Day Five - 25/11/25 - Kia’s Birthday 🎉

Happy Birthday Kia!

Started Kia’s big day at 5am (romantic, I know 😅) for a sunrise cruise on the Mekong with our guide Donnie. A full-blown legend who somehow knows everyone on the river and communicates entirely through a signature “WOOOOO!” that other boats echo back like he’s the unofficial mayor of the Mekong.

Breakfast was pho served on a boat wedged so tightly between other boats that we were basically part of a floating noodle traffic jam. Seats became tables, boats bumped gently around us, and it was absolute organised chaos, in the best way.

Then we headed to the floating markets, climbed aboard a family’s house-boat, and saw how they live for weeks or months at a time selling their produce. Highlight: a boat with its very own duck-and-fish pond. In the middle of the boat. Absolutely iconic.

Back at the lodge, the jungle vibes were off the charts, tiny huts, wooden bridges, canals, all the green you could imagine. I finally sorted my work network connection (hallelujah), logged in, smashed out a few urgent emails, and even jumped on a WhatsApp call with one of our managers about a job. Weirdly refreshing to slip back into work mode for a bit.

The afternoon was low-key: Emmett and I took some bicycles out for a quick explore, while Maddie started to feel unwell and rested in the room. In the evening we did a cooking class and made insanely good prawn-and-pork pancakes plus a chicken clay pot with steamed rice. Maddie sat it out, poor thing, but the food was unreal.

It wasn’t the full birthday celebration Kia deserves, but the morning on the Mekong was magic, and birthday round two is waiting for us on Phu Quoc Island. ❤️🌏