The band in the lobby is playing a cheerful rendition of “Save All Your Kisses for Me” as I check in to my hotel. This would not be quite so odd except that I’m in Saigon – or, as it is officially known, Ho Chi Minh City – and “the band” consists of two wobbling violins and a pianist. This unlikely welcome is my first encounter with Vietnam’s commercial capital after 15 years. It makes me smile. These little eccentricities are what I love most about this place.

I also smiled when, on entering the country at Tan Son Nhat airport, I was told to put my bags through an X-ray machine. In spite of the advent of a spanking new international terminal – complete with wireless internet and a chic Japanese restaurant – I recalled that the same equipment was used in the 1990s, when I was working in Hanoi, and had a habit of erasing computer hard-discs and destroying camera film.