We made it- north to south

Officially Piers's goal was to make it from the north to the south of Vietnam, which by most classical definitions would be from Hanoi to Saigon. The ride was congested all the way- normal for approaching a large city. 24km down from the park to the main road (30min) it had already begun to rain. A bit out of Tan Phu we put on oir rain coats- and should have put on the rain pants.... Piers's amazing driving through the traffic and rain- which did stop after 90min or so... Riding in wet jeans and watching the steam come off them as they dry out as we speed along. After 3 hours we stopped for a "cold" (not ) green tea and directions. We were told another 30 km which seemed reasonable. After 45 min of seeming not to be on the autoroute- incredible congestion everywhere- we asked again, and then again. Absolutely no mile markers after we reached the A1 at Dau Giay, but we were pretty sure we were heading toward Bhin Hoa. One thing that is great in general is that there are cement mile markers along the road- remember the card game MILLE BOURNE ? That's the kind of mile (or rather kilometer) markers which list the name of the next big town and numbers of km away. Anyhow- having seen some huge (relatively speaking) skyscrapers in the distance and having crossed the river a few times, we asked again and got the impression we were close... We had planned to go to a good hotel for the night as it had been a long 2 days driving. Again no reservation but just walked in. Every place we go, NO ONE can believe we have driven on the bike so far. But when they see our black faces (you have to scrub off the grime with toilet paper) and the saddlebags and helmets- they get it. Piers's visa expired on the first, and when we asked for a room and looked at our passports (which is normal here) they had a problem with Pier's expired visa. He was parking the bike at the time so I told them we needed a room for the one night because he was leaving from the airport the next day. After finding the manager etc, they agreed to let us stay. When Piers came in and looked him straight in the eye and loudly said"I've explained how you are leaving the country tomorrow"....