Despite this, Thunderbirds are Go! for the planned departure of Bob and Carolyne to Ha Noi tomorrow morning via Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) for a couple of days. We plan to get an apartment in Ha Noi for three months as soon as we arrive, and while I am a little nervous of how easy this will be for such a period, especially at a reasonable rental, in a non-ex pat building and in a central area of the old city, I'm sure that it will all work out in the end! (Or so Bob assures me).

Once settled in Ha Noi, I plan to get well ~ the delicious northern hemisphere heat and humidity will almost certainly help, as will a diet of spicy Pho and Vietnamese street food. It will be a bit stressful until we are on the plane from Sydney, as we had been counting on using our Qantas Club weight limit of 30kgs each. However, having made the silly mistake of booking through to HCMC on JetStar we are limited to 40kgs between us. This wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the dual weighty items we are taking including Bob's Mountain Bike and accessories (around 21kgs boxed), and nearly four months supply of my medical requirements - whilst individually not especially heavy, the sheer volume is mind bogling, and certainly adds up to a fair weight.

Add in a few long trip essentials such as a shortwave radio, binoculars, DSLR and lenses, laptop computers and headsets for Skype (you've gotta love Skype), we are flying close to the wire and our hand luggage will be very weighed down.

So ~ Please check back from around Thursday (I'm not sure about internet access in HCMC and am still sleeping around 16 hours a day, and feeling pretty poorly) for the South East Asia Travel Blog (part ii). It should be rather interesting, and we plan to make trips into Southern China (maybe Tibet?), Cambodia and hopefully Burma while we are there, as well as exploring more fully the Northern Vietnamese regions.

Most of all, I want to be part of the Ha Noi streetscape, find excellent places for Coffee, and be a regular part of the milling throngs in their pyjamas, plimsoles and walking frames around Hoam Kiem Lake in the cool of the morning as the City to Surf size crowd walk, jog, do Tai Chi, Aerobics, play Badminton, lift weights and enjoy being active to whatever level of their capacity.

Bon Voyage!