Christmas at Ko Yao Yai

A Rest Stop on the way

Our Fortaleza friends, the Far Too Lazies, suggested a quick stop en route to Chalong to enjoy light beer, tasty food, and delicious Pina Coladas. We are glad they did. The cocktails at the Kung Fu Bar in Ko Lanta were delicious; served with a dessert-sized piece of fruit and enough booze to put even seasoned sailors into an alcohol-induced state of fuzziness – we enjoyed them on a deck chair on a stunning white beach.

Not only that, the food was great too – probably the best Massaman curry we have ever enjoyed. The Far Too Lazies truly are the low-cost version of Michelin Guide critics.

Look who we found…

Miranda and Elliot (The Far Too Lazies) on Christmas Eve at Ko Yao Yai. It wasn’t a total surprise; we had planned to meet them. However, we had a bit of a delay getting there from Chalong because we had to pick up Miranda’s Christmas present. Literally, we found it floating in the sea. More on that later.

We invited the Lazies over for dinner, which gave us the opportunity to make them appear festive. Much to their delight.

Late afternoon, we headed over to the beach with the Lazies to meet Kate and Jim on Polaris, whom we last saw what seems like half a lifetime ago. They had Kate’s mum and stepdad on board with them, already looking like they had settled into life in the Thai Islands. Allegedly, the parents had already drunk most of the wine, so they had to head off into town for resupplies while Maria and I, together with the Lazies, went for dinner at the Beach Club restaurant, where the food is average and the service glacial.

Christmas Day on Jamala

Bring your own dinner was the right call. The chicken we bought at the Aeon Mall in Malaysia had the same nutritional value as one of the comedy variants sold by shops flogging inflatable toys. It’s our fault; we didn’t read the label properly. If we had, we would have known that the small print in Malay said it was an old bird to be used for stock only. I don’t think that puts it in quite the ‘not fit for human consumption’ realm, but it certainly gave our guests’ teeth a workout – and there wasn’t much of it.

Fortunately, our friends hadn’t made the same blunder and more than made up for our cock up with their generosity.

After our guests arrived, we exchanged presents. Well, when I say “exchanged,” I mean we gave Miranda her present from the sea and Elliot his from the bilge; he might even be able to get it working. It’s clear from the photo how thrilled they are.

Frankly, I can’t understand the lack of enthusiasm. Kate’s stepdad picked up the guitar later and belted out a hell of a tune. To be fair, I think that has more to do with talent than the quality of the seawater-soaked guitar. After all, he did have a number one song in Ireland back in the day. Musical talent pops up in all the unexpected places. I have vivid memories of musicians in French Polynesia belting out a tune on a bucket with a stick and a string.

And that was it. Christmas was over. It was time to head over to Chalong to get our present to ourselves – a new dinghy.