Vietnam - All of September

littlereddevil

PompeyPete wrote: »

I know....just like Bankgok, Chiang Mai, Phnom Penh, Mandalay, and Kathmandu, and loads of others cities in SE Asia.

Be confident, walk slowly but steadily. Hesitate, and it could be curtains.

Deffo worse than those cities Pete!

PompeyPete

Applied via https://www.vietnamvisapro.com for our Visa approval letter on Monday morning @ 0900.

Got an immediate acknowledgement by e-mail.

Got the approval letter by e-mail @ 0830 this morning.

Cost was US$18 total for two of us.

I've now got to download and complete the Visa application form...

http://vietnamvisapro.com/vietnam-visa-application-form-on-arrival.pdf

...and present it on arrival together with the Visa approval letter and US$45 for each Visa.

Straightforward, much cheaper and more convenient than doing it through the Vietnam Consulate in London.:)

VestanPance

I'd also recommend Halong Sapa Tours, which another forumite suggested. Ms Cham is great and if you need any trips out of Hanoi sorted she'll be sure to look after you.

VestanPance

PompeyPete wrote: »

Straightforward, much cheaper and more convenient than doing it through the Vietnam Consulate in London.:)

If you're flying into HCMC and the flight is mostly non-Vietnamese nationals I'd recommend getting to the visa approval desk as quickly as you can. It can get busy and efficiency isn't really their thing!

PompeyPete

VestanPance wrote: »

If you're flying into HCMC and the flight is mostly non-Vietnamese nationals I'd recommend getting to the visa approval desk as quickly as you can. It can get busy and efficiency isn't really their thing!

We're sat in 15K + 15J on the DOH-SGN flight. So we should be alright. But I know that the length of queues also depends on how many flights have hit the tarmac at about the same time.

Fast-track through airport formalities with Vietnamvisapro is US$15 per person.

totallybored

VestanPance wrote: »

If you're flying into HCMC and the flight is mostly non-Vietnamese nationals I'd recommend getting to the visa approval desk as quickly as you can. It can get busy and efficiency isn't really their thing!

I flew into Hanoi and was 2nd in the visa desk queue. It still took some time!

PompeyPete

totallybored wrote: »

I flew into Hanoi and was 2nd in the visa desk queue. It still took some time!

We're there for a month, so we'll be in no rush.
And a bit of queueing will make the first Bia Hoi taste even better.:beer:

Doshwaster

PompeyPete wrote: »

We're there for a month, so we'll be in no rush.
And a bit of queueing will make the first Bia Hoi taste even better.:beer:

If you are in a rush to get your first beer then make sure you get some small notes changed. I withdrew 2 million Dong from the ATM (about £60) and it was presented as four 500,000 Dong notes. It was quite hard finding someone to accept them. The 100,000 and 50,000 are the most useful.

Mind you, it was the first time in my life I had been a millionaire!

PompeyPete

Doshwaster wrote: »

Mind you, it was the first time in my life I had been a millionaire!

I realise the risk, but we only take cash (Debit Card back-up). Will change enough to see us through the first couple of days at a HCMC Airport change kiosk.

Came very close to getting scammed out of 1,000,000 rupiah (c£50) by a dodgy money changer in Bali last year.

teralin

We did a tour of Vietnam and Cambodia a few months ago and decided to spend four days in Dalat. It was the only place that we regretted going to. The place has little interest or beauty and the traffic is almost as bad as Saigon. However since you are committed to going, try to take a few tours out of town into the countryside which is interesting in parts. We paid about $15 for a full day private tour with a car driver and a guide and we saw waterfalls (nice), a coffee plantation (ok) a cricket farm with option to eat them (unusual), a silk factory where you can walk amongst the women operating what looks like 18th century looms and get bitten by silk worms (interesting), visit a tourist Lat village where the Lat people tolerate you gawking at them in return for some kind on payment from the guide/governement (not very interesting).

There is a bus from the airport into Dalat this costs very little and you buy the ticket in the arrivals area (shed). It will drop you at your hotel if it is within the city area.

There is a large shopping centre/supermarket (Big C) within walking distance of the city centre where you can pick up any necessary supplies.

We couldn't wait to leave our hotel (Dalat Plaza 4*). It looks good in photos but is filthy in reality and the food was awful. Don't stay there! We had a choice of room either overlooking the traffic or overlooking a noisy shanty town behind. Not good. Bad choice by us.

One more thing, international airports are OK, domestic terminals are a disorganised nightmare. Sharpen your elbows and prepare for locals having no conception of a queue. They will surround you, jostle you and then get in front of you before you realise what has happened. We had many a happy argument with friendly locals in airport queues. It's all experience good or bad. Have fun.