I arrived into Ho Chi Minh Airport (after a brief stop in KL) on the morning of Monday the 23rd of January. I was pretty tired, very excited and truth be told a bit nervous - it had been a long time since I'd been in a country where I didn't speak the language and Vietnam is pretty infamous for people hassling you and trying to separate you from your money by both legitimate and not so legitimate ways! I hopped into a taxi to the city centre and made my way to my hostel. It was the first day of Tet (Vietnamese new year) - so most of the businesses in the city were closed except for those in the backpacker district. I didn't do very much on my first day other than wander around (and not too far). I booked a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels the following day and then went for dinner and drinks with some people from my hostel who were nice enough to invite me along! I definitely had more drinks than I had planned - but there were beers for 30p….30p!!! So I didn't make it home until 1am (which was like 8am in NZ).

The following day was the tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels - these are tunnels the Viet Cong used in their resistance against the Americans in the Vietnam War (or American was as it is known in Vietnam). Our first stop was a dvd where they explained where the how they were build, their structure and how they were used. They also described some of the Viet Cong and how they had been given awards as "best American killer" which seemed like very strange terminology at first but I guess it was exactly what their award was for! We then walked around the grounds, we came to a small hole which was a look-out point from the tunnels - the guide selected me to display that you could get into the hole! I looked doubtfully at the hole for a couple of minutes the guide assured me I'd fit - and I did to my surprise! We then saw some of the ingenious/deadly traps they had used. Then we went to the shooting range where I fired 5 rounds from an AK47! I was surprised by the kick back from the gun but even more by the noise - it was very loud down in the shooting gallery - even with the ear coverings! After that we saw some more of the traps and weapons that were used in the area and finally we actually got into some tunnels. I travelled 100m in the tunnel which was even more difficult than I expected, it was hot and cramped and my thighs were on fire from crouching! I really don't know how they spent extended amounts of time down there!

After returning to the city I chilled for a while and then went for dinner and drinks with people from the hostel again!

The following day was my day to wander around the city and take in some of the sights! I liked Ho Chi Minh a lot. It could be because it was Tet but it actually had a fairly laid back atmosphere. I didn't get hassled very much and enjoyed walking around. It is certainly a city of contrast with large palatial estates surrounded on one side by a crumbling building and on the other by a large glass modern building! I visited the war remnants museum which was harrowing, actually harrowing is an understatement, it was horrific. I must confess to not knowing an awful lot about the Vietnam war, and my visit to the museum didn't clear up a lot but it certainly showed the devastation that was caused and the deleterious effect it had on Vietnam!

After that cheery afternoon and decided to have a nice dinner and went to an Indian restaurant. I really splashed out and spent £4 - and it was worth it - the food was great! The next day was my last in Ho Chi Minh and I decided to take a 1 day tour into the Mekong delta. We travelled by bus to the delta and then by boat, there was no floating market (it's still Tet holidays) so we visited some of the islands in the delta. At our first stop we tried some tropical fruits, which were nice - although the pineapple dipped in chilli/salt wasn't for me. We were treated to some "local" music which was nice I guess although they finished up singing "if you're happy and you know it" which was too cheesy for my liking - it reminded me of my trip on Lake Titicaca. From here we continued for a small trip on a row boat along one of the small canals. While this was extremely crowded and very tourist I did actually enjoy it, I likes the scenery and it was nice to see a traditional means of transport (weather they use it nor for anything other than transporting tourists I don't know). We returned to our big boat and we continued to another island, on here we had lunch and went for short bike ride - which I also really enjoyed as we got to see some of the countryside. On the way back we stopped at a coconut candy factory where we tried the candy and I also tried some snake wine - which was potent but not entirely unpleasant! We then headed back to Ho Chi Minh! I had an enjoyable day - it was at times way too cheesy and occasionally the people were a tad too pushy but overall I had a good day!

That night I was getting night bus to Dalat so after dinner of Pho (traditional Vietnamese noodle soup) for £1.60 I chilled in the hostel until it was time to get my bus which began with……. The person opposite me vomiting a lot!