It was late in the evening when we arrived at A Pilgrim's Rest Guest House, and the heavy rain made us quickly move our luggage from the car into the house. Upon entering, we were struck by how beautiful it was inside. Even more special was the warm greeting we received from Sorada, the sister-in-law of the hostess, Adele. Sorada is from Northeast Thailand and had been working in South Africa for 14 years. My friend was soaked from the rain, so he went to the room to take a shower. In the living room, I met Laurent, a Frenchman who works in Johannesburg. He offered to get me a glass of wine, but I politely declined his invitation, feeling too shy to accept a stranger's generosity.
We had packed lamb stew rice and Peri-peri roast chicken from a Portuguese restaurant, but Adele and Sorada had already cooked the dinner that Laurent had ordered. Seeing that Laurent and I were having a pleasant chat, they invited us, the only guests from Malaysia to dine together at the same table. This was a big deal, as Sorada talked about how she integrated into South African life as a Thai, and Adele praised her for helping a lot with work, especially cooking extraordinary dishes. We all shared many interesting stories and jokes, and even asked Adele to open a bottle of wine for us. Laurent was responsive and answered our questions about French culture. After several hours, we were all laughing and having a great time.
Although Adele invited us to eat the dinner they had prepared, we declined as we had already brought our own Portuguese meal. Adele insisted on treating us to dessert after dinner, and their homemade milk tart was really delicious! Before leaving the guesthouse the next morning, Adele thanked us for our company and for making the atmosphere of the dinner so warm. I asked her if she entertained guests like this every night, and she said it was impossible to do so. However, she was sincere in her hospitality and didn't mind sharing dinner with us and her family.
A Pilgrim's Rest Guest House is an old Victorian English house that attracts tourists from all over the world. Although Adele didn't know much about its history when she bought the house, she has kept all the antiques and oil paintings in the house and enjoys showing them to her guests. Overall, our stay at A Pilgrim's Rest Guest House was a memorable experience of sitting down with South Africans to eat, chat, and drink.