Kit
The boat station is busy.
So busy we have to take a ticket and are directed to sit on some hard-backed plastic chairs until our number appears on a TV screen above us. It’s a little like waiting for the doctor.
There’s a gift shop though – of course there is – so we spend a bit of time looking at the tourist-centric nonsense that we have no intention of buying and at the row of vending machines selling ice creams and drinks.
These seem to be everywhere you go in Japan – pretty much on every street corner.
They have a vending machine foreverythinghere.
I’m told you can even buy a single glass of wine from some of them, which pretty much blows my mind.
To be fair to it, the boat ride business is a slick operation and our number appears pretty quickly. We’re taken down to where the long wooden boat is moored against the wharf with about twenty other people and given slim lifejackets to put on. Then we’re directed to climb into the boat and take a seat on one of the long wooden benches that run from port to starboard across it.
The sun is beating down on us now and I’m glad I thought to put some sunscreen on, though I can still feel the intensity of the rays warming my skin.
A trickle of sweat makes a path down the middle of my back.
We’re at the rear of the group of people coming on this trip and Chloe climbs in first, then I follow her and sit down on the bench at the starboard side of the boat. Somehow we’ve ended up at the prow, sitting directly in front of one of the guys who’s going to be taking us down the river using a long pole, a bit like they do in the punts they have in Cambridge.
Only, as we set off, it becomes clear that these guys use the pole at the front of the boat, pushing it down into the river bed then running forwards, whilst pushing back against it to move the boat forwards in the water.
I feel exhausted just watching him.
And not only that, he manages to keep up an amusing running commentary with the guy at the back of the boat who’s on the rudder, making sure we don’t drift into the bank on either side of us.
It’s like listening to a two-man comedy skit.
They’re charming and funny and informative about the history and geography of the area in equal measure and it just blows my mind that they do this for a living.
It’s a very different life from mine, spending hours inside an office, staring at a computer screen or on the phone.
Chloe seems to be really enjoying herself and is alternately gazing around at the knock-out beautiful scenery, which includes rows of cherry trees in full bloom, hanging out amongst the lush greenery, and watching the fit young Japanese guy who’s expertly moving a boat full of people along the river, hitting each of the push points in the rocks at the side of us with his pole in order for us to avoid crashing into them.
I’m hyper aware that I wouldn’t have had this experience in the private motorboat that I was thinking of hiring. I’d have been on my own, only glancing at the trees and thinking about what I was going to do when I got back to the hotel. And if Katya had been with me, she’d have been on her phone the whole time, checking out her social media feeds. She’s obsessed with them. Especially if she thinks she’s going to get a photo or name check on any of them.
This is a million times better. A billion.
Particularly because I’m really appreciating seeing Chloe enjoying herself.
It brings it home to me that I never really felt that when I was with Katya. I guess because both of us always went with the most expensive option, which in retrospect felt cool but wasn’t always the most fun. She’d spend most of the time being hyper aware of other people watching us as we lorded it up and was quite clearly performing for them. And because she was used to the finer things in life, it meant there was a lot to compete with in order to have a top-notch, unique experience.
Just as I’m thinking this, the boat dips down into a rapid in the water and a big wave of water sloshes up over the side of the boat and straight into my lap.
I give a yelp of surprise, mostly because the water’s bloody cold, but also because it now looks as though I’ve had an embarrassing accident.
‘They did just tell us to hold up the tarpaulin if we were worried about getting wet,’ Chloe points out with a barely concealed grin at my expense.
I give her a twisted smile back, telling myself I’ll get my own back on her later. Perhaps when we’re in bed together again.
At the thought of this, my body gives a deep shudder of anticipated pleasure, and she looks over at me again with a more concerned expression this time.
‘Are you okay? Cold?’ she asks.
‘My crotch is. Fancy warming it up for me?’ I joke, laughing when she rolls her eyes at me.
But the idea of having her straddling me and wrapping those long shapely legs around my back sticks around in my head for longer than is decent as we glide through the rest of the rapids without further incident.
