a horse cart birthday

We live on the edge of a very large city with tall buildings, a growing pollution problem, and crazy complicated traffic patterns. If you leave our little suburb heading north you are soon in the thick of "city life" - double decker buses, taxi cabs, and lots of bikes.

But if you leave our town heading south, it's a different story. Farmers and little plots of land. No tall buildings. And traffic is definitely not complicated! Some folks drive horse carts to make a little money and provide transportation. After all, there are no taxis and no buses. The horse carts tend to run along the same routes, and charge about 30 cents per person per ride.

We thought it would be fun to "rent" a horse cart and driver for Lydia's birthday party. So, Matt went out and befriended a horse cart driver. And then asked if he would be willing to "host" a two-year old birthday party :) I'm pretty sure it was the first time foreigners had ever ridden his cart. And it was definitely the only time he's ever hosted a birthday party. He's normally not "entertainment". He is transportation. No one else rides his cart for the sheer fun of riding his cart, you know??

On the morning of Lydia's birthday he came to the back gate of our little town and met the party crowd. 7 adults and 5 kiddos.

He was a great birthday party host! We all had a lot of fun. The ride was smoother than I expected, and even with our big crowd, his horse kept up a pretty good pace.

Since we are right on the edge of the city, the roadways are a distinct blend of "city meets country". Here we are on the cart, passing under a major highway! It was kind of crazy to be riding a horse cart next huge trucks and traveling through this big intersection :)


After about thirty minutes we arrived at our destination - a huge apartment complex with a beautiful park in the center.

It was SUCH FUN! The girls are still talking about it!