Taking the Christmas ferry to Lankawi

Woke up at six am and after a quick breakfast, threw the last bits and pieces into the rucksacks which we had packed the night before. breakfast was 3 tangerines, a cheese buscuit and a chocolate wafer each and our little water-heater element ensured plenty of hot coffee. I couldn't help being aware of a certain irony, eating tangerines on Christmas morning after moaning about how I hate Christmnas. At least I didn't dig them out of a sock first.

gettiup in the dark is something I associated with Christmas morning too, for many years. As a child I almost broke my foot one morning in the wee hours, stepping on a meccano set in the dark. On another occasion, I woke up early enough to hear and partially observe, through the crack in the door which was always left slightly ajar due to my wee brother's fear of the dark, my parents transfering the presents from their hidey-hole in the parents bedroom to their Christmas morning spot under the tree in the living room, thus proving what I had begun to suspect, that there was nae Santa Claus and it was my dad that scoffed the glass of whisky that we always left out for Santa,

We exited the Oriental hotel and found a taxi just opposite, with the 'for-hire' sign on and the driver asleep. I tapped on the window and he jolted awake, bug-eyed. 'Where want to go?' he asked and I asked how much it would cost to the jetty. 'Eight ringit.' was his reply and I repeated, 'Eight ringit?' holding up eight fingers, just to make sure there would be no misunderstanding later. 'Ten ringit.' he said. Okay, I thought, it's Christmas.

At the jetty, we hung about the counter to make sure we were among the first in the queue to get seating tokens. You have to queue up and exchange your ticket for a plastic token, but there are no seat numbers and you can sit on any free seat. We know this becausause we've done it before, several times. We wanted to be sure we got the upper deck, where it's possible to nip outside for fresh air/a fag and you can't smell the toilets or kids being sick.  We are 5th in the queue so we get the seats we want and as we set off from Penang, the water is calm. It usually is. Some backpacker kids with cigarettes and bottles of beer spread their stuff and themselves around the deck outside, preparing for a relaxed trip across to Lankawi. As we leave the lea of Georgetown, the wind and the waves pick up. The swell deepens, as does the boats listing and spray starts coming over the rails. Soon the kids are huddled up, freezing, but there's no space left inside and they have to stay out there until we arrive three hours later. At least the crossing is not as rough as it can be and their backpacks will probably still be dry inside by the time they reach land again.

Some guys go outside for a cigarette but they can't get back in. Some other guys on the inside try to help them and they all push, pull, twist and bang the door handle. It opens after five minutes and the smokers hurry inside looking flustered. The same thing happens again ten minutes later. The t who sit near the door are becoming experts, but the door is becomeing more knackered and still takes a long time to open. The crowd of guys around the opened door grows as they examine and discuss the lock. They're getting bored, an hour and a half into the trip and this forms a welcome diversion. They decide to take the handles and the lock off the door completely. For the remaining hour and a half, the door constantly bangs open and shut in time with the rolling of the ferry.

Lankawi has been great. We've spent most of the time swimming on Cenang beach. We are all three deep reddish-brown coloured and feeling fit and well. There have been some extremely spectacular rain storms, building up very quickly, pouring down then stopping just as abruptly. It's still very warm during the rain and not unpleasant being out in it. Rain seems to be following us on this trip, even though everywhere we go, people tell us it should be the dry season.

Tomorrow, we'll go to the port town of Kua and buy tickets for the ferry to Satun in Thailand the following day. Looking forward to a change of scenery and some Thai food.

t's not as rough as it can be