Saigon River

As a main water supply, the Saigon River is critically important to the residents of Ho Chi Minh City. Spend a few days in Ho Chi Minh, and you’ll discover it’s a young, modern city on the move. In contrast, cruising along the Saigon River gives you a glimpse of a more rural Vietnam, where life moves at a slower pace, much like it did decades ago.

The best way to experience the river is by plying its waters in a traditional Vietnamese junk boat. Many such tours offer a meal -- usually lunch or dinner -- along the way. While it’s possible to see the river for the river’s sake, you can also use the river to get to the popular Cu Chi Tunnels used by the Viet Cong to infiltrate the area surrounding Ho Chi Minh City during the Vietnam War.

While the portion of the river seen by most tourists is in southern Vietnam, it actually starts in southeastern Cambodia and flows south over a 140-mile (225-kilometer) distance.