Saigon - Phnom Penh (or return)
4 to 6 days cruise between Vietnam and Cambodia
Saigon
The pearl of Asia
Since North Vietnam took over the South in 1975, administrative documents, refer to Ho Chi Minh City. Its downtown is home to many restored colonial buildings including the theater, Cathedral, main post office...
Economic activity is growing fast. The population of over four millions is constantly increasing. The American embargo was lifted ten years ago and the metropolis of the South literally exploded.
People are confident in the country's future and girl students wearing ao-dai, the elegant traditional dress, sip Coca Cola, sway as they walk or speed about on Chinese-made motorcycles. Saigon has retained the "joie de vivre" that makes it so charming.
My Tho
About two hours travel (or 76 kilometers) from Ho Chi Minh City, on the banks of a northern arm of the Mekong river, 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.
The best way to get to My Tho is to travel up the Mekong river from its mouth.
Vinh Trang pagoda, the market, the Dong Tam snake farm... The Toum Tiou gives you the opportunity to explore some really unusual places.
Vinh Long - Cai Be
The "Magestic Dragon" between two arms of the Mekong
Vinh Long means "Majestic Dragon". Located in the middle of the Mekong's delta. A boat can be taken along the canals to visit Cai Be floating market.
Life in Vinh Long is organized around the water. The main attraction is the pleasant boat ride down the arroyos, a nice stopover on the way to Sa Dec.
Sa Dec
Colonial houses from "The Lover", Marguerite Duras' novel.
Kown as "Garden of Cochin Chine" during colonial times, Sa Dec is famous for its horticulture. This small city of 30,000 inhabitants is fascinating in its unspoiled authenticity and undisturbed by tourists.
It was the home of Marguerite Duras until her teens. Sa Dec provides a glimpse of the delta where a few colonial houses still remain.
Chau Doc
A fishing village on the Mekong river delta
Chau Doc is closed to the Cambodian border. This city straddles both banks of the Mekong river which fans out to the dimensions of a river mouth here.
Chau Doc's economy is based on fishing and fish rearing. The downtown area features some charmingly colonial buildings. These busy parts of town offer wonderful photo opportunities...