Tomb of Khai Dinh, near Hue, Vietnam

Tomb of Khai Dinh, near Hue, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Tomb of Minh Mang, near Hue, Vietnam

Tomb of Minh Mang, near Hue, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

The Nguyen emperors had the right idea - many of them built themselves huge tomb complexes before they died so that they could use them as holiday retreats.

Sales girls in training, Sapa, Vietnam

Sales girls in training, Sapa, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

The sales pitch is generally presented in perfect English (all learnt from tourists). For example: "Jonathan, you buy Tania a bracelet and she will love you more, give you many children and will never cry again".

Black H'mong girls, Sapa, Vietnam

Black H'mong girls, Sapa, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Other than the temperature and the views, the other highlight of a visit to Sapa is the many hill-tribe communities. The H'mong all wear indigo dyed linen clothing and silver jewellry, and like most other ethnic groups in the area will pester potential customers (i.e. women, Tania in particular) to buy them until they give in due to exhaustion.

Rice paddies, Sapa, Vietnam

Rice paddies, Sapa, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Up in the mountains near the border with China, Sapa not only has quite spectacular views (through the occasional gap in the fog and clouds) but it is COLD! So after freeloading in the bottom of my pack for the last 2 months, my sweater finally got an outing.

Sunrise, Halong Bay, Vietnam

Sunrise, Halong Bay, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

We spent a night on the bay in a boat like this one. Most enjoyable, though my inner ear kept the ground rocking gently for a full day afterwards.

Sunset, Halong Bay, Vietnam

Sunset, Halong Bay, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Halong Bay has several "floating villages" of fishermen who ply the waters with an amazing variety of ramshackle boats. The village that rented us our kayaks also seemed to be farming sharks, which was a little freaky given that we had to walk narrow planks over the shark pens to get to our boat.

Sunset, Halong Bay, Vietnam

Sunset, Halong Bay, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Halong Bay is a spectacular collection of limestone islands (1969 of them) near the border with China. It has in fact been host to three naval battles with China, as well as with the US during the Vietnam War - mines laid by the US Navy are still a shipping hazard.

Musicians, Water Puppet Theatre, Hanoi, Vietnam

Musicians, Water Puppet Theatre, Hanoi, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Water puppets are a peculiarly Vietnamese form of puppetry that places the puppets and their masters in a pond. The puppets are then controlled mostly by bamboo rods held under the water. The puppeteers apparently used to suffer from all sorts of horrible water-borne fungal diseases until they adopted fisherman's waders.

Motorbikes, Hanoi, Vietnam

Motorbikes, Hanoi, Vietnam
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

My enduring memory of Hanoi will not be the beautiful buildings and lakes, friendly people and buzzing atmosphere - it will be the motorbikes. They are everywhere - the road, the footpath, in shops and in people's living rooms (parking is at a premium). Crossing the road requires an act of faith - take a deep breath, say a Hail Mary then step out into the maelstrom and shuffle slowly forwards while the traffic flows around you.

Kuang Si Waterfall, Laos

Kuang Si Waterfall, Laos
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Monsoon season meant that this waterfall didn't quite have the "tranquil swimming pools" at its foot that the guide book promised - my description for the wet season would be "turbulent raging whirlpool for swimmers with a death wish".

Nam Ou River, near Nong Khiaw, Laos

Nam Ou River, near Nong Khiaw, Laos
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

This was near the end of an incredibly scenic river trip. It was also about when I lost all feeling in my bum, having forgotten to bring a cushion and the boat having broken down about four times along the way.

Nam Ou River, Laos

Nam Ou River, Laos
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

The people living along the banks of the Nam Ou work the river in a variety of fascinating ways, even planting crops along the river banks to attract fish which they then capture in ingenious bamboo traps. Their boat handling skills are of course quite exceptional -- it seems any Lao over the age of 6 can handle one of these long boats.

Speedboat, Mekong River, Laos

Speedboat, Mekong River, Laos
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

These Thai made speedboats are very fast, very loud, very uncomfortable - and very dangerous. This time of year the Mekong is full of floating debris, and the speedboats regularly flip and disintegrate after launching themselves off a semi submerged log. However, they can do the trip from Thailand to Luang Prabang in 6 or 7 hours where the slow boat takes 2 days, so they get plenty of custom despite the risk.

Windscreen stickers, Sawngthaew, Luang Prabang, Laos

Windscreen stickers, tuk tuk, Luang Prabang, Laos
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

A bit more roomy than a tuk tuk but just as ramshackle, Sawngthaew are the all purpose taxi of this part of the world. Other public transport includes a strange contraption built from what looks like half a tractor hooked onto the front of a wooden cart - a bit of a puzzle given that they don't seem to be able to travel faster than a walk, but I guess that fits with the relaxed pace of life in these parts.