Phnom Penh - Saigon
My Tho
About two hours travel (or 76 kilometers) from Ho Chi Minh City, on the banks of a northern arm of the Mekong, is My Tho, which translates as "fragrant herb" where tourists come to discover the beauty of the delta. It's a quiet, prosperous city of about 100,000 inhabitants, famous for its many fruit orchards, gardens and the huge rice fields that surround it. The climate is warm and pleasant year round.
The surrounding countryside is home to one of the most luxuriant gardens of Vietnam, with its coconut palms, banana and mango trees. It is a nice place to stop and take a small boat trip on the Mekong to visit some of the nearby islands.
Vinh Long - Cai Be
Vinh Long, which translates as "Majestic Dragon", is right in the middle of the delta, between two arms of the Mekong. A boat can be taken along the small canals to visit the orchards leading to the Cai Be floating market. The soil of Vinh Long is enriched by silt deposits, making it ideal for growing mandarins and other citrus fruits. Life is organized around the water. Houses on stilts, hawkers in boats, hundreds of small craft crisscross in all directions.
Sa Dec
Famous for its horticulture (it has many varieties of fabulously exotic flowers) Sa Dec was known as the "Garden of Cochin Chine" during colonial times.
Chau Doc
Located to the north at the beginning of Mekong's famous delta, Chau Doc is close to the Cambodian border. Surrounded by an immense mosaic of rice paddies, this city straddles both banks of the Mekong which fans out to the dimensions of a river mouth here.
Koh Dek Chau
On the fringes of civilization, the 600 people who live on Koh Dek Chau will receive your visit with some surprise. School children will escort you along your way. You will go through the village that occupies the full length of the island, walking along a trail shaded by date palms.
Saigon
Since North Vietnam took over the South in 1975, official papers, administrative documents, cards, and plane tickets refer to Ho Chi Minh City. Variously called the "Paris" or "Pearl of the Orient", the "Marseille of Vietnam" or "Balcony of the Pacific", the name Saigon remains etched in people's memories and is the name used in everyday speech.