January 27th - D succumbs to International Pressure.

At last the sun is shining. At breakfast there is a bit of a scramble to get shady side tables to avoid the heat. What a contrary bunch we are. The buffet breakfast on the boat includes phō. In order to keep the audience happy D goes for it today. A few bean sprouts, some soggy noodles, a sprinkling of chopped leaves of some kind and a solitary prawn sit in a bowl and have steaming hot salt water poured over them. Hmm. A bit messy to eat and not as filling as porridge.

After breakfast we dock at a small landing stage on Tan Thuan Dong island, known also as mango island. Here we have the option of a bike ride and D goes for that while R takes the walking option. We ride along concrete paths about six feet wide, that mainly follow the line of a levee which protects the orchards from the incursion of sea water. The farmers have protected the mangos from birds and pests by climbing the trees and putting paper bags over each individual fruit. Birds can be heard but, apart from a small flock of cormorants perched on a power line and a few Swift's chasing insects over the water we have seen nothing.

It is Saturday and appears not to be a schoolday as lots of local children are about and they all wave and shout "Hello" at us. We respond in kind. When a halt is called we spot some teenage girls taking photos of us with  their tablets. They get all shy when we turn our cameras on them. The paved way doesn't have much traffic and what there is gives us a pretty wide berth. The houses look very prosperous and the main activity appears to be sorting and packing mangos. At last a Collared Kingfisher is spotted. The bright turquoise blue bird streaks along the creek and comes to rest on a branch with its less spectacular white front facing us. These birds are a Mekong signature species but have been elusive on this trip.

Our cycle circuit of the island takes just over an hour. There is a small cafe close to our boat's mooring where we wait for the walking party and and sample some kind of herb tea as well as a variety of local fruits. Rose apples are crunchy and refreshing, guavas need a bit of spice to give them flavour and lychees look like eyeballs when you peel them. The walkers return having had an interesting time viewing a place where fish are sun-dried on tables and another where fighting cocks are kept in individual cages. For such nice people they have some disturbing pastimes.

Dien is taking his leave of us at this point so he is thanked in the customary manner. He leaves us in the care of Lee, the boat's hospitality manager who prides himself in his English English. Not American. For the first time on the tour we have some complete down time. Nothing to do until lunch which is two and a half hours away. D wanders to the front of the boat where things are controlled from a deckhouse, looking for a photo. He is invited in and gets a shot at steering. 

The private balcony comes into its own. Shady with a breeze - the ideal place to sit in one's pants and watch the world go by. After lunch we have more free time. The crew are keen to keep up with the Final of the Asian Under 23 Football tournament in China where Vietnam are playing Uzbekistan. Their plans may be slightly thwarted by the Cookery Class that is scheduled for 4 pm, halfway through the game. Uzbekistan score after eight minutes but Vietnam hit back and equalise just before half time. The cheers of the crew reverberate around the boat.

Lee introduces the boat's two chefs who have unpronounceable names spelled Chiou and Trangh that sound identical when Lee speaks. The lesson today is savoury pancakes made with rice flour. Lee commentates while the two chefs do the hands on stuff. We sense a little tension. One chef is from the north and one from the south and apparently there is a geographical divide on how to make the perfect savoury pancake. Once a compromise is reached they show us how to make the batter and, while that stands, they cook a couple of fillings, one based on pork mince and the other on finely chopped prawn meat. 

Once the fillings are ready a fresh pan appears and a ladle full of batter poured. Once this starts to solidify the filling is spooned onto one side of the base and then the whole thing rolled with chopsticks. This must have been a fluke as they make quite a mess of the next two and resort to a fish slice. The audience are invited to have a go and R steps up and does a very neat job that looks like the photo on a packet of Findus frozen savoury pancakes. It tastes fine, especially with a bit of fish sauce. The boys have not missed too much football as the match has to be delayed at half time to clear snow off the pitch. 

By the time the sunset cocktail party on the foredeck kicks off the match has moved into extra time. For once we actually see the sun going down in a blaze of colour. It all ends in tragedy as Uzbekistan introduce a substitute with  two minutes to play and he scores a winner in the last minute. At supper the crew are pretty downbeat and we tell them that we are sharing their pain. Supper tonight is beef in a green peppercorn sauce and more chips. All day without a spring roll! Our meal has a bit of a Last Supper feel to it which is strange as we still have four days to go. Lee gives us a brief about paying our bills and being ready in the morning before reminding us that tips are accepted in any currency.