My Tho town, a medium-sized Mekong Delta provincial capital, has a bit of an abandoned feel to it, except during the morning when busloads of tourists from Saigon descend to do a boat trip to the nearby islands. Aside from the morning, you can often have the riverbank entirely to yourself. If you want to get onto the river, however, you'll have to pay a lot for it. There is as yet no charge to sit by the riverbank and enjoy the view, so you can at least plan for doing that.

Aside from doing an overpriced boat-trip, one reason to visit My Tho is to catch a cargo boat west to Chau Doc. This 17-hour trip is a priceless way to see river life, as long as you do not mind roughing it a little. The boats do not leave every day, but you can ask either at the cargo pier (western edge of town), or keep an eye out for Mr Nip (he'll most likely find you), a cyclo driver who speaks excellent English and is a fountain of knowledge about My Tho.