Saigon, Vietnam: Vietcong and Victor Hugo.

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, capital of South Vietnam and former capital of Cochinchina, is a confusing place. It's a city with nine million people and four million motorbikes. And no traffic laws. It takes ten minutes to cross the road. You can get run over on the pavement. Everyone wants to sell you something or con you out of something. And yet it has a charm that will win you over in the end.

Our arrival in this craziest of Asian cities was eased by the services of a tiny old lady who helped us find a perfect hotel. Despite being at least 70 and all of 4' 6", she insisted on helping carry the bags and moved at lightning speed. Having got us settled, she scuttled off into the night before we could even tip her. A mystery.

We'd been hearing horror stories about Saigon from everyone we've met who had been here - of thieves, con artists and pickpockets. Maybe we were just lucky, but the only negative experience we had was a elderly trickster at the Mariamman Hindu Temple who gave us some incense to make an offering then tried to extract a fee of 200,000 Vietnamese dong for it (that's like charging 20 quid at home). We gave him a fair amount and beat a hasty retreat - we could move faster than he could.

There's plenty to see in Saigon, most of it connected to the Vietnam War (or the American War as it's known here). The fall of Saigon to the Communists marked the end of the war and victory for the Vietcong over American forces. The Ho Chi Minh City Museum gives a patriotic account of the city's history, while the Reunification Palace is a monument to the Communist victory. The most moving is the War Remnants Museum, which houses information on the war, the terrible and ongoing effects of Agent Orange and other biological weapons used by the Americans, recreations of the 'tiger cages' used by the South Vietnamese government to hold prisoners, weapons and unexploded ordnance and incredible displays of photographs documenting the war taken by international photographers and journalists killed in the conflict. None of this makes for easy viewing. Most internet sources and reviews seem to be critical of the museum, accusing it of bias. However, it's hard to see why they wouldn't be. Civilian suffering during the war was almost exclusively at the hands of American forces and bombs, and continues to this day as the effects of Agent Orange manifest themselves in each new generation.

We saw another side to the war at the famous Cu Chi Tunnels. Cu Chi, 70km from Saigon, was a key battlefield in the war, as the Vietcong and American-backed South Vietnam both struggled for control. Local Vietcong forces built an extensive underground tunnel network, in order to protect themselves from bombs and ground troops and to launch surprise attacks. Today, some of the tunnels have been preserved as a museum, where you can see the secret entrances, traps and tunnels used by the Vietcong. One tunnel (the one in the link) has been doubled in size to accommodate tourists, yet is still unpleasantly claustrophobic. Chris had to dive out half way along to avoid getting stuck and I only just squeezed through.

Another fascinating experience was a visit to the Holy See of the Cao Dai religion. The religion originated in Vietnam in 1926, and is truly extraordinary. It incorporates a mixture of Buddhist, Hindu and Christian beliefs and Caodaiists worship God, Jesus and Buddha. And Victor Hugo.