Here's a few general travel tips I learned that didn't make it to the other posts:
Take trains between big cities and book tickets at the station. The English language websites cost double compared with buying from the station directly. Everywhere we went had English-speaking staff (and great customer service).
Museums are cheap even by Vietnamese standards. Entrance to each of them averaged 50 cents US. Two (Fine Arts in HCMC and Ethnology in Hanoi) had extra attractions and other buildings not visible at all from the street.
The Chinese chess that people play in parks and cafes is called cờ tướng. We learned to play it and got a travel set of our own. When we played, it was a source of great amusement to the Vietnamese, who gathered in crowds, shouted advice, and moved our pieces for us.
Both of us really enjoyed our time in Vietnam. We have a lot ahead of us, but I would really like to come back. Each place we saw had its own unique facets, and we really did only scratch the surface. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
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