Arriving in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City we were dropped straight in the main backpacker area- consisting of more than 100 different hotels and guesthouses, shops, bars and restaurants! And not much else in the close area! My favourite bar- although more expensive than most was of course Allez Boo!!

We took a tour to the Chu Chi tunnels, an hour from the city, where communist gurilla fighters dug a tunnel network to fight against the French, and then the Americans. the tourist centre consists of a video (from a very Vietnamese viewpoint!) and the chance to see different traps set by the communists and to go into the tunnels, that they lived in. We had to bend down and crouch to get inside- very claustrophobic and we were only inside for a few minutes! We spent the afternoon in the war remnants museum- very moving images of the effects of the American warfare at the time, and today- I never realised the extent of which children as young as ten are still effected by the chemicals used during the war. I think it really says something about the people of Vietnam that we've seen no evidence of dislike, or anger towards the Americans following the war.

Our final full day in Vietnam was spent at a water park in Saigon- we felt we deserved the rest!! We caught a bus the following morning to Phnom Penh (Cambodia).