Visas and border crossings forum

Posted from within Vietnam.

Thanks a lot for the swift response and info. I think we now have enough confidence to attempt the crossing the day after tomorrow like we had planned :). The only concern is the state of the Cambodian road, considering the season. But we'll see, I'll obviously report back on how it went.

OK just about all the new Ban Lung material has been added in (save the minority cemeteries and all the pics, which I'll put on tonight) -- including a report back on a two night trip into Virachey National Park -- I hope you're allowing a few days to explore!

Our researcher also reported back that Tree Top Eco Lodge is the best place in town -- she really raved about it -- so you may want to give it a try.

Have fun!

...And here we are in Ban Lung :). The crossing was a breeze really. In brief:

From Pleiku, there are buses and minibuses to Duc Co that leave from in front of the big plaza near the market. The minibus is faster, but they only leave when full, so you might have to wait around. The buses don't seem to leave that often, but I suppose they at least leave according to some schedule (wasn't able to see one anywhere). Anyway, we took a minibus to Duc Co (price negotiable, good idea to agree beforehand), and then a xe om from Duc Co to the border (about 20 km) for 70 000 dong each. Could've bargained to 50K or 60K probably, but we had no use for the dong anyway. We were standing at the brand new Vietnamese immigration building within about 2 hours of leaving Pleiku.

The formalities were easy, and the Cambodian officials super-friendly, as mentioned elsewhere. The visa only cost the official $20, and the only extra charge was $1 "for the visa form". Much better deal than at Poipet at least. For now, it seems transport options from the border to Ban Lung are indeed few to non-existent. We got a ride from a border official heading to Ban Lung. He initially wanted $50, but agreed to $15 each, with no-one else in the car, so it was not a bad deal. It seemed he was in fact going to Ban Lung anyway, but was perhaps waiting around for someone to appear to make some money out of it.

The road from the border to Ban Lung is maybe 50 % finished, so August 2009 seems a pretty optimistic schedule. The officials at the border talked of it being finished "in six months". Some parts are paved, most are smooth to pretty harsh gravel, and a few spots are still dirt. But I think it should be accessible even through the wet season.