Approaching Vinh Long

Approaching Vinh Long
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

The nice thing about taking a guided tour is that you don't have to think about anything at all. Everything is taken care of for you. We paid $25/person for this three-day tour of the Mekong. This included transportation costs and hotel accommodations. The only thing it didn't include was food.
If you're going to visit Vietnam (or Thailand, Cambodia, or Laos for that matter), don't book the tours from home. Book them when you get here because you will pay about a quarter of the price, and it's easy to sign on to multiday package tours once you arrive.
If you don't want to sign up for a tour, you can easily get around Vietnam on "open tour buses" which are offered by several companies on the tourist route. It's cheap and more convenient than the public bus system which would take longer in the long run. When we had gone from Saigon to Nha Trang, it only cost $8 and allowed us to get off in Mui Ne. You can take a bus all the way from Saigon to Hanoi like this.