Ho Chi Minh and Cu Chi Tunnels, Vietnam

Although Ho Chi Minh is the biggest city in Vietnam, it did not feel so, and we liked the center as much as it's northern counterpart Hanoi. The French influence was much stronger though, and it had beautiful tree-lined avenues and lovely buildings, like the opulent main post office.

The streets also had a charm about them, and amidst the colonial architecture and more modern shops there were many things to catch the eye.

From the city, we decided to arrange a day trip out to the Cu Chi Tunnels, an area 3 hours outside of Saigon that is famous for having an intricate series of underground passageways, which proved extremely difficult for the Americans to capture. We joined a tour and watched the North Vietnamese propaganda film about ''American-killer heroes" before seeing the tunnels and their entranceways ourselves.

Dani and I went into the 'big tunnel', which has been enlarged for tourists, there being two levels of tunnels below it that are suitable only for crawling and slithering. It was small enough for us and we decided to take the first exit after just 20 metres. It was incredible to imagine that people spent many hours in them, while bombs dropped overhead or attempts were made to flush them out with fire and gas.

The booby traps the Vietnamese made in their defense were also quite amazing. Adapted from pre-war hunting traps they were designed to trap a person so that a number of enemies could be ambushed and killed with the minimal number of bullets being used. This revolving trapdoor with sharpened bamboo stakes looked particularly painful.