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PRUEK CRUISE
This three-story teak yacht
is a stunner, a fave of the
hi-so set for its photogenic
decks and private-charter
menus by the chefs of Le
Normandie (two Michelin
stars), Saawaan (one star),
and Lenzi Tuscan Kitchen
(Michelin plate). Saturdays,
its dinner cruise is open for
public bookings, and that
five-course fare is nothing
to sniff at either. Have your
locavore river-prawn salad
al fresco or in air-con,
after your welcome flute of
Piper-Heidsieck at the
marble bar. pruekcruise.
com; Saturday dinner
cruises from Bt4,500 with
free-flow cocktails.SUPANNIGA CRUISE
Bangkok’s favorite Thai
grandma-recipe restaurant
has its own cruise sailing
from its own pier, near Wat
Po. The late-afternoon trip
comes with fancy tea and
treats, or a cocktail-and-
savories pairing during the
week, or, on weekends, a
Taittinger taster. You can
hop off for a prioritized
ressie at Supanniga’s
riverfront eatery at ThaTien. But with a galley
turning out specialities
from Trat and Chantanburi,
their cute rustic-chic boat
beckons for dinner, too.
From land or water, the
view of Wat Arun is superb.
supannigacruise.com;
sunset cruises from Bt700,
dinner cruises with a glass
of Taittinger Bt3,250.MANOHRA CRUISE AND
LOY PELA VOYAGES
Anantara Riverside has a
veritable fleet of boats to
wine and dine you, all with
new menus from Michelin-
starred Le Du. Manohra
Cruises aboard antique
rice barges embark for
dinner nightly; they've just
added weekend lunch
cruises, too. If one meal's
worth isn't enough fresh air,
the newly christened Loy
River Song and sister ship
Loy Dream sail the River of
Kings to the ancient capital
Ayutthaya. In addition to
fine cuisine, your multi-
night private charter
comes with sunrise yoga
and muay Thai on deck.
anantara.com; Manohra
Cruises lunch from Bt1,800,
dinner from Bt3,900.Three more floating feasts
Pick your pleasure among these culinarily
curated riverboats in Bangkok.
Local girls in
Taxila, Punjab
Province,
Pakistan.A
GIRLS’ TRIP TO PAKISTAN might sound like an
oxymoron, but times are changing and Intrepid
Travel is on the vanguard of the female-traveler
empowerment movement. The Australia-based
wanderlust specialists who are all about being hyper-
local, personally enriching and good to the world are
now offering a 15-day expedition only for women, led
by a local woman (intrepidtravel.com; Pakistan
Women’s Expedition in October and November 2020
and 2021, from US$3,475). Experience a little-seen
cross-section of life in Pakistan by visiting the homes
and businesses of women, joining them in the kitchen
or the corner office, taking in the capital of Islamabad
and remote Minapin, where the Aga Khan Foundation
is dedicated to helping women lift themselves up.
The trip is the newest in Intrepid’s two-year-old
portfolio of adventures by and for women, many in
places with notoriously harsh gender inequality.
Adventures in Nepal range from learning about a chef-
led campaign to abolish chhaupadi, in which women
are banned from their homes during menstruation, to
trekking the Himalayas with an all-female
mountaineering crew. On the visit to India, be
entertained by a female dance troupe while the men
go cook dinner, and meet with survivors of acid
attacks. And in Kenya, the first female overland-truck
driver in East Africa leads a journey that visits Umoja
Village, a sanctuary for survivors of genital mutilation
and forced marriages, and goes on safari with women
wildlife rangers. With other destinations including
Israel and the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Morocco,
and Turkey, Intrepid is poised to answer Beyonce’s
shrewd question, Who run the world? — J.L.S.J.Radical Feminism
Unexpected destinations maybe, but what’s certain
is that these journeys enrich both the travelers and
the locals they interact with.