The 10 day trip was full of lots of exciting activities and took us up the length of Vietnam to conclude in the city of Hanoi in north Vietnam.
The streets in Vietnam are chaos. For example the city of Saigon has a population of 6 million people, and yet there are 3 million motorcycles that frequent the roads. As a consequence, 3 people die on the roads everyday- 95% of these accidents are from motorbikes and unsurprisingly almost all of these are head related injuries (no helmets). The horn is used as a defense mechanism making the roads very noisy!
Above is Nadia in a cyclo. I am behind her. I was in hysterics when the rider had to dismount from the cyclo due to Nadia's large frame not moving on the slight uphill gradient, little did I know that my driver was also struggling and getting pushed from behind by a motorbike.
We visisted the Cu Chi tunnels while in Saigon. These are a maze of over 200km's of underground tunnels used by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War. Above Nadia pops out of one of the entrances to the tunnels.
I found great satisfaction in squeezing off a few rounds of the AK47 at the artillery range. I would have liked to have taken on the M16 but at NZ$2 a bullet we did not have enough cash as that thing really spits them out.
Nadia crawling through a small sample of the Cu Chi tunnels- a much bigger adaption than the original tunnels, for western amusement.
Nadia disappears like a camelion into the local culture/environment when wearing a conical hat (yeah right!)
We visited Ms Que who makes concial hats. The design when held to the light shows various pictures, these are called poem hats. Miss Que can make 2 a day, not bad for someone with only one arm.
Above- part of China Beach at Hoi An. It was over 30 degrees that day which made the sand impossible to stand on without shoes. We really loved this little town. We hired bicycles to move around and got some clothes made at one of the 300 tailors in the town. We had 3 suits (1 tuxedo and a business suit each, Cue shift dress(?) wool jacket and some business shirts).
It would be fair to say these are sitting 'snug' in the packs with our luggage now weighing over 40kgs. Space is now at a premium so we are doing a number of things to reduce weight.
Above- Cooking course in Hoi An with the 'Chef' at work preparing the fish, we also made spring rolls and papaya salad.
Above- the Citadel (the Imperial City) in Hue the former capital, in central Vietnam. 
Above- view from the boat trip in Hue on the Perfume River (The name "Perfume River" doesn't really do the brown water and rubbish justice).
A motorbike tour in Hue was such a great way to see the city and the countryside. Nadia first established the travel insurance implications, read over the waiver and once satisfied we set off. We stopped at a nunnery for a vegetarian lunch - despite my fears, the non-meat option turned out ok. Also on this trip we checked out the ruins of an ancient tiger arena - this is where the tiger and the elephant used to battle it out for supermacy -unfortunately for the tiger it was all rigged so the elephant won (the Kings favourite animal) by cutting off the tigers claws & pulling its teeth.
After a 12 hour overnight tain trip from Hue to Hanoi (a never to be repeated experience) we then took a 4 hour bus trip to Halong Bay. We stayed the night on a boat similar to the one above.
Above- the 'surprising' caves (a popular tourist spot) - photo definately does not do the caves justice.
A view of all the boats parked up outside the caves.
The sellers/hawkers in Vietnam are relentless, they hunt you down even when you are swimming, just in case you need some chips or biscuits whilst you tread water.
Above- trying to replicate the old Fruju ad by jumping off the roof of the boat, In case you were wondering Nadia chickened out (not covered in the travel insurance).
View at dusk from the top of the boat anchored in Halong Bay.
Our tour group - final night dinner at Cyclo Restaurant. Afterwards we headed to Fannys (yes Fanny's) for some sweet, cool... ice cream!
Above -taken on our final day in Hanoi after half an hour of seriously torrential rain. This is the same street our hotel was on so we entered the hotel from an alternative entrance.
Well that brings Vietnam to a close. We have really enjoyed our time here and learning about the absoluelty fascinating history of the place. Tonight we head to the water puppets before flying to Hong Kong. Till next time bloggers.............
Nadia with one of the guards at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. You can not wear shorts or singlets, so it made for a sweaty day.
Above- more action at the Grand Palace in Bangkok- more cheap tacky jewellery/architechture than the $2 shop, but impressive none the less.
The famous Kho San Road - this place was great and very lively. At night a real party atmosphere - the best spring rolls we have ever tasted, some great shopping & more tourists than Thais! 
