Arrived in Vietnam Saturday evening and the bus left us off in the backpacking area where the cheap accommodation was. There was 4 others on the bus that we met that had nothing booked - so armed with the Lonely Planet - I lead a group of 8 through the streets to find a good deal, strength in numbers. Tadgh was a Dub travelling on he's own, and he's friend Lucy was an English girl from Devon who is living in Wales. Then there's Frenchie - Marie a lawyer from Brittany and Alexia, a German girl who has been living in Dublin for the last 6 years, and had a perfect Irish accent when she spoke English - she was practically Irish. A local woman on the street helped us get a hotel and I was suspicious but she claimed she wasn't working for anyone. Found out later that she must have been a nun, as they help tourists get hotels. Once checked in, we all got food together and a drink and the once the girls went home - the lads had a night on the town to settle in. 
Saigon is the capital of south Vietnam, or more like it was when the country was divided into north and south before the war. After if fell to the north Vietnamese, they renamed it Ho Chi Minh City - so that's the official name you see on maps and stuff. However, the locals still called it Saigon, and never HCMC. Its a fairly mad place, and has more motorbikes than I've ever seen before. Crossing the street is a dangerous affair, no matter where you do it. You practically need a police escort. 
Sunday was a slow day. Went for brunch with Alexa and Marie, and just sat chatting for a few hours in a French style diner. The French influence was evident in Saigon, and I saw this too later in other parts of Vietnam. That evening, booked a trip to see the Chi Chi tunnels for the following morning, and the extended group went out to dinner again that evening, sans Ross who had a hot date with a local girl. At dinner, I mentioned that we were considering getting a motorbike tour of south Vietnam with the EzRiders, as this was recommended by the Wicklow girls we met in China. 1,2,3 of our new friends were all interested and had no definite further plans. Alexa, the 4th was also interested but didn't have the time to join us. Now I was to ask for 7 people when I contact the EZRiders. After dinner and a few cocktails the 7 of us met up with Ross in Go2Bar, a big hot spot in Saigon. Unfortunately, this place stayed open until nearly 6am - making it a challenge to get up for the Chi Chi tunnels the next day. 
As tough as it was, we got up Monday morning and got on the bus to Chi Chi - which is at least an hour outside Saigon. This place is the number 1 thing to do in and around Saigon. It was really cool to see, a network of tunnels that locals used to remain in hiding and from which they found a guerrilla war against the Americans. Met a Canadian man who remarked that what we are seeing was exactly was was going on in Iraq at the moment, where the locals are using their environment to defeat the foreign Americian army. Since the war ended around 30years ago - it begs me to think will Iraq and Afghanistan be backpacker haunts in 30 years time ? 
There is also a shooting range on the site, and getting a tour of these tunnels and weapons in the jungle with gunfire in the backdrop was really cool - the sound of the guns added to the experience.We did a walk through one of the tunnels at the end, and I lasted the full stretch of about 100m - as most people bailed out after about 20m as it was so claustrophobic. 
Saigon is the capital of south Vietnam, or more like it was when the country was divided into north and south before the war. After if fell to the north Vietnamese, they renamed it Ho Chi Minh City - so that's the official name you see on maps and stuff. However, the locals still called it Saigon, and never HCMC. Its a fairly mad place, and has more motorbikes than I've ever seen before. Crossing the street is a dangerous affair, no matter where you do it. You practically need a police escort. Sunday was a slow day. Went for brunch with Alexa and Marie, and just sat chatting for a few hours in a French style diner. The French influence was evident in Saigon, and I saw this too later in other parts of Vietnam. That evening, booked a trip to see the Chi Chi tunnels for the following morning, and the extended group went out to dinner again that evening, sans Ross who had a hot date with a local girl. At dinner, I mentioned that we were considering getting a motorbike tour of south Vietnam with the EzRiders, as this was recommended by the Wicklow girls we met in China. 1,2,3 of our new friends were all interested and had no definite further plans. Alexa, the 4th was also interested but didn't have the time to join us. Now I was to ask for 7 people when I contact the EZRiders. After dinner and a few cocktails the 7 of us met up with Ross in Go2Bar, a big hot spot in Saigon. Unfortunately, this place stayed open until nearly 6am - making it a challenge to get up for the Chi Chi tunnels the next day. As tough as it was, we got up Monday morning and got on the bus to Chi Chi - which is at least an hour outside Saigon. This place is the number 1 thing to do in and around Saigon. It was really cool to see, a network of tunnels that locals used to remain in hiding and from which they found a guerrilla war against the Americans. Met a Canadian man who remarked that what we are seeing was exactly was was going on in Iraq at the moment, where the locals are using their environment to defeat the foreign Americian army. Since the war ended around 30years ago - it begs me to think will Iraq and Afghanistan be backpacker haunts in 30 years time ? There is also a shooting range on the site, and getting a tour of these tunnels and weapons in the jungle with gunfire in the backdrop was really cool - the sound of the guns added to the experience.We did a walk through one of the tunnels at the end, and I lasted the full stretch of about 100m - as most people bailed out after about 20m as it was so claustrophobic. Got some much needed sleep on the bus back to Saigon and that evening - we planned the rest of our time in Vietnam. After taking a walk to see the market, and a look at the '"reunification palace" - we contacted Peter, from the Ez Riders, hoping to start that tour on Tuesday, but he was not an available until Wednesday, which gave us an extra day in Saigon. He advised we get an overnight bus to Dalat, a city in the hills from which the tour starts, and hence this would need to be overnight Tuesday night. After a quiet Monday night, spend most of Tuesday shopping as the markets in Saigon were pretty good, and I wanted to get the Christmas presents in the post asap. The hounding in the markets was crazy. Need to bargain for everything, and the sellers were hanging off me as I walked by, pulling and dragging that there was no need for. Got all I needed and got a box from the hotel which fitted everything I wanted to send home. Heading up to the post office was not so good however, as it was closed by 8pm even though it was suppose to be open until 9pm. At least we got to see Notre Dame cathedral - a large Catholic cathedral named after the famous one in Paris. Indeed, there is a large Catholic population in Vietnam, about 7% which is a lot for an Asian country. The box would have to be mailed from Dalat before the motorbike trip - so with that in hand, we boarding a bus at 10pm for the 7 hr trip to meet Peter. Then there was 7.....EasyRiders, here we come.
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