Somebody know, that we planned to travel from Cambodia to Vietnam (from south to north), but sometimes the circumstances change everything and you have to improvise quickly. And how was our case?
2.4.2018 – Date that changed everything
In Cambodia, we have completed our volunteering on Koh Rong Sanloem, and we have already found out information on entry into Vietnam. We had still big backpacks, the tickets were expensive and we needed a letter from Vietnam (when you want visa on arrival). So we decided to choose a bus with Giant Ibis from the capital city of Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City.
Since February 1, 2017, a two-year project has been launched to issue electronic visas, which citizens of the Czech Republic can apply for (just take a photo, write an exact place of entry and pay a fee). The application must be resolved within 3 business days. For sure, we looked at other travelers’ reviews, and in all cases, people informed that e-visas are quick and processed even on the day the application was made or at the latest on the second day.
Our request was made on 28 March 2018 in the early morning hours. The tickets for the bus were reserved for Sunday 1.4.2018. Our visa wasn´t issued on the same day. The next day on Friday morning, Martin sent an email (for Immigration Office) with the question if our visa will be approved before Sunday. We didn´t have any answer and visa in the afternoon. On Saturday, we had only one option – we could change our reservation of the bus from Sunday to Monday, 2.4.2018 (we couldn´t do this later, because our visa ended in Cambodia on this day). And unfortunately, we didn´t have visas on Monday as well as the answers to our other emails.
The bus left without us and we found more information in our hostel. We had the option of applying for express visas through the agency and paying a fee for staying in Cambodia for longer than we were allowed ($ 10 per person for one day). We have unambiguously agreed that we will not pay such a high amount for issuing visas (the US $ 138). And we got an information that there is no problem staying in the country longer, but we know that we would be reported to Interpol and later we would have problems entering, for example, to Australia or America.
We follow the rule: Never stay in the country longer than we are allowed and don´t risk problems with immigration offices!
And what was next?
We packed our baggage, found a line bus to the airport where we arrived at six o’clock in the evening and had another 6 hours to figure out where to leave without the need for a visa. According to the financial options and the offer of flights, eventually, we chose neighboring Thailand with departure at 22:30.
Ps: Despite all the problems of this day, we finally had a reason for joy. My dear sister gave birth to a baby boy Samuel.
