YouTube travel vlog by Nate and Kara Buchanan documenting an overnight trip on a century-old river paddle steamer in Bangladesh. The hosts board an old excursion boat from Dhaka, tour a small first-class cabin (twin beds, tiny sink, AC, one outlet), inspect shared bathroom facilities, socialize on the deck with other passengers, eat curried chicken and rice, and spend the night while many other passengers sleep on the deck. The video records sensory impressions (heat, smells, noise), boat mechanics (exposed engine, paddle propulsion), informal price/class contrasts (first class vs. second class fares), and ends with an early-morning arrival at Borschel about 12 hours after departure.
Chapters
It is a beautiful morning. So crazy waking up on a river in the middle of Bangladesh.
If you missed our last video, we arrived in our 97th country of Bangladesh just two short days ago. But the energy in this country has already sucked us in in the best way possible. The sights, the sounds, the smells and the traffic. It can't be compared to anything else we've ever experienced. After a full day of exploring the capital city of Dhaka, the adventure continues aboard a boat that was built over 100 years ago.
What a view. I think we found the best sunset spot in the entire city. We're about six floors up on the top of an unfinished mosque.
So pretty much if you just pick the oldest looking boat out of all the big boats you can see from here, that's the one we're getting on tonight.
Yep.
It's all about the. The romance of the journey.
Romantic overnight cruise.
This used to be the best way to travel.
All right. We are about to get our first glimpse of our home for the night. Not. Not our home. Our. Our home.
That's the biggest thing I've seen on the back of a bike.
That.
Is not our boat.
This is it.
It's a video.
I think that's our crew.
Home sweet home.
They pointed us upstairs.
The dining room and our room.
The egg seat is so cold. I feel like I'm in a 100-year-old dorm room. College dorm room. There are two twin beds, tiny sink, vanity. Honestly, better than I thought it was going to be.
Thank you. Welcome.
Thank you.
Your country. Usa. Yes.
The working sink.
Hygienic soap, fresh towels. He walked in with two towels and then he left us one.
You ready to test the bed?
Feels about like it sounded a little firm.
I'm actually very impressed. We have air conditioning. I expect it fans.
Up light. No.
See if there's a light bulb.
There is a light bulb. Maybe yours works. Nope.
Try the fan again.
Just for decoration, just so you can know how good you have it with your ac. They want to remind you that this is how it used to be a hundred years ago. Nice little desk. Might get a little work done tonight in our dorm. Oh, let's see. We have round boat windows. Nope. Square ones.
Looks like you can open them though.
Nope.
Doesn't open.
There's not a light bulb in that one.
Alright. We have one outlet in the whole room. So this will determine we'll be able to continue using our cameras and phones past the next few hours. Uh oh.
Oh no.
Not good.
Maybe they just haven't turned on the like power. Yet even though the AC is on.
Again, this was not supposed to be luxurious. This was supposed to be about experiencing how people used to travel in the past.
There are other boats that you can take. We just wanted to take this when.
We were planning this trip. Mamun said, we'll book one of the nice fairs. And we said, nope, put us on the old one.
There are a lot of surprise faces when we boarded.
It's all about the adventure.
Smells fine. Hope the pillows aren't 100 years old. Oh yeah, they might be. I wish I wouldn't have looked at that. The COVID looks nice and clean though. And I actually really like the nautical branding on all of the blankets and towels.
Bathroom tour.
Toilet.
It flashes. Yes. There are a few unidentifiable buckets, two half bars of soap. Oh, that sounds nice. A sink with running water and a shower head just in the same room.
So maybe one.
One of the buckets is for like filling up the shower and bathing yourself with the bucket. Or maybe it's used for cleaning yourself after you go to the bathroom. But most importantly, there is toilet paper. There are also a couple windows. There's some ventilation when you start moving. I'm assuming right now it's very, very hot. And still. Can you see that I'm sweating? So it doesn't smell bad at all. There's a mirror and a rubber brush. Maybe to clean the floor, maybe to clean your body while you're in the shower. There's not anything to dry your hands hands on, which has become a theme in this country so far. But I mean, overall it's really not bad.
So that's first class. And now Mamun is going to show us around the rest of the boat.
And in this area, this is big.
Normal people, very poor people use and.
They return to their home on paying only 200 something. Taka. They are in the backside. Second class.
They're paying some money. Like more than 1,000.
Taka.
Mahmoud told me he has a VIP room. I think he has the biggest that on the boats.
It's chai time. Finally.
All right. Mahmoud just ordered our first tea for the trip. It wasn't the Indian chai I was expecting, but I'm still pretty excited.
Oh wow. I got some ginger. It's amazing. I love ginger and it's really sweet. I don't add sugar to my tea and coffee often because I drink so much of it that I try to be a little healthy. But when I do get it, I love it. It's so good. Thank you. Thank you so much.
It's going to be nice having our own room in first class when we go to sleep tonight. But the deck's way more fun. We're making lots of new friends.
They're really excited until the camera turns on and then they all get.
I think we're leaving.
Going to meet the captain.
Yay.
Wow.
This is a very manual process.
We have found the best place on the ship.
It's like a boardwalk that goes right out to the very tip on the very top of the boat. Does not feel like we should be up here.
That is so loud. I jump every time. Oh, my gosh.
Wow. Are literally standing on the very end of the very top of the ship. I think, like, the really scary thing, not necessarily for us on this boat, but the water is just filled with hundreds of tiny boats that don't have any lights.
We have one giant headlight on our boat. So hopefully our captain can see past us right now. I cannot believe we're standing up here.
Those are the boats we could have been on. They are flying like they're gonna be. They're gonna be gone in no time. We're not gonna be able to see them anymore. But I'm glad we're on this boat. It's gonna be much more memorable.
All is warm down here.
The entire engine is just exposed. I think this big ride behind me is turning the paddle that's propelling the boat. Showing us the paddle.
Thank you.
You're getting a lot of new subscribers.
Anytime we come out to the deck, we're very popular. It's fun talking to everybody, but it's also nice to have this room to retreat into.
Dinner time. We have curried chicken, Giant bowl of rice with. Are these crispy onions?
Expensive onions on our rice. Smart. Thank you.
Meow.
Meow. Hello. This is my new best friend.
All right.
Starting with the rice.
Fabulous. Tons of flavor. Nice little spices in there, but it's not spicy. Potatoes are spicy. Good stuff.
Thank you.
We closed it down.
All right. It's a little early to be calling it a night, but we do have a 5:30am wake up call in the morning, so. So that's what we're doing.
This boat just really isn't that bad. Honestly, everything on this boat hasn't been that bad compared to my expectations. Nate booked this boat and told me that we were spending the night on a hundred year old. What do they call this thing? Rocket steamer.
Paddle steamer.
Paddle steamer. I don't know what to expect, but it's been pretty good.
Not the most romantic cruise we've ever been on, but definitely one of the more adventurous.
I think we're going to sleep great. It's been a huge day. All my senses today have just been, like, being used at the same time. And I'm just. It's only like, nine. I'll miss you, though.
Good night, Mama.
Sleep's so good. See you in the morning.
Is this the.
Morning? 5:15. Some point in the night. The AC went out, though. Sunset. Not a bad night. How'd you sleep?
Great. I'm sticky now.
Same.
I went to bed last night thinking that we poked fun at some of the older features on the boat. And I hope that didn't come across the wrong way. We don't take it for granted that we're in here in our own cabin, in our own beds, and there's over 100 people sleeping out on the deck with a little thin blanket laid over a plywood floor. That's not lost on us. I hope it didn't come across the wrong way. We were just making light of the situation.
It is a beautiful morning. So crazy waking up on a river in the middle of Bangladesh.
All right, almost exactly 12 hours later, we have made it to Borschel.
We just stepped off the boat to the most giant pile of cilantro I've ever seen. And it smells so good. Also, Mahmoud has his priorities straight. We've come straight to a stand. Try some breakfast. I haven't had coffee yet.
Hello.
Hello. How are you? I'm fine, thank you.
Yes.
Cheers.
Okay. Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Bye. Bye. Bye.
They run so funny.
Feeling.
Right?
Come on.
It's a video.
Let's see. Okay.
Thank you.
Mahmoud made me chug my tea. Every last. Whoa. I was right. Every last step before I came up. I thought I'd finish it. And then he went one more, and he, like, dipped it into my mouth. All right, we're up here with the captain. I'm excited.
Gosh.
It seriously hurts my ear drums every time that happens.
