Sunset River Cruise

We had an amazing sunset river cruise with the coolest drivers. As long as you ignored the stink rising from the brown river and cared not about the goofy looking life vests we wore.

The cruise departed to the fanfare of many onlookers as the foreign family carefully stepped down the makeshift ladder to the boat. I took off my sandals as soon as I entered the boat. Not to follow the cultural rules of taking off your shoes when you enter a house. I took them off to kill three spiders waiting in the back seat for their next meal.

The boat slowly took us across the river to the farthest of the buoy boundaries before turning west into the sunset. Then we tested our luck by putting the boat in neutral. Oops. We reckoned the boat was much like an old car or lawnmower. Once you got it started and going in one direction, you never under any circumstances stop it. The cruise operators did give us a mobile number to call if anything were to happen while on the river. Well, Corbin had to go. So the boat sat idling while Corbin took a bathroom break off the side of the boat.

Then it was time for the amazing drivers.



They took turns guiding us back and forth across the river to the buoys as we sat in the back seat and enjoyed the spider free sunset cruise. Not another boat in sight.

We must have gotten the slowest of the boats because we had children (China Rule #2: Children must be kept safe.) and M'Lynn was showing too big of a baby bump (even more important China Rule #1: Definitely keep pregnant woman safe.). As we left we noticed another couple speeding away on a boat obviously faster than ours.

Speaking of keeping pregnant women safe, as we bicycled home we dodged endless mopeds, pedestrians, walkers, dancers, runners, and the occasional car or golf cart on the not so well lit path. No wonder when we arrived home our neighbor surprisingly asked M'Lynn, “You still ride a bike? It’s not safe for pregnant women. There are too many cars.”

I guess we’re safer in a raggedy, slow motor boat on the stinky river with a 5 year-old driver than biking on the streets of China. Is there a boat to Carrefour?