How To Prepare For A Trip To Vietnam And Cambodia

You are planning to prepare a trip to Vietnam & Cambodia and you wonder how to bring the most necessary things? The following suggestions will be useful information for you on your upcoming journey.

Prepare all the necessary documents

Overseas tours often take a lot of effort, cost and time. Therefore, you have to prepare carefully the necessary equipment and important documents to make sure that your trip is perfect. It also helps you to avoid unnecessary trouble on the trip.

Check your passport

One of the important documents to bring when traveling is a passport. This is a must have for you to exit to another country. Make sure it can still be used for at least 6 months before the trip. If the expiry date is not enough, you should consider to renew your passport.

Visa

Foreign tourists wishing to travel or work in Vietnam and Cambodia are required to apply for a visa before entering the two countries. Currently, there are 2 places to apply for Vietnam or Cambodia visa:

At the Embassy, Consulate of Vietnam and Cambodia in the host country.
At international airports of Vietnam and Cambodia (Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Sihanoukville)

You also apply e-visa to Vietnam and Cambodia before the trip through these official government websites. It takes you about 3 working days to get the e-visa.

Vietnam E-Visa: https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/
Cambodia E-visa: https://www.evisa.gov.kh/

Currently Vietnam is exempting visa for citizens of some countries such as Southeast Asian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Italian, German, Spanish, British, French… with a stay of no more than 15 days from the first entry date.

Flight ticket

If you plan your trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, you should book your flight early to get many promotions and make sure you get the flight in the desired time. It is the best to book a round trip ticket when you have a specific travel schedule.

Travel insurance

You have spent a lot of time and money to prepare for the trip with the desire to enjoy wonderful moments and experience new knowledge with your family. However, the risk is something that no one wants. It can happen to your trip such as lost luggage, delayed flight…

Although it is not a mandatory document, travel insurance is one of the necessary “tools” to protect you when traveling. You should make sure your travel insurance card is valid by choosing reputable insurance companies.

Prepare money

In Vietnam, cash is a King. The Vietnamese currency is Vietnam Dong (VND) and can be exchanged in banks or jewelry shops.

Depending on your budget and travel style, the amount of money for your Vietnam trip may vary. There are several ATMs and banks in big cities, so it will not be a big issue to withdraw some cash. Remember that cash from ATMs in Vietnam is Vietnam Dong only.

As the withdrawal fee is high, we recommend you to bring some cash before entering Vietnam.

In Cambodia it is different. The local money (Riel) is only used to pay for small value transactions of less than US $ 5 such as motorcycle taxi, snack or beggar. US dollars is used widely here. Most hotels, restaurants and shopping areas list prices in US dollars as well as Riel.

Things to bring when traveling abroad

Personal belongings

You should prepare your personal belongings when traveling abroad to avoid many expenses for your trip.

Brush / toothpaste / razor

This is the necessary tool you need to bring in your travel suitcase. Although the hotels fully set up these things, you should prepare them carefully at home because it is personal hygiene items.

Clothes, costumes

Depending on the weather and climate, you can choose and bring some necessary clothing to ensure the most comfortable travel. You should see the local weather forecast before your trip and bring the suitable, simple and convenient things.

T-shirts, jeans, sports shoes

T-shirts with jeans are a perfect combination for every trip. Don’t forget to bring a sports shoes to make sure your travel comfortable and easy.

Medicine

During long trips, you may encounter some health problems such as illness, colds or body aches so carrying some medicine is necessary. You should put in a box or a medicine bag with divided compartments. It makes you easy to find when you need.

Technology accessories

Backup charger

On the journey, you have to move regularly. Phones and cameras are used a lot, so you should prepare a backup charger. It will help you to keep contact with everybody.

Versatile socket

Most tourists ignore this essential accessory when traveling abroad. Overseas power and sockets may be different, so multi-purpose sockets are the solution to help your technology appliances stay compatible with most sockets.

Some things to keep in mind when preparing travel items

Here are some notes that you need to consider if you plan to travel abroad in the near future.

Plan and schedule

For any trip, you need to make a specific plan such as the length of the trip, the date and time of departure, the estimated budget and the list of essential items to bring.

Packed neat items

Make sure your suitcase won’t have too many things, just bring the necessary items for the trip. You try to keep the weight of the suitcase under 20 kg (checked in luggage) and 7 kg of hand luggage for free.

See the weather where you will go to bring the clothes accordingly. If you carry valuable items such as jewelry, camera, expensive camera…you should declare to the customs.

Be careful with fragile items

If you have fragile items, you should encapsulate them in hard paper, or place them in the middle of your clothes to avoid being broken during travel.

Prepare contingency plans

Nobody can know what will happen in advance. If there are any misfortunes such as robbery or loss of suitcases, write down the information about the person you need to contact for help.

Buy sim card

As soon as you arrive in Vietnam or Cambodia, you should buy a phone sim or data sim at the airport to contact relatives and friends. If there is no sale at the airport, you can ask the guide where to buy them.

The price for a sim card with internet connection is quite cheap, only about 10 USD. You can freely use the high speed internet.

I hope this article helps you visualize what you need to keep in mind as well as the list of items to bring when traveling abroad. Wish you all have a fun and wonderful experience in the upcoming trips to Vietnam and Cambodia.