Visas

Ritchi

Hi,

I'm going on a trip across India and SE Asia in two months time and am wondering what visas I need.

I''ll have a flight in and out of India, into Bankgok, overlanding through Laos, Vietnam Cambodia, and back to Bankgok and down to Malaysia.

I know I need one for India, but am unsure about Thailand, as I only have a flight in, but am not there for more than 30 days.

I know I don't need one for Malaysia, Laos is on the border, and I think we need one for Vietnam.

Any help from people you have done similar trips would be appreciated.
Thanks.

spinandscribble

you won't need one for thailand then, they'll automatically give you one when you arrive. You'll need one for cambodia but you can sort it out for 25 dollars before you get there online. you can also get it once you enter the country.

Ritchi

spinandscribble wrote: »

you won't need one for thailand then, they'll automatically give you one when you arrive. You'll need one for cambodia but you can sort it out for 25 dollars before you get there online. you can also get it once you enter the country.

Thanks. Sorry meant to say I'll be in Thailand, leaving it to go around Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, then back in, should be out the second time within 30 days, can I still just get it when I get there?

spinandscribble

just don't overstay the first visa. next time you enter you'll get a fresh 30 day visa. check out embassy sites for details.

Ritchi

spinandscribble wrote: »

just don't overstay the first visa. next time you enter you'll get a fresh 30 day visa. check out embassy sites for details.

Excellent. Cheers.

tywy

Need a visa for Vietnam... vietnam stay will organise a visa on arrival for you no probs. I'm just back from there on Friday - what a cool country!

m*pp*t

tywy, what did you get up to in Veitnam? I'm heading there as part of a trip and I think we'll only have about a week or two in Vietnam. Which I'm guessing only gives me time to see one end of the country really. Any advice on where to go?

hopalong85

m*pp*t wrote: »

tywy, what did you get up to in Veitnam? I'm heading there as part of a trip and I think we'll only have about a week or two in Vietnam. Which I'm guessing only gives me time to see one end of the country really. Any advice on where to go?

it depends what part of the country you go to. i went from south to north, starting in saigon, really like that city. then moved up north taking in nha trang, hoi an, danang briefly(hated it here fwiw), hanoi, and halong bay. it took me a month to do all this, but i usually take my time in places when i backpack!

i enjoyed all of the above places, halong bay in particular is just amazing. didn't get to hue, which i've heard is pretty cool aswell. overall, it's a sweet country mate, have fun!

tywy

Depends what you wanna do. I must admit I preferred Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, there was much more to do. You can do a lot in 2 weeks. In 3.5 weeks we travelled from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi and it was plenty of time.

The sleeper trains are good ways of getting places without spending too much daytime travelling. If you take them overnight then it's so handy. But you have to book a week in advance to be safe.

Potentially you could go from Ho Chi Minh to Danang (by train) and from Danang go straight to Hoi An. From Hoi An go to Hue, then onto this really cool place (my favourite place) - Ninh Binh. Ninh Binh is about 3 hours from Hanoi. Go from there to Hanoi and onto Halong Bay/Cat Ba Island.

So give Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi 3 days each maybe, Hoi An 2 days, Hue 1 full day, Ninh Binh 2 days and then Halong Bay 2-3 days. That's about 2 weeks. We went to Nha Trang aswell which I really liked, we went snorkelling and drove motorbikes around the place. The weather was lovely there too, very dry.

Ninh Binh is a great place to hire motorbikes (no licence required) and just get out into the countyside, into the middle of nowhere. I'll soon have photos up on flickr so you can take a look. Hope this helps, anymore questions please PM me!

m*pp*t

Thanks lads. Rakes of suggestions there to get us planning a bit.

kellyt25

If u have an extra few days get the night train from hanoi to sapa its gorgeous we did an organised trak in the mountains and did a home stay with a local tribe it was amazing!! also went from south to north in a month, did ho chi minh, nha trang, mui ne, hoi an, danang, hanoi, halong bay and cat ba island and then sapa!! such an amazing country loved it all (excapt danang!!) defo do halong bay and stay on 1 of the boats over night..it was my favourite place in vietnam!!
Have a great time!!!