On a sandbank on the Mekhong...

Picture the scene...

Myself and Icecream in a boat on the Mekong river, looking out for freshwater dolphins....

The peace and solitude is only broken by the presence of one other boat, contaning 2 people... but the scene is pretty quiet, very special...

Then suddenly the peace is broken by a shout from the other boat "Hey... Is your name Trevor Howland?"...

I was slightly puzzled, kinda shocked... Who was this guy? How did he know my name? Was it someone from university or school that had changed loads? Am I being followed by the FBI for some imaginary crime?

Then he explained, he had seen my name on the register that we signed when we got on the boats, and he was John Howland from Australia... This was pretty crazy... I have NEVER met someone that shares my surname before, and yet here we were,the only 4 people in sight (apart from the local drivers of the boats), and one of them was a Howland! I suddenly got an insight into how Dave Gorman felt when he met another Dave Gorman...

So we pulled up onto a sandbank, shook hands, he took a picture. I would have, but my camera ran out of batteries just before... And that was that.. Another Howland. He seemed pretty cool, so the family name was in good hands. Then we went back to the guest house...

Oh yea, the fresh water dolphins were pretty cool as well!