3 Best Sights in Mekong Delta, Vietnam

For a grandiose building, the museum is thin on actual artifacts and displays, but worth the quick browse. It has a replica of the French guillotine used by the American-backed South Vietnamese government 1954--60 to execute opposition at the historic prison (next door to the museum), a grisly reminder of Can Tho's history under Ngo Dinh Diem's regime (the original is in the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City).

In a stucco French colonial-Khmer temple style building originally built in 1938 as a school to teach French, Khmer, and Vietnamese, the museum's small collection of cultural artifacts includes Khmer statues, clothing, antique pots, instruments, and two long, colorful racing boats.

Outside of the building is what's most interesting because the waterfront museum has a surprisingly large collection of weapons from the Vietnam War, including a UH-1A helicopter, F5 jet, artillery, and two tanks; a translation app is useful as the information signs are mainly in Vietnamese.