What a welcome back to southeast Asia! Our first stop: Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), a.k.a. Saigon, a.k.a. Paris of the Orient, a.k.a. Pearl of the Far East. Stepping out of the airport we were instantly reminded of that humidity for which this region is famous. Even at 9pm it felt like stepping into a sauna. We were whisked into this mesmerising city of perpetual motion: fleets of scooters cruise along every road and footpath, fluidly and seamlessly merging and flowing from one direction to the next. This mode of transport is vital, considering around 13 million people (half of Australia's entire population) live in an area not much bigger than Brisbane. Imagine the traffic if everyone drove cars? A large expat population and significant foreign investment has also caused property to skyrocket in the central District 1 (over US$1 000 000), and as a result the city has a distinct feel of old and new. The effect is a mish-mash of conflicting imagery like what I imagine Japan to be like. Sleek highrises stand alongside delapidated French colonial architecture, and beat-up rickshaws trundle along beside sleek new Mercedes'. We both wholeheartedly agreed that it's so nice to be back in Asia.

Our first week or so in Saigon consisted of what you might expect: massages, bartering for fake sportswear and constant excitement at the variety of food options available to us. Aside from a few rejuvenating nights at a homestay in the Mekong Delta, we mostly hung around getting to know the place. This slower approach also allowed us to get to know some locals (collectively called Saigonese), who I think might just be the friendliest population we've met so far. From the toothless Bahn Mi lady to the polite young waitress at our favourite noodle bar; smiles always came in abundance.

One particularly friendly interaction saw us eventually mobbed by young Vietnamese students in a park. Sitting watching some locals play hacky-sack with a bamboo ball, we were approached by a guy in his late teens (maybe early twenties) who nervously asked if we spoke English. He explained that he was in the process of learning and asked if we would perhaps chat with him and his friends a little while so they could practice. Eager to pick their brains on possible destinations to add / remove from our Vietnam itinerary, we launched into the conversation. Eventually another couple arrived and joined in, then another, and three more... and more... You get the picture.

We were eventually surrounded on all sides by friendly, chatty Saigonese. Sjane was busy taking notes and finding obscure destinations on Google Maps, while I was emphatically telling one cheeky guy that no - I would not be eating deep fried cockroaches or fresh leeches while I was here (he said he wasn't silly enough to eat them, but expected me to regardless). I remember another of the guys gesturing at the growing crowd and asking me, "So, how do you feel now? About this situation and all these people here?" I laughed. For the first time in a long time, I felt completely at ease. Despite what some people might perceive as a threatening situation unfolding, I knew that there was no alterior motive. The smiles were genuine, the laughs flowed freely, and although they struggled with our "bad Aussie accents" sometimes; the communication was clear. In a country growing wildly and accelerating into the international spotlight, speaking English was a valuable asset. And since the local schools weren't capable yet of offering English classes comprehensively, a few hours of our time seemed the least we could give to repay the warm welcome and big smiles those aspirant youth greeted us with.

As always we have some people back home to thank for our adventures. Thank you Matty and Emma for the massages. I know they were supposed to happen in Thailand, but I promise we'll get some there too! Thank you Blake for financing our Vietnamese cooking class - I daresay you'll benefit from our skills learnt there at some point. Thank you also to Matt and April for the behest for snails in France. We still didn't do it properly, but we had frogs legs near the Paris of the Orient. Close enough is good enough, right?