So I’m a Canadian as you already know. Today a friend hands me a guidebook and I opened it up, right to Vietnam.
First thing I see is that “visa is required for Canadian Citizens to travel to Vietnam”. None of this show up with some cash and you’re cool. You actually need to do some planning. This came as a total shocker to me, I thought Canadians were allowed almost anywhere. It’s true we are, supposedly Vietnam is not one of them.
As a result, I have to contact the Vietnam Embassy in Canada and pay ~$79CDN or something and it may take up to ~4-6 business days. Check out that link above for all official details on Canadians acquiring a visa to Vietnam.
Considering that’s the price of my ticket and for $160US I can get a ticket to Bangkok from Jakarta… I will see if I can post-pone my trip to Probolinggo for one day and call the consulate tonight (via skype of course).
In the event I can’t get it done, I will immediately book that trip to Bangkok and just travel north, or kick back in Bangkok for a while as I truly love Bangkok despite it being a crazy zoo. Then again I also love Kuta, Bali and it is a crazy zoo.
So that is that, even if you are Canadian with the “Golden Passport” you still have to check these things. I’m just very glad I opened that book to “Vietnam” today, even though the info was much to my chagrin.
Supposedly they will not even let you board the plane. Oh well, it’s a big world out there and plenty to see. I read elsewhere about someone making it there then being held in a deportation cell for the next plane out. On his dime I am sure. The area between a plane and customs is “no mans land” and you can’t “stay there” for any length of time. It is simply a transit point.
Developing…
P.S: I am leaving in 2 hours, or supposed to be and the key to my hotel room just broke off in the lock. Be careful what you wish for, we here at SHaBL, wish to never have a “boring life” but sometimes it’s not the kind of excitement you had in mind.
In your article you mentioned a very good point,like you, I think that before attempt any travel, it is always worth the effort to make a research for the required documents.
Travel without visa could end in a bad way.
While you’re continuing on your Southeast Asian travels you may not have seen this: http://bit.ly/69H1NA The US Embassy in Jakarta has issued this warning. I don’t know if the Canadian Embassy has posted any warnings, but I always found it worth the time to register (can be done with a few clicks online) with the local consultate’s office or major embassy in the countries in which I lived.
You receive notifications like this which you can choose to pay attention to or ignore as you wish and if something untoward happens, there is at least one group that knows where you are/should be and can help if it’s need.
There will also be reputable visa info for Canadian nationals and that can be counted on being up to date to answer questions you may be having about getting in and out of various countries.
An interesting one, although not pertinent for you yet … Americans can not travel from Argentina to Brasil (just across the border) without a visa now. The story is that since we don’t let Brazilians come in so easily any longer, they don’t let us just “stop by,” without papers either.
Take it or leave it, but have fun doing it.
Thanks Fran, you always leave most informative comments that are quite useful. I am checking out the link now.
Call me crazy but before I left I was thinking … If Bali is a target, there is no other night more likely to be bombed than New Years. I mean each night is nuts but I can only imagine new years.
That said, when I was at a train station last night passing out near fog horns and fireworks I was thinking “must be fun over there”
Thanks,