The alarm went off
at 4.15am and we were soon up and trudging back down to the jetty in
the dark for our 5am boat. We met the guy from last night, who turned
out to be a tout, and he showed us to a little boat and passed us
over to our driver, and soon we were on our way to the floating
market. As we pootled along in our little boat, we were regularly
overtaken by the larger tourist boats and I soon developed a bad case
of boat envy, which wasn't helped by our having to stop every so
often to remove plastic bags wrapped around the propeller. The sky
was quite light by the time we made it to the market, and here I lost
my envy, as our little boat manoeuvred its way nimbly through the
bustling heart of the aggregation, passing boats selling all manner
of fruits and vegetables, from sweet potatoes, cabbages and potatoes
to rambutans, pineapples and melons. The boats advertise their cargo
by hanging a choice selection from a long stick at the front of the
vessel. In between the large cargo boats flitted smaller vessels
selling coffee and breakfast. We hooked up with one of the former and
ordered a couple of iced coffees and a can of Mirinda, all put
together with admirable efficiency by the middle-aged female
proprietor.
After we had passed
all the way through the market and back again, we set off for the
second half of our tour. The boat headed off the main channel and up
a series of side channels of diminishing size until we got to the
point where we were travelling through a virtual tunnel of
vegetation, with big palm arches curving over our heads. We soon came
across a large boat unloading a cargo of wooden poles from paperbark
trees. There was only a tiny space on the other side and we had to
physically drag our boat past – at one point I was convinced that
we were going to get completely lodged there, but after much heaving,
we entered open water again.
As we left the shade
of the small channel and entered a larger one, the sky thoughtfully
clouded over force us, so we were spared the sun's full force. But
then, with the jetty in sight, those clouds less kindly began to drop
their load on us – first a few scattered drops and then, by the
time we disembarked, a real downpour. We hurriedly paid the driver
and then ran to where a group of people was huddled under a small
awning. Then, when the rain eased off a little, we ran across the
road to a little cafe and Kate and I got an iced coffee each.
By the time we had
finished, the rain was still falling, but no too hard so we decided
to walk back to the hotel. We then spent the afternoon alternating
between hotel and the outside world – visiting the market (where
Zoe was once more poked and prodded and manhandled by the women who
ran the stalls) and walking into town for a forgettable lunch
(accompanied by a memorable downpour outside as we ate). In the room
we did a lot of planning for the next few days – booking a hotel
for tomorrow night and so on.
In the evening, we
went back into town for dinner – stopping first for some lovely
grilled pork at a little streetside place. Last night we spotted a
little amusement fair down the road, and the girls were desperate to
try it out. We priced all of the rides and Kate got the impression
that the bouncy castle was free, so the girl pulled their shoes off,
jumped aboard and started working up a proper sweat. As we watched
them, however, we realised that everyone else was paying the guys who
were supervising and we realised that Kate had got the wrong end of
the stick. The guys had obviously been too bashful to say anything,
so we went over and paid for the girls – and then went off for an
iced coffee. When the girls began to look as though they were going
to pass out from the heat, we dragged them off and let them have a go
on one of the other rides, then, as I still wasn't full, we stopped
off at our barbecue place for some chicken wings, cards and beer.
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