If Bangkok was crazy then Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is bonkers. Crossing the road is a life or death gamble as the sea of crazy bikes bounce off one another and dash around you in a blur, and the cars slam their horns at you before darting past. Still, we have gotten used to it whilst in Vietnam and thankfully we are still alive to continue this blog. Lucky you.

Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) when Vietnam was unified in 1975 in honour of their former President whose face adorns everything from their money to people's mobile phone screens. However, locals have referred to Saigon as HCMC for around 30 years before that. It is a big place and the most Western city we have visited so far in Indochina. Huge neon lights, cleanish streets, designer shops and fantastic European style architecture, particularly the General Post Office building, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Opera House.

It is in the night time that the city really comes alive though. People lining the sidewalks sat on their bikes with their lovers, kids playing foot tennis with hacky sacks and something that resembles a shuttle cock but heavier (they are brilliant) and street vendors constantly hassle you to buy anything and everything. Later in the night more hassle comes from guys on motorcycles with girls on the back asking if you would like a special massage, it probably would be special if it was on the motorbike... I have to say I really like the place though, despite the constant hassling and the traffic, it is buzzing, and the nightlife has everything, though you have to watch the bars here and pay for each round as you go or they have a habit of adding drinks on. The backpacker bar Allez Boo has a particular reputation for this.

During our three days in HCMC me and the guys in the group took a day trip out to the Cu Chi tunnels, Julie has done this before so stayed behind with the girls. Although we paid over the odds for our private taxi to get there, the experience was both incredible and frightening at the same time. There are over 200km of tunnels in this part of Vietnam, which is near the Cambodia border. They were being used during the Vietnam war before and it was many years in before the US discovered they were even there, in fact in one area they actually built an Army camp on top of part of the network, leading to the Vietnamese below moving further North undetected. They are tiny in size and not for the faint hearted or claustrophobic like me, but I went in anyway.

The first one we entered I could barely squeeze through the opening, which was slightly larger than a cat flap. I was first in and alone, they handed me a torch, the door above was closed and I nearly fainted. It was only a 15 or 20 metre scramble through to the other end, past numerous dead end turns but all alone with no guide I was sweating in panic. I moved as fast as I could when I realized actually I wasn't alone, I counted about ten bats flying around me in the two foot high tunnel, one bounced off my head. I fought the urge to scream and curl into the fetal position and rounded the final bend and pulled myself out, gasping for air like an Olympic swimmer. Someone said "how was that", I nonchalantly replied "not too bad" in true manly style. Two others entered this section and were a bit peeved that I never mentioned the bats, I told them that I purposefully didn't as it might put them off. The other two in the group totally bottled it.

The next section was over 100 metres and was cleaner than the last and slightly bigger, again totally dark. This time the guide went in and I followed in first and soon found myself alone, again. The guide was way too small and way too fast for me to stay with him, he also had the only torch, and somehow the others had fallen way behind. Eventually I got through the network, which every 20 metres or so would come to a seemingly dead end before you saw a small hole to drop you further into the underworld and continue forward. I could hear the guide calling that his torch had run out of batteries some way ahead heightening the tension so I scraped my legs, back and elbows to move as quick as I could towards him, I was caked in dirt, sweat and fear. After an eternity I got out the other end where the guide was laughing, this was the first time I had seen him since I got in the tunnel and he was flashing his light on and off again. Seems it had strangely started to work again. Everyone's a comedian. I turned to see the rest of the group walking through the jungle path towards us, they had gotten out at the midway point hole, which we were told about, it was enough for them, though a couple claimed they only got out because they saw everyone else do it and thought it was "the way".

It was absolutely fascinating how not just soldiers but whole villages lived in these tunnels. The way they used them to fight the enemy was equally fascinating and we were shown numerous crude but effective traps that they fashioned from bamboo and metal stakes. The experience was one of my highlights of Vietnam.

On our second day we took in the sights of the city, fighting through the street vendors and traffic to visit the sites. This included a tour of Reunification Palace, which housed the US puppet government from 1954 until April 30, 1975 when tanks thundered through the gates and Saigon surrendered to the NLF (National Liberation Front). You can still see the President's living and working quarters, as well as the helipad used for escape, which still has a US chopper on the pad. There is also a solid bomb shelter in the basement. The most interesting museum we took in though was the War Remnants Museum. If you ever get to HCMC do not miss this, even for non-Museum people this is a must. It is a graphic portrayal of the Vietnam US War. When you walk through it is hugely moving and led each of us in our group to ask the question, as many people have asked before, how on earth did the US authorities never get brought to trial to trial for war crimes for using illegal toxic/chemical weapons, crimes against women and children, crimes against POWs and even genocide.

Anyway, it is time to say goodbye to Vietnam, Cambodia is calling.