We arrived in HCMC (or Saigon as it's also known) at 7am and the city seemed to be in full swing already! Heading for a cash machine we were amazed to see that there were even more motorbikes than in Hanoi.. we didn't think that was possible! Touch wood the one & only time this will happen while we're away but the machine decided to swallow Billy's card, which we were not impressed with, and it's certainly not what we needed at that time of day either.. but we held our heads high, put on a smile and treated ourselves to a Starbucks.. yes they have one here!! Although the waitress thought she could spell my name without help so I shall now be known as Ms. Neko! Haha. It did the trick (as always) and we headed to our hostel, which was literally round the corner. Score!! Our room was on the 4th floor, which seems to be a recurring theme and we think people may be trying to tell us something... either that or we just look very unfit!! Ha.

We decided to find out more about the war and the country's history so we took a wander to the War Remnants Museum. As we entered the grounds there were bomber planes and tankers dotted around, and the size of them was astounding. To think that they were capable of causing so much damage was beyond me. Despite their impressive size, they had been a part of something so ugly and so violent, and I decided right there and then that I wasn't going to like the majority of what was inside either. The museum itself was split into sections, and the first was just a room full up with photographs that journalists had taken of the war.... they were so graphic & violent that there was only so many I could look at before having to walk away. Then we witnessed some of the ammunition that was used... rifles, missiles, guns, bullets, AK-47's. They were all menacing.

Information and facts were dotted all around the building; 3 million Vietnamese were killed, 2 million were injured, 300,000 missed. In North Vietnam alone 200,000 were injured or killed, and 70,000 were orphaned. The section which hit home was all to do with children and disability. During the war the most toxic and dangerous chemical known to mankind was sprayed over Vietnam... Agent Orange dioxin. 85kg of this deadly chemical can kill a whole city population of 8 million in just one hit. 72 million toxic chemicals were sprayed across the country, and 44 million of that was Agent Orange alone. This has left millions with illnesses, cancers, deformities and defects at birth. The chemical can be contracted through breast milk too, meaning that many victims of this evil toxin are only young, having to grow up and contend with this for the rest of their lives. There were photographs all over the room of victims of Agent Orange, and next to it was their story. It was so heartbreaking to see and read, but at the same time I admired each and every one of them because of their strength to not let it beat them, and what they were still setting out to achieve despite this. I find it sad that I didn't know anything about the Vietnamese War before coming away, and truly believe that it is something that should be taught at school. We left the museum feeling well informed & excited for the Cu Chi tunnels the following day.

The coach picked us up bright and early and we were soon introduced to our tour guide for the day, Hung. He was a cheeky chappy who kept the whole coach laughing for the entire journey. Believe it or not we actually forgot to bring ANY money with us (DOH) but luckily Hung lent us some for the day, which we thought was extremely kind and trusting. The tunnels themselves originally stretched from the South Vietnamese border to the Cambodian border (250km of that covering the Cu Chi district alone). However, most cannot be accessed now as they have since collapsed. The network provided living areas, kitchens and even a hospital, and was a secret escape from what was going on above. As Vietnamese people are smaller in frame than us Westerners, a special tunnel has been made big enough so that we are able to get a glimpse as to what it must have been like living down there. We could only walk about 200m of it but had to bend our backs and crouch for the duration, which is pretty claustrophobic and I was crawling after Billy as fast as I could so we could get out!!

Back to Saigon and it was time to pay a visit to the barber once again. Now I forgot to mention this last time... but when we were back in Hoi An, Billy had his hair cut. It's quite daring to do this in Asia as 1. they don't speak very good English 2. this means they probably don't understand what it is you actually want and 3. they don't just cut head hair. Probably one of the funniest moments of my life was when the barber finished cutting Billy's hair, popped on a miner's headlight and began to clean and shave the inside of his ears!! Hahaha. Basically the same happened here in Saigon but this time the gentleman also surprised us both by cricking Billy's neck both ways too, without consent, making THE loudest crack I've ever heard. This left us rather amused. Only in Asia!! On that good note it was time to pack up our things once again, get some much needed sleep, and say goodbye to our 4 weeks spent in Vietnam, as we were crossing over into Cambodia the following morning.