Don't leave without seeing the Mekong Delta, one of Vietnam's most interesting and scenic regions. An organized tour, even the most low-budget version, offers action-packed days with bus and boat trips to small craft villages, mangrove swamps, island orchards, and spectacular floating markets. A 1-day trip isn't quite enough to fully delve into the delta, so plan on an overnight -- best in the delta's urban centers of Can Tho or Chau Doc near Cambodia (try to stay at the Victoria in either location).

The delta is a web of Mekong River waterways covering an area of about 60,000km (37,200 miles) across three provinces. The region is densely populated with 17 million souls, most engaged in farming and fishing. Called the "rice basket" of Vietnam, the Mekong Delta accounts for more than 50% of all rice and produce in the country, and the land is tessellated with bright green rice paddies, fruit orchards, sugar-cane fields, and vegetable gardens, and its waters stay busy with boats and fish farms. Rice production and harvest still involve water buffaloes instead of tractors, as well as backbreaking hand planting of rice shoots, weeding, and hand harvesting.

Impoverished under socialist agricultural programs, the region benefited greatly from the 1980s Doi Moi reforms, and rice paddies that once yielded just one crop now produce four crops per year, an important part of Vietnamese economic self-sufficiency.

The delta was a hotbed for Viet Cong guerillas during the war with the U.S., and some tours will take you to the vestiges of old Viet Cong hideouts, complete with hideaway ambush holes and a ride among the mangrove swamp where stealth forces disappeared after raids in Saigon.

Chau Doc Attractions
The sprawling riverside market at the town center, a crossroads for goods to and from nearby Cambodia, is the real attraction. A stroll in the central market on any given morning is a feast for the eyes (and the nose), and there are some small temples to visit in the small downtown area. Even the most budget tour will take you to the floating villages in wooden sampans rowed in the unique "forward stroke" Vietnamese style (give it a try). You'll get to see a unique way of life and visit one of the many catfish farms that, collectively, are taking the world market by storm.

About 7km (4 1/4 miles) out of town to the north, and not a bad day trip by bicycle, is the Sam Mountain, a popular local pilgrimage peak. There's a colorful temple at the base of the mountain, and the path up is dotted with smaller spots for worship and shade-giving awnings where you can buy a Coke, stretch out in a hammock, and enjoy the view. It's a tough hike that might have you saying, "What in the Sam Hill?" But this is the only high spot -- some 230m (755 ft.) -- for miles and the view is like looking at a map of the Mekong's overflowing tributaries.

Easily arranged at any hotel or tour desk in Chau Doc, a visit to Tuc Dup Hill is a revisiting of some of the delta's worst history. Here, U.S. forces tried -- but failed -- to put a stop to small-time insurgencies and logistical support from Cambodia. Called the "Two Million Dollar Hill" for the kind of resources the U.S. poured into taking the hill, Tuc Dup was successfully defended by the Viet Cong throughout a 4-month U.S. assault. Near Tuc Dup, you'll see graves and memorials to later skirmishes, some very bloody, between Vietnamese and Cambodian soldiers and villagers.