Translation of commuter in German

All sorts of people were sitting in the restaurant, locals as well as foreigners. One could see that the city had some modern places too and that it was not the Vietnam we had imagined.
Anyway, back on the boat station we tipped the father and left. The bus was already waiting although we were the first ones to arrive. We had to wait nearly one hour until everybody was back.
I guess it is a very interesting book, but I did not entirely understand it. What did the author try to say, what message did he want to deliver? Do you want that I recommend another book?