19 Jun 2018
My friend and I booked this trip, we had a guide who collected us from our hotel, who was really friendly and knowledgeable. We took a boat for the trip and stopped at another boat where they purchased a coconut for us to drink. We were then taken to a couple of islands where you could buy local goods, be prepared to barter, we also were taken to local businesses where they made popcorn and saw it being made over a fire, lots of other homemade sweets were also being made and then individually wrapped all the staff were really friendly again with a shop that you could buy the goods. There was a lovely area where bonsai trees were being cultivated very interesting and beautiful. We were then taken for refreshments with fresh fruit (you have to pay for drinks but they are really cheap) there was a group of people singing and acting folk stories, it was a shame there was not an explanation of the story but could interpret that some of it was quite humorous. We were taken for lunch on another island where we had our own open air hut, the food was amazing with fresh fish and then they put up hammocks for us to relax. We were also taken on a smaller boat around the narrow waterways which was very peaceful. It was amazing to see how the people live on the water in their boats sometimes a whole family in no more than a canvass cover, very humbling. One of the islands actually is flooded at certain times of the year and they all move themselves onto boats for a few days. Food and hospitality were excellent