to drag ourselves out of bed for breakfast (neither of us can resist free food) before napping the rest of the morning away. We bought some fresh fruit at the shop yesterday which we savour while watching a film to avoid the afternoon heat - the first time we’ve taken the time to do that since the beginning of the trip!
For the evening we’ve been searching for a special meal to mark the occasion. We’ve heard that our hotel restaurant does a traditional Thai BBQ - where you cook the ingredients yourself on a hot plate surrounded by a moat of vegetable broth. As we enquire about the price before sitting down however it turns out to be prohibitively expensive (we did previously notice they applied a significant mark-up to the food) so we turn to other options. Ollie finds out about a highly rated French restaurant less than five minutes away, and we quickly book a table before heading over. They are taking Xmas very seriously and have a full festive menu with oysters and foie gras - we stick to ordering a la carte as neither of us is a fan of the molluscs but regardless, the food is absolutely superb and perfect for the occasion. A fitting conclusion to our first island Xmas and one of my very few away from home - I was a little sad about missing out on the December festivities (it’s always one of my favourite times of the year) but this has been a very enjoyable alternative.
Great Christmas feast! And yes, one will always miss the treize desserts, every Christmas. 😥 Lots of love