I have been quite looking forward to visiting Ho Chi Minh City since my arrival in Vietnam, simply because it was the first big city that I would visit. The size and scale of the city became apparent to me as I was on the bus, sitting in rush hour traffic for an hour before getting anywhere near the city centre. The journey from Dalat had taken roughly eight hours, though it would have been a lot quicker had we not had stopped every hour or so (which really infuriated Nick). My first impression of the city was that it was pretty much a big version of Hanoi, but not quite as cramped. It took me about two minutes to realise that I would have to cross the road in the same manner as I did in Hanoi (shut my eyes, walk into the road and pray that I make it to the other side!).

As soon as we alighted from the bus Nick and I walked into a café in order to get our bearings. Nick's friend Greg had given him the name of a guest house where he was staying, and once we had established where we were, we went off in search of our accommodation. On our way there we ran into Greg and his friend Arthur, who were drinking at a bar. The place they were drinking at can't really be defined as a 'bar' as we could only drink beer and we sat outside on plastic stools that barely reached 30 centimetres above the ground (which is probably indicative how cheap it actually was there!). We had a quick drink before checking into the hotel. The place where we stayed did a free breakfast and dinner, which was good after having an eight hour bus trip. Before heading to any bars we wandered down the main backpacker area of HCMC on the lookout for some tours of the area. After a while we purchased tours around the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong River for a combined total of $10, which was very good.

The next morning I was awake just as everyone was finishing breakfast and about to leave for the travel agents (they even had to phone to make sure that I was up!). Our first tour was the Cu Chi Tunnels; and the Mekong River tour was the day after. Our guide for the day was Hai (I'm guessing that's the spelling of his name. It's pronounced 'Hi'.), who wasn't the best tour guide in the world. However he had a pretty dry sense of humour which did compensate a little, and he did provide a couple of crazy anecdotes which served the purpose of the entertainment for the journey. He even informed us that at the Tunnels we would have the opportunity to 'shoot pistols, rifles and machine guns, but no hand grenades!'

En route to the Tunnels the tour went via a craft shop where everything had been had made by people who were disabled. Some of the paintings that they made were interesting; however the tat sold in the souvenir shop was not! It was exactly the same stuff that was for sale everywhere else in Vietnam except for a few vases, which where really tacky. The vases themselves were quite nice, however in the top of each vase had been placed an ornate football which had been inscribed with the name of a footballer (why anyone would want one does beggar belief!) After half an hour at this craft shop came the cry of 'My group! My group!'(this turned out to be Hai's trademark cry. Although what didn't help was the fact that there were about ten groups at any given time so simply shouting 'My group' didn't help. Although by some miracle nobody was actually lost throughout the day.)

The Cu Chi Tunnels are located about an hour to the north of HCMC and were utilised by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. The first stop on our tour of the Tunnels was a tiny hole in the ground which showed how the Vietnamese guerrillas entered and exited the Tunnels. People were allowed to get in and have a look at what the conditions would have been like, however, after about three or four people from the group had a look Hai felt it was time to move on (which a lot of people weren't too happy about). In fact this was what happened for the first half of the tour and it seemed to me as though we didn't have enough time to have a look at anything. There were some things that I found really fascinating, particularly the variety of guerrilla war techniques that were used by the Viet Cong (which did look a bit painful!).

Half way through the tour we were able to take a break, or fire some shells at the shooting range. There was actually quite a large selection to choose of weaponry to choose from, however I decided against it as I felt I would have the opportunity to do so in Cambodia. The next part of the tour saw us have the opportunity to venture down into the tunnels themselves. Hai informed us that the Tunnels had been enlarged to accommodate tourists, but even in spite of that when we got down there they were still tiny. It was amazing to experience the conditions that the Viet Cong guerrillas had to endure. Unfortunately being tall didn't make it easy to navigate. Also what didn't help was that we stuck behind a couple of Americans who were literally stopping every five metres to take photos of themselves.

During the evening we hit the town, ending up at the same bar we had been the previous night. Unfortunately the drinks in HCMC are a bit more expensive than the rest of Vietnam. However, what I found a little odd was the fact that the bar had it's own rooftop bar where the drinks were considerably cheaper than the drinks than on the ground floor. This obviously resulted us in having to climb the five flights of stairs to buy drinks and then sneak them back downstairs without the bouncers catching us. In spite of the early start the next morning we were out until the early hours and finished the evening with the old Vietnamese classic dish - a kebab!

The following day the four of us were joined by Arthur's friend, Lucy, in the Mekong River tour. When the coach arrived at our destination, we were escorted to some boats that would take us on our tour of the Mekong delta. What immediately struck me about the river was its size. The fact that tour was only going round a couple of the islands within the delta does emphasise its size. The first stop on our tour was to see how honey was produced. Unsurprisingly it seemed to quite similar to honey is produced back home! Though we were able to try a few local delicacies such as banana slices fried with sugar, all of which were quite nice and to wash it down we had the option of tasting some snake wine! Each of us willing to try it were given a shot which was necked after the count of three. To be honest it did not taste nice.

From here we were then transported to a different island where we were shown the production of coconut flavoured sweets. It wasn't very interesting, and unsurprisingly most people's attention had been grabbed by a python, which you were allowed to hold . Our guide then took us to a different part of the island to some canoes, where small groups of us were escorted back to the boat and then to lunch. I found the ride to spoiled by the amount of pollution there (which I guess is the same as anywhere else in Vietnam).

Lunch was pretty basic (but it did come free with the tour so I can't complain), and after we had 45 minutes to explore the island. The bike ride was quite disappointing as there was literally nothing to see. We cycled for about 15 minutes along a road and the only thing we passed was a shop! After that we gave up and headed back to the restaurant.

The final stop on our tour was a traditional Mekong music show, which was billed by our guide as 'Mekong River's Got Talent'! The music wasn't great at all, and what made it even worse was the fact that it seemed to go on for an eternity!

I spent my final day in Vietnam I didn't do too much. Greg and Arthur had given bad reviews about the Reunification Palace so I decided to give that a miss. Instead I did a bit of shopping and visited the Notre Dame Cathedral which is a stunning building. I think I am a bit sad to leave Vietnam as I have been to some wonderful places (Hoi An easily being my favourite) and met some great people. However I am eagerly anticipating Cambodia as it is the place I had been looking forward to visit the most while I had been planning my trip.