So it turns out that my buddy Jay doesn't function all that well in the tropics. The five weeks he was in Thailand, he was never quite healthy, wavering back and forth between a stomach bug and some sort of bronchial thing. It worked out great for me, because he was always healthy enough to belay me on climbs, yet he could usually be counted on to eat less than his share at mealtimes. The perfect traveling companion as far as I'm concerned, but somehow he didn't see it that way.

Anyway, I'll be embarking on an informal tour of Bali and the surrounding islands tomorrow. It should be fun, I managed to get down the coast a ways today and It was quite a bit nicer than around town. Happy holidays!

written by  Jason Kester on December 25, 2000 from Kuta, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Southeast Asia, 2000-2001
tagged Christmas
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We started the festivities on Friday night with a visit to the British embassy for carols in the garden, with free mulled wine and chardonnay – wow! Free booze and VSO volunteers do mix well if you want to outcome to be enthusiastic carol singing!! They had also shipped over some mince pies especially, so we were well well happy! Rose made me laugh so much, as we mingled with the bigwigs of this world she proudly donned spangley boppers and tinsel accessories!

Then we headed to Gisenyi on Saturday for a few days chilling by Lake Kivi. This is where we spent Christmas day and indeed where I turned 29!

Being 29 seems ancient, but hey, the day was cool, so wasn’t depressed by that fact. After a birthday breakfast with singing and presents we headed down to the beach. Kersti surprised me with a beautiful homemade chocolate cake and the alcohol was cracked open way before midday! However, things then turned more sporty as we swam in the Lake (during which the heavens poured!), played Frisbee and British bulldog, had cartwheel competitions and made a sand-Santa! We were a complete spectacle, providing locals with much amusement! The games continued over dinner that night, despite being in a posh restaurant where I was presented with my best Birthday present EVER!! A toilet seat – a deluxe padded version! (Short explanation – my toilet seat is severely broken, it bashes anyone who sits on it and eats their skin, often falling off completely!)

Christmas morning came and some of us gathered in my room to ‘share the joy’ as we opened the presents that had arrived on time. Never before has a potato peeler been met with so much joy, my friend was equally pleased with her multi vitamins and face wash! Then we headed off to spend Christmas day in Paradise! Literally. That was the name of the place; cheesy name, but actually very apt. We ate Christmas dinner (vegetable curry) in beautiful surroundings – a flower garden overlooking the lake where we swam, rocks where we relaxed and a beach where we frisbeed! Secret Santa bought me some chocolate, a lolly pop, some pink head bobbers and bourble earrings! Top class present from Santa! I wore them all day. Thanks to Maggie’s mum we also had mince pies, crackers and played charades! Yippee! Such a fantastic Christmas time!

So of course I missed you all, but the moral of the story is a good Christmas depends on the people, not the presents! Hopefully, you were able to spend it having fun with great people too!

written by  Sue Mugwiza on December 27, 2006 from Gisenyi, Rwanda
from the travel blog: Rwanda
tagged Christmas
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