My Tho, is the capital of the Tien Giang province in Southern Vietnam. It is the first city in the Mekong Delta travellers from Ho Chi Minh City will arrive and hence a popular spot for dropping tourists on one of the many Mekong boat tours.
Its proximity to Ho Chi Minh City and its position on the northern bank of the Mekong is the key to My Tho’s importance. It should come as no surprise that in the late 19th century, French colonialists, in their quest to exploit and export, built the Saigon-My Tho railway line to connect the then capital to the river highway. It was the first railway line of French Indochina, part of a dream for a network across the Mekong Delta. Though the dream and line faded (stopping altogether in 1958), roads and bridges now move the goods and the city remains an important commercial hub for the region.
