[Sunshine]

Thanks Evan, have already booked Hotel Equatorial, which is located in District 5.

[Mr_Gimlet]

Originally Posted by Sunshine

Didn't have time to read the book, but watched 'The Quite American' on DVD last night

It's a very short book!

[Jobu]

The place to book any one or two day tours is called Pham Ngu Lao - a very touristy street in Saigon. All the cafes and back packer hostels have tours readily available. I took the Sinh Cafe tours to Cu Chi Tunnels (got to crawl through the tunnels and fire from an AK47) and the Mekong Delta 1 day tour. Each day tour is generally US$10-15. There are half-day tours as well.

I also found the War Museum in the city centre somewhere very interesting (if not relatively graphic!).

Saigon is a crazy city which can be quite confronting at first but even in all the chaos and traffic is quite safe in my opinion. Some great shopping opportunities and great food. If you're not into markets, Diamond Plaza is a good department store.

If you go to the restaurants, cafes, etc where the locals hang out, the prices are ridiculously cheap (my wife and I had a full dinner with drinks at one local joint which cost us 20,000 dong = ~A$1.80...!

JOBU

[Jacques Vert]

Great city; the traffic is an experience in itself, the natives are friendly, everyone is happy, english is widely spoken but try and learn a phrase or two (always important wherever you travel).

I agree with others: Chu Chi tunnels, Museum of American War Crimes (sorry, now called the War Relics Museum), Reunification Palace, the Walking tour out of the city from the Lonely Planet, all good.

Always felt safe, the food and bear is cheap; although wine is relatively expensive (although @ $10 it is cheaper than here).

Have fun; but why stop only in Saigon; the whole country is fascinating.