We were out of the door and breakfasted by 8am on a trip to see the famous Cu Chi tunnels. For anyone who's not sure what I'm on about, these are the underground tunnels in the Saigon vicinity used by the Viet Cong to launch attacks on the US troops during the Vietnamese war. They lived, cooked, travelled and planned attacks all underground - and even tunnelled their way into American bases!

The trip began with a long bus journey. Thankfully air conditioned - and I passed my time by starting on a book called 'The Art of Happiness' - a great read for anyone interested. It's a book written by a western psychiatrist reflecting on his interviews with the Dalai Lama. It's not a religious book, although does refer understandably to some Buddhist principles, but manages to relate the general principles to everyday western scenarios.

By 11am we had arrived at Cu Chi, along with throngs of other tourists. The day involved a lot of waiting round and craning your neck to see anything over the sea of people! Even more annoying since Scott kept reminding me it wasn't like this last time I came here. Despite the crowds I managed to get an idea of the way the tunnels were used. The Viet Cong used 3 levels - level 1 3m deep which housed living quarters, food stores, kitchens and weapon stores. They cleverly designed chimneys to take the smoke from cooking fires to distant areas so as not to give away their locations. Level 2 was 6m and used for movement from one room to another. Level 3 was 10m and smaller (at times only 50cm wide) and used to travel greater distances. The tunnels were built in a zig zag fashion to avoid the possibility of shooting down the tunnel which meant distances were even further underground. At points they had very small openings which allowed them to poke their heads up and check what direction they were travelling in. You can only begin to imagine how claustrophobic it must have been down there with the heat and humidity and no lights other than oil lamps. We got the opportunity to crawl through a short section of tunnel although I have to say I was expecting worse. I'm pretty sure the bit for the tourists had been enlarged somewhat and also they had electric lighting down there. Perhaps more graphic were the reconstructed boobee traps used by the Vietcong to injure the US troops. Most involved sharp metal spikes placed underground with a trap door above to disguise them so that when a man ran over the top he would fall underground and be impaled either by leg or torso. I couldn't help but feel the touristy ethos of the place was slightly insensitive to the plight of many who'd lost their lives there - especially once we reached the gun shooting place where bullets were sold by the 10's for tourists to have a play! It meant that whilst walking through the jungle to look at the tunnels and traps we heard constant gunfire in the background.

Scott and I opted to pay a bit more to return to Saigon via boat along the river, a faster option. It was a relaxing journey but the scenery was fairly samey hence we both fell asleep! Back at our hotel we got ready for our night out to see in 2012. Make up and dress on (for me at least!) we headed out into the throng of people and traffic. We thought we had seen madness before, but that was nothing compared to the streets this evening. We sat at the 'Go Go Bar ' on a street corner and I enjoyed a Daquiri cocktail in the humidity of the evening. Only a foot from me the mass of pedestrians, motorbikes and occasional cars trying to get from A to B all came together in a traffic standstill. Motorbikes carried small children propped precariously in front of their mothers with masks across their faces from the fumes; bikes carried huge bunches of helium balloons and street vendors approached us offering day - glow bracelets for sale. After a second cocktail I realised I needed to eat some dinner if I didn't want to end up too drunk, so we slowly made our way through the traffic jam to a small restaurant. After dinner we passed into the park where a 'World Cuisine Festival' for the NY was in full swing. There were few westerners here - mostly locals gathered round a stage listening to live music. Fairy lights glistened from the trees and there were smells and sounds of open air restaurants, and the clashing of pots and pans with steam rising through the surrounding trees. Huge puppets stood 15 foot tall and the facade of a pagoda had been constructed and decorated with bright colours and lights. We found another bar back on the street and took a seat watching the revellers dancing. Scantily clad western girls in their early 20's pranced around the bar. Scott, bless him, tried to avert his eyes but at the same time sneaked a peak every now and then! I reflected on how much my life had changed in the last 10-15 yrs, when it might have been me up there drunk and strutting my stuff! I looked across the table at my husband, happy and contented to have left my 20's behind for the next exciting chapter of my life as we welcomed the turn of New Year. Happy 2012 Everyone!