Early one morning in March, I was killing time in Myeik. As I walked aimlessly around the small town’s centre I happened upon a lily-choked lake. The champagne-coloured dawn air fizzed with swifts and dragonflies, and I stopped to snap some photos. A  motorbike pulled up noisily behind me, carrying a man, a woman and an Asian small-clawed otter.

They obligingly posed for photographs, let me feed biscuits to the otter, and then got back on their motorbike and drove off into the morning. If only every day could start with chance encounters like that…

Eyes on the prize. © Jo James

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Dear reader, I have been on holiday. I understand that my job might seem like one long vacation, but it was still utterly delicious to travel without a notebook or camera. I did some very touristy things and travelled about at great speed, and now I’m back in Hong Kong, briefly, catching up on life admin before I leave again. My next trip will be to Malaysia, where I will be travelling north along the east coast (Hello Cherating! Hello, Perhentian Islands!) before turning south and exploring the Taman Negara National Park, a great sea of rainforest that I saw from a plane last week. The Internet tells me that you can also find Asian small-clawed otters in Peninsular Malaysia, so I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled at all times, just in case…

A lake in Myeik. © Jo James

Written at home in Cheung Chau