Santa even visited!

Long Street Backpackers, mindful that Christmas can be tough for travelers, organizes a spiffy extravaganza of food’n’fun for all its guests on that most familial of holidays. After yesterday’s fun, frazzling, knee-knackering epic journey up, a little relaxation was supremely in order.

My old nemesis Irony sought me out again… dammit. I kicked off Christmas by climbing halfway up Table Mountain again… with a bathtub-sized bowl of salad in my arms this time.

‘Twas worth it. The hostel managers staked out an excellent spot for a Yule feast, less a proper cave than a low-ceilinged overhang embedded into the mountain, albeit one with floor space to rival most houses. Table Mountain was wearing its trademark tablecloth of cloud, a thick mist that shrouded the cave and offered wondrous relief from the heat and sun of the day before.

The next best thing to a white Christmas at home is hanging out with a slew of backpackers, each clinging affectionately to a champagne bottle and devouring plate after plate of turkey and tiramisu. Though a cool wind blew, I and my fellow Yule travelers found warmth in the beverages on offer and enjoyed the fine food, good company, and impressively loud music (considering that the speakers and batteries had to be lugged up the trail along with everything else). There was even a Secret Santa gift exchange – I gave a bottle of booze and received a nifty gourd rattle. The party wound down from its raucous heights by about 6 o’clock, lest the trail down become dangerously dark, and the crowd waddled back the hostel fat and happy and more than slightly impaired.

The hostel in the evenings is normally a deafening place that serves as the intermittent base for the guests’ nights out in the neighborhood. Last night it was tomb-quiet by 8PM, and I much doubt that any of the party guests headed out for further celebration. The next morning was likewise quiet, punctuated only by the pained moans of hostellers suffering the wrath of grapes.

I had a great time, and I hope that you good folks back in Vancouver also enjoyed the company of good friends and a bit of overindulgence… but I bet I’m the only person reading this who’s ever done Christmas in a cave.