Overnight train from Danang to Nha Trang and two nights stopover in a beach resort to break the journey to HCM City (Saigon) - Good idea but it relentlessly poured rain and we sat in a bar/restaurant watching the street water level rise to about knee high - boats and fishing rods started to appear and all hopes of the beach dissolved (although it did look amazing). That concludes the weather ….now for the news.

Another train ride (8 hours this time) and we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City - Went out into the city for a meal and on to a jazz club for a few drinks and had a pretty good night.

As penance, we spent some serious time in the War Remnants Museum the next day and it was fascinating …. But quite sombre and chilling - It's a one sided account of the war, but not from the angle we are normally fed and it leaves one disturbed. We spent the evening at the water puppet show to lighten our mood but overshot the mark, it being a bit too "Punch and Judy" for our taste.

Staying with the war theme, we spent the following day at the Cu Chi tunnels, about 50 kms to the south of HCMC. A network of more than 300kms of tunnels that were used by the Viet Cong in their war against the Americans. They form a complicated labyrinth that have concealed exits about 15 ins by 10ins allowing them to pop-up and snipe from hundreds of random jungle locations. The internal dimensions of the tunnels were such that even if discovered, a western soldier would not fit into the tunnel …. If he did, there were all kinds of nasty booby traps waiting for him.

Part of the tunnels have been enlarged to give westerners a flavour and we went through this section but even with only 10 of us it was a very hot and claustrophobic experience - Dan and one other member of our group decided to carry on for the longer narrower section. We were just about to put ferrets in to find them when they emerged drenched in sweat, red in the face and ready for a drink.

Back in HCMC we went to a rooftop bar for a relaxing drink - It was called Saigon Saigon and apparently back in the day, it was the drinking hole of the news correspondents.

Dan and Heather Twomey , signing off for News at Ten - Saigon.