Hire a tour operator in Vietnam or Do It Yourself?
I can do all of my research on-line in the late evening hours while I am at home, put together my itinerary according to my schedule and wants and desires and then have everything arranged and booked and in place before I ever step foot in Vietnam. Absolutely the only advantage of booking things on your own when you arrive is that you are 100% flexible - you don't save money booking on arrival, and as you go. As far as the flexibility - doing a private personalized tour I am still almost 100% in control and change my plans as I wish. The only 'hard' dealines I may experience while traveling is that a plane or train leaves at a certain time and if I want to use that service I have to follow their schedule.
Also realize that Vietnam is constantly changing. I ran into a couple in a small town in the Mekong Delta in early October. They were doing it 'on their own' out of a guide book. They had walked around for almost an hour trying to find a nursery (the plants and flowers type), and were having absolutely no luck. They stopped me and within two minutes I had asked the locals sitting on the street where the nursery was, and they informed me it was 500 meters down the road, but was closed as the owner had died 4 years previous and his children didn't want to run the business anymore. The lesson here isn't that you should know the language, but for $10 USD these guys could have had a guide that would have saved them that hour.
I would rather not say that between booking on your own, as you go, or pre-booking through a tour operator; that one is better than the other - they are just different ways to travel. I have done both and enjoyed all my travels, but now choose to use a tour operator as I have found that, for me, they offer many significant advantages.
Have a great trip - no matter how you do it!
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