We came to HCMC (the official, new-ish name, but everyone still calls it Saigon) without high expectations. Everyone tends to say that it's a nasty and noisy place, not as nice as the cities of northern Vietnam, and besides, for us it was really a stop-off between one beautiful island and another. But we liked it! It was helped by the fact that Tet (Chinese New Year) was approaching so the city was lit up with spectacular lights and the locals were gearing up for...

Phu Quoc Mmm... lying on a beach... Yep, within a day of being on Phu Quoc, we had decided that the rest of our honeymoon should be less travel, more holiday (if you know what we mean) and it's lovely. First, though, we had a bit of a journey to do. We awoke in Chau Doc at 5.30am, to walk to another hotel where we were presented with a VERY disappointing breakfast, before being bundled into a 'local bus' - a cramped minivan with far more people than seats, al...

Chau Doc is very much a stopping-off point for tourists on their way down the Mekong- few would choose to come here but there's a border point just up the river so it's easy to cruise down from Cambodia, stay over an make your way into Vietnam by boat or bus. And just as well people don't plan to stay because it's a grim, noisy wee town without much going for it. We didn't know if we'd stay here or push on to Rach Gia in the day but our guide on the boat offered...