It’s a beautiful morning when we awake, and with such a fabulous pool tempting us outside our window, we head down for an early morning swim before breakfast. Once we’ve checked out, Tai & Han then drive us back to the pier at Cần Thơ where the rather fabulous, old-style glamour of the Bassac II wooden cruise ship awaits us. It’s a two-story affair with ten cabins, providing accommodation for 20 guests at a time.

We’re taken on board by the very enthusiastic Trang, (pronounced Jun) who tells us we have the ship almost to ourselves as only one other couple are on board until tomorrow, so we will almost be on a private cruise for the first 24 hours. What luxury! She introduces us to the perma-smiling Min who furnishes us with a welcome drink before we are shown to our twin-berth cabin, getting a chance to unpack before setting sail at midday. 

As we start to depart, we skip up to the top deck to wave goodbye to Cần Thơ and introduce ourselves to Caroline & Richard, the other couple on board. A sour pair in their late fifties they are frosty to the point of rudeness, reluctant to even speak to us, and after a few stilted sentences, get up to move to the front of the ship, as far from us as possible. It’s really quite bizarre.

After a few miles on the river, Trang gathers us all together to explain our route on the map pinned up beside the bar. Richard and Caroline sit sullenly while she tells us that the Mekong river flows 4100 kms from Tibet through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It splits in two at Phnom Penh, where Coman and I travelled along the Upper Mekong most of the way to Châu Doc, but our cruise for the next two days takes us along the lower Mekong branch, called the Bassac.

Trang reveals that the Mekong Delta is the third largest in the world, after the Amazon and Brahmaputra deltas, and is known to the Vietnamese as the Nine Dragons Delta, as it splits into nine main estuaries flowing into the South China Sea, two of which are now silted up, as well as numerous little streams and rivers. Richard and Caroline look on disinterestedly and as soon as she’s finished, move back to their position at the front of the ship, sitting in silence. God help their marriage!

Coman and I settle ourselves at the back of the boat as we sail on towards our destination of Cai Be, past boats dredging the river and farms breeding catfish, tilapia and snakehead fish. Soon we’re served a delicious lunch of fried wontons with spicy plum sauce, stir-fried tofu and sautéed morning glory (aka water spinach) with a somewhat less delicious Vietnamese white wine. 

As the dishes are cleared away, we reach the village of Tra On and turn left, off the main branch of the Bassac and on to a much quieter stretch of water, slipping past little hamlets and fields, the only noise the distant sound of goats and cows, and the sights alternating between massive palms and tiny farms, with every now and again a ship yard or local ferry, small temple, riverside shop or church dotting our journey.

We see families washing at the waters’ edge, and children swimming gleefully, laundry hanging up on makeshift jetties and riverside petrol pumps providing fuel to passing boats. Whenever we sail past groups of children at the waters’ edge they wave and shout hello as we sail past, and we delight in returning their greeting, their happy, smiling faces in stark contrast to our uptight companions sequestered in unhappy isolation at the front of the boat

On we go, taking in the corrugated Iron shacks whose roofs are thatched with leaves from the abundant coconut and banana trees. The hot, humid, tropical scenes, sound-tracked by exotic bird songs, ensure that the afternoon drifts along at a gentle pace, a bucolic and soporific experience that soon has Coman snoozing in the lounge while I take photos and write notes of all that we see.

Towards the end of the afternoon the boat casts anchor, and donning life jackets (and our mosquito repellent safari outfits!) we transfer by a little motorboat to shore for a visit to a local village. There’s an option to join a larger group from a sister boat who have also moored up, which Richard and Caroline want to do, but Trang suggests we do a private walk with her instead, as keen to wave goodbye to the sulky pair as we are.

The walk is wonderful and Trang proves a delightful and knowledgeable guide, pointing out papaya, star fruit, jackfruit, guava, kumquat, pomelo, pineapple, banana, coconut, mango and hibiscus flowers as we meander along. Having wandered down a variety of trails we emerge to beautiful fields of rice paddies, next to little farms housing pigs, cows and chickens. Our trek ends at a little house where we get the chance to taste various local produce including fresh pineapple, sprinkled with salt – which proves an absolute revelation. It’s divine!

We return to our floating Bassac II palace as the sun starts to set and sip mojitos, watching gorgeous colours warm the sky and marvelling at how brightly Venus glows ahead of more and more stars emerging to pepper the twilight. A quick shower in our wooden en-suite bathroom later we settle down to dinner, enjoying our banana flower salad with gorgeous spring rolls, and a delicious tofu curry, in stark contrast to the sullen duo who’ve taken a table as far from us as possible and barely speak during their meal. They scurry off to bed as soon as they’re finished, leaving us to star gaze and sip wine under the Milky Way.