After contemplating various ways of travelling to and through Vietnam, we chose Intrepid Travel, an Australian company specialising in small group (12) tours, and have no regrets.  Their new Gourmet package appealed mainly because of the emphasis on food. We were also keen to minimize the amount of time spent on overland travel to have more time at each destination and this is accomplished in the Gourmet Traveller package with three air trips.  Yes - we have travelled with Vietnam Air and survived!  In fact the experience was much the same as with any small centre link air system. While we were very happy with our choice of tour company there are many others that we are sure would provide an enjoyable Vietnam experience.  However, we did miss a trip on the famous Reunification Express which would be a must train lovers.  We also missed some long tortuous bus trips which, we think should be avoided by all but the most dedicated masochistic travellers.