Saigon highlights

War Remnants Museum - what happened in Vietnam during the war is simply atrocious. How it was allowed to happen, especially so recently, I'll never understand. Why innocent children, women and elderly people were killed in the name of this war beggars belief. Why chemicals like Agent Orange and god knows what else were used so mercilessly, killing and maiming thousands and destroying huge areas of vegetation is beyond comprehension. This museum is a pretty gruelling place to visit. But I think it's important that we understand what happened to this country during the war. It's not sensationalised in any way. The facts and the photos speak for themselves. It puts things in perspective. Suffering is all relative. A great deal of it is unnecessary.

Mani/pedi - sorry to move on with such apparent ease to the subject of beautifications after talking about war. I don't mean to be flippant. But Pam almost passed out during her pedicure. If it wasn't for the fact that I have a tendency to feel faint if I see someone else faint, I would have laughed more. Sorry Pam! The woman was cutting Pam's cuticles and Pam thought she had drawn blood but couldn't bring herself to look to see if she had. So she went into faint mode. Fortunately the beauticians rushed into action and brought her hot ginger tea and smelling salts. And on the plus side she got a free head massage out of it as they rubbed some kind of oil into her temples to bring her round. That's one mani/pedi we'll remember forever.

Fragrant, fresh, cheap food - we went to a great restaurant called Ngon. You sit outside in a beautiful courtyard full of trees. There are stalls set up round the outside and you wander round choosing what you fancy. Everything was so full of flavour - lots of fresh, zingy herbs. We avoided the false dog meat and the chicken feet but sampled the national dish of pho - a spicy noodle dish in broth. And the fresh spring rolls were just divine. It was all so cheap. Like maybe a fiver per person, including alcohol.

Honda Oms - we were either brave or stupid and went on two Honda Oms while we were in Saigon. They are motorbike taxis, om meaning embrace. They are the quickest and cheapest way to travel but you do sometimes need to shut your eyes and hope for the best at junctions. The motorbikes are a law unto themselves. You look right, you look left, you think it's safe to cross the road then one of the bloody things comes flying towards you. On the pavement. Fortunately our drivers weren't too crazy and we arrived at our destinations in one piece. It was a good experience and I know T would have loved it.

Apocalypse Now - we had a very civilised meal in a lovely French cafe called Au Parc on our last night. We enjoyed a bottle of sauvignan blanc. We'd had a nice evening. It was about 11pm. We were weary. We're getting on a bit. But on our way home we decided to pop into the local nightclub for one drink as we'd been told by various people it was worth a visit, even just to observe the eclectic mix of customers. One drink. We got home at about 4am. Again though, like the mani/pedi, we'll remember that night forever. Had we just gone home to bed after our meal it would have been more forgettable.

Hot hot hot - I can't describe how hot and humid it was. It was definitely worse than Singapore. When I took my skirt off it had white stuff round the waistband. Turned out to be salt from all the sweating I'd done. But there's nothing you can do about it. The locals are all wrapped up in their hoodies. The women wear long gloves and knee socks on their motorbikes. People are riding round on push bikes. But they never break into a sweat. All the tourists are glistening. Invariably they also have soggy backs.

Coffee - the Vietnamese coffee is some of the best I've ever tasted. Maybe it's the weasel effect. They were consistently good, and especially good iced. Yum.