Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), or Saigon as it was until 1976, is the second largest city in Vietnam and nearly every one of the over nine million citizens seem to be on the move twenty four hours a day. Most of them seem to be on a motorcycle and all of them are driving wheel to wheel, handlebar to handlebar and where the road is a little too busy then they will make use of a pavement to gain a slight advantage. Watching the people move about, crisscrossing, cutting the corner, squeezing into every available gap, missing each other by inches - without so much as a flich, raised eyebrow or the shaking of a fist - regardless of any infraction of traffic rules is the name of the game. Crossing tbe roads, especially at rush hour, does require a 'balls of steel' approach otherwise you would be stuck, probably just being able to walk around a city block at best. The city does employ people to help tourists across the road and after a while, having watched the locals, you can make it from one side of the road to the other. It is fair to say that Heather hated it and was very, very uncomfortable with the traffic and a few bridges would have helped a great deal in calming her nerves.

HCMC was however a great city for a few days. There is not a huge amount to see, but after our time in Vientiane and Phnom Penh it did feel like we were back in a city that was much more liveable - despite the risks involved with getting from A to B! With plenty of decent eating options, well known coffee chains and good shopping opportunities too there was more of a Bangkok feel and buzz about the city. Most of this buzz however seemed to take place on our street and even though the hotel was good (and just over £35 a night for a large room including breakfast) it was fairly noisy twenty four hours a day even though we were not on the main street itself - if we are ever back in HCMC then we would not stop in the Pham Ngu Lao area.

The HCMC Museum was OK for just under an hour (provided you filled in the numerous gaps for yourself in the narrative) but our two and a half hours spent at the Independence Palace (or Reunification Palace) was probably the best 90 pence spent in the city. We had no idea what to expect, but it was a well laid out, clean, tidy and informative (almost living) museum as certain State functions are still held here. The 40 minute documentary film, along with the interpretative signs, filled in most major points of the recent history of Vietnam too. The War Remnants Museum, housed across three floors, was also fairly good and used a large amount of photographs to show the continued impact of Agent Orange on the population of Vietnam as well as many images of the war itself - the Americans were certainly painted in a fairly dim light in this museum and if only half of the facts presented were true they should really be ashamed of some of their actions. We could have done longer at the War Remenents Museum as our visit was cut short by the enforced lunchtime closure - quite why they do this I have no idea, but many attractions in Asia do seem to do something similar despite the crowds of people.

Around 40km north of HCMC are the Cu Chi tunnels that were used by the Vietnamese both in the struggles with France and also during the war against the USA. The tunnels totalled over 200km in length, with well hidden entrances and some were only around 70cm in diameter. These not only protected the soldiers but also gave an advantage in carrying out ambush attacks. Having been through just twenty metres of 'widened for tourists' tunnels I have no idea how they lived and moved about this hot and breathless environment for months at a time. The trip to Cu Chi cost us the equivalent of about £3 each return, on an organised tour bus, which also included a guide who helped explain some of the historic facts about the tunnel network - the downside of being on a tour did mean that we moved at a pace that was not really ideal for us, nor did we really get an opportunity to explore the area a little wider, but the cheaper price likely outweighed the option of a private car.

An early start saw us begin the 1,100 mile journey to the capital city, Hanoi, by train. We are stopping off at various points as we head north with our first stop at a beach resort area called Mui Ne around four hours by train from HCMC followed by a short taxi journey. After what has been around two weeks of hustle and bustle in large towns and cities a few days at the beach should hopefully make for a nice relaxing change.