Another night of non-sleep last night, not just due to the jet-lag and having to get up at 5am for the trip to the floating markets, but also because the air-con unit started dripping water on to my bed in the middle of the night. I had to rearrange the furniture to drag the bed away from the wall. The receptionist tells me it's fixed now, but I think all they've done is to drain all the water out of it, because it only seems to work as a fan now. Our guide was ...

I think we're suffering from delayed jet-lag now. Neither of us managed more than a few hours sleep last night. We had to get out to the travel office at the end of the alley for 7.20 this morning. A car picked us up and took us somewhere else in Saigon, God knows where, and we were transferred into a small shuttle bus. We carried on, just the two of us, thinking we were the only passengers, but no - silly - the driver did several more stops in decrepit anonymous...

Nice sleep in this morning. Boy, did I need it! I had an iced coffee for breakfast this time - it's what the locals drink & it's like a shot of amphetamine. The hot coffee is revolting because they use sickly sweet treacly condensed milk in it, but I've discovered the proper way to drink it here now. A glass filled up with crushed ice and a tar-like substance poured over it. As the ice melts it slowly turns into an invigorating ice cold sweet & bitter cof...

I'm getting to like Saigon, as we get used to it. The biggest challenge is crossing the road. There are thousands upon thousands of scooters buzzing along every street, every alleyway, and pedestrians appear to have no rights whatsoever. The trick is to step out into the road confidently when the flow eases off slightly, and keep going at a steady pace in a straight line. So long as you don't do anything unpredictable, the cars and bikes will steer around you. Yo...

Well, we're here now. I'm utterly exhausted. A couple of hours of broken sleep on the plane between London & Hong Kong is all I've had since early yesterday morning. It'll be about 4.30pm back home now... The flights all went without a hitch though. We went with Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong airline. Their staff are all wonderfully polite & helpful. Hong Kong airport is spotless. They've got an underground train that takes you between terminals. We took ...