The fun of hunching down on the deck on a boat cruise

People who are accustomed to canal cruises know where to look out for the high spots of the cruise. First off are the bridges. On a riverboat tour, one finds the beauty of bridges not by viewing them from above but in the amazing discoveries awaiting them when viewing them from beneath. And then it’s fascinating to see how houses hugging the banks make use of the physical features of the canal and enjoy them. Or perhaps what excites you is the changing scenery encountered as the boat manipulates the meandering course of the canal. Time and again the gondolas of Venice appear about to bump into the walls of houses built flush with the wall of the canal. Compared with the canal cruise in Brugge which moves at a considerable pace, the downstream cruise on Yanagawa is quiet and leisurely. My favorite boat cruise is on the moat in Matsue. The reason is simple; it’s because of the thrill I get when the boat goes under the bridge. There is only one bridge on the cruise but it is very low. They take down the overhead awning and passengers hunch down on the boat deck. Even the boatman is hidden from view. In this manner we pass under the bridge. It just takes a minute, but it is a thrilling experience.

Riverboat Cruise:
On the castle moat at Matsue, Shimane Prefecture