Passports
Your passport must be valid for at least six months following your scheduled return to your home country. You will also require blank pages available in your passport. The number of pages you will need varies according to the options you have selected, but geneneraly 6 pages preferable if your trip covers all three country Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. These pages must be labeled “Visas” at the top (blank “Amendments and Endorsements” pages are not acceptable). If both of these requirements are not met, you may be refused admittance to a country and, consequently, required by that country’s government to return to your home country immediately.
Contact the National Passport Information Center or visit their websites for information on obtaining a new passport, renewing your existing passport, and for general tips on traveling abroad. You can renew your passport by mail if it is not damaged, you obtained it within the last fifteen years, and it’s in the name you want on your new passport. Many local post offices carry forms for renewing by mail or obtaining extra pages. Allow several weeks for processing your passport.
Visas
Vietnam – visa required.
We recommend you obtain your visa for Vietnam before you leave home; however, in case of emergency and upon your request, Indochina Pioneer can organize Vietnam Visa Upon arival for you with some service fee.•
Laos and Cambodia – visas required.
These visas may be obtained upon your arrival. So far the precedure is fast and cheap. Please contact us for specific details applied at your time of travel.
It is your responsibility to check with your local consulate, embassy, or a visa services company about any possible visa requirements.
Emergency Photocopies
The smartest and easiest security precaution you can take is to carry photocopies of the personal information pages of your passport, your air ticket, traveler’s check serial numbers (if you’re carrying these checks), and your credit cards. Add the phone and fax numbers for reporting lost credit cards, and for your travel protection plan company (if you have purchased the optional travel protection plan) and medical emergency network. Store copies separate from the originals. This can save you immeasurable time, money, and bother if your documents are lost during your trip.
If you don’t wish to bring additional copies with you, consider scanning or entering the information you might need into your computer and emailing it to yourself. That way as long as you have access to email, you can access the information you need. (Keep in mind that you may not have immediate access to email at all times during your Vietnam and Indochina adventure, especially in rural areas). Another option is to give a copy of this information to a trusted friend or relative back at home as a backup that they can email or fax to you if you need it.
Flight Itineraries and Regulations
Your Flight Itineraries Please examine it carefully to ensure that your first and last names appear exactly as they do on your passport. If the airlines make a change in your flight times, please immediately let Indochina Pioneer know so that we are informed or track your arrival time for the pick-up.
All flight arrangements are subject to change at any time for reasons beyond Indochina Pioneer’s control.
Depending on your airlines, you will most likely receive electronic tickets (E-tickets) for your flights. But occasionally, specific airlines or specific flights may require paper tickets instead. If needed, paper tickets will be sent as part of your final documents package (most likely delivered to you when you are already in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos). If you receive paper tickets, please guard them the way you would guard cash, as they cannot easily be reissued. Plus a reissue always entails a fee from the airlines that you would be responsible for.
Domestic air travel in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos is frequently subject to flight delays and schedule changes on short notice. Your tour guide will do everything possible to keep your trip running smoothly, but your own acceptance that some unpredictability is part of the adventure of traveling in a developing country will help.
Airport Departure Taxes
Airport departure tax is already included in the airfare in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
