Afternoon on the cruise by Matt

After lunch, Jimmy filled us in on the itinerary, referred to all of us as the 'Jimmy family ', reminded us a few more times that his name was Jimmy, gleefully reminded us of happy hour and then made us all down our welcome juice. This guy definitely used to work on the booze cruises and his excitement didn't quite seem to be reciprocated by the audience of families and couples.

The boat moored amongst the stunning limestone cliffs, topped with jungle flora and the occasional soaring bird. Several other cruise ships had also dropped anchor but rather than spoil the view I felt they added perspective to the towering landscape.

Shortly after lunch we all boarded the tender and headed to a nearby pontoon, along with most of the other ship occupants it seemed. We were quickly and efficiently shepherded into what can best be described as an oversized bath tub. We were joined by an Indian family, the mother working for Travel Counsellers, the same company as Ali!

The midday sun beat down and our rower started complaining about the heat. I looked at her, covered head to toe, socks under sandals, scarf round her face, a thick pair of gloves, under which it turned out she had another pair of gloves, and wasn't really surprised. We took pity though, offering her water and food, but she refused and took off one layer of gloves. Rather cynically I wondered whether she was putting it on just a little bit. But there was no denying these people work hard in tough conditions to give tourists their experiences.

She took us through a natural tunnel, called the 'bright cave', into a lagoon, took photos for us then paddled us back, barging through a chaotic flotilla of bath tubs and kayaks, all going in completely opposite directions. Crazy, beautiful, maddening and humbling all at once. We hopped back in the tender to head back for a much anticipated swim.Read more