The 10 hour train journey to Nha Trang was through a lot of rural countryside and we passed miles and miles of paddy fields. Those that were ripe were being harvested, again all by hand. The day after arriving in Nha Trang it poured with rain but a boat trip had already been arranged. We still went, well equipped with rain coats. It was a bit of a shame really as we'd been looking forward to doing some snorkelling. The following day was brilliant sunshine so we went out for a short walk along the beach before it was time to go to a spa and have a mud bath and swim in mineral pools arranged by our guide.

Then it was another overnight train to Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it used to be called and still seems to be the preferred name used by many. We arrived at 4.30am and later set out for a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels north of Saigon. These underground tunnels were dug over a period 20 years and were used by the Vietnamese while fighting the Americans. They are tiny narrow tunnels big enough for the small Vietnamese frame, not people our size! We were shown how they climbed down through hidden entrances and replaced the wooden cover covered in leaves back over their heads to keep their tunnels secret. We had a go climbing down and could only just fit in! They had living quarters, kitchens and weapons factories underground and used the element of surprise in their attacks on the enemy. There are 200km of tunnels in total, we crawled through a distance of 100m in a tunnel that had been widened 5 times to accommodate western tourists. It was still small though, we had to be bent double to walk through and at one point had to get down on our hands and knees to crawl through when it got too low. The claustrophobic people stayed outside! We also saw some B-52 bomb craters and the barbaric traps dug into the ground to capture enemy soldiers. Many involved sharp spikes which the unsuspecting soldier would fall onto in a hole in the ground, or get clamped in when they trod on an activating mechanism. Martin had a go at shooting a wooden rabbit with an AK47 which were used a lot in the Vietnam war.

On our return to Saigon we had a cyclo tour of the city, stopping at the War Remnants Museum, Reunification Palace and Notre Dame Cathedral. At each stop Martin's cyclo driver managed to crash into someone or something. We came to the conclusion that either his brakes weren't working or he was drunk! First he ran into the back of a girls legs and twice he hit the kerb. The second time he was approaching stationary traffic at traffic lights at an ever increasing speed, cut in front of several vehicles and hit the kerb so hard that Martin was catapulted out onto the pavement!! All he could say afterwards was 'I am good driver, I am good driver!' Saigon is very busy but perhaps not quite as chaotic as Hanoi. There are Tourist Security men in green uniforms to help people cross the busy streets although there's never one around when you need one! By this time though we had become quite good at crossing the road while dodging 20 oncoming motorbikes. The pavements were tidier, with fewer potholes and used less frequently as parking lots for motorbikes. We saw less livestock on motorbikes here, but did see a fridge, washing machine and a car windscreen at different times!

The second day in Saigon we took a trip out to the Mekong Delta and went out on a boat up the Mekong. We stopped at a place where they made coconut candy, all made, cut into small pieces and individually wrapped by hand. We got on motorised carts to a place where we tried several tropical fruits including Jack fruit and Dragon fruit, then it was on to a restaurant for lunch. Some of our group tried snakes blood wine but we just didn't fancy that. We did however try dog and snake meat! The dog meat was fatty and chewy and had a vague resemblance to pork but it didn't have a particularly pleasant flavour or smell. The snake meat was slightly less horrible but was also very chewy, especially the skin.

Our tour finished in Saigon and over the weekend we met up with some friends here - special thanks to our bike drivers Anh Thuy and Minh Cong who made it possible!