Hey, thought I'd share yesterdays border crossing experience with you all...
So after a nights sleep in Chou Doc I headed to the border crossing, maybe two and a half hours ride southwest. I arrived at the crossing at about 12:00 am though I did stop to get some US $ along the way, just in case I needed to grease the way.
On the Vietnam side I was stopped by a guard who wanted to see my passport, he then walked me up to the immigration office to get an exit stamp. However the officer was currently on lunch, after about a 15 minute wait the officer showed up stamped my passport and waved me on. I tried to show him my bikes blue card, he continued to wave me on with little more than a nod of recognition that I had even tried to show him something. They were all very friendly.
In between the crossing offices there is a frenzy of activity lorries everywhere, most of them having their cargo moved between Viet lorries and Cambodian ones, or vice versa.
On the Cambodian side I almost passed by their immigration office as no one was waving down incoming traffic, it was only become I was riding so slow that a herd a call from within one of the offices. I pulled over where a guard asked to see my Cambodian visa, I told him I didn't have one. He pointed out an office behind theirs and said I had to apply there. Again the officer was nowhere to be seen, but this time the wait was only about 5 minutes. I had to fill out 2 forms, one was the visa application and requires a passport size photo (which we didn't bother with) and a $25 fee (I paid 600,000 Dong), the other form was stapled in to my passport and will be used on exit, the visa will last for 1 month I was told. Once I had the documentation I was pointed back to the immigration office where my passport got a new sticker (the visa) and a bunch of stamps, I was then sent on my way. I was stopped one final time leaving the border by a guard who checked my Cambodian visa. Again all the guards seemed very friendly.
The whole thing took about 40 minutes and was pretty hassle free. No one questioned if I was exporting my bike or even if I intended to bring it back, in fact no one even looked at the bike (an old Honda GLPro).
So after a nights sleep in Chou Doc I headed to the border crossing, maybe two and a half hours ride southwest. I arrived at the crossing at about 12:00 am though I did stop to get some US $ along the way, just in case I needed to grease the way.
On the Vietnam side I was stopped by a guard who wanted to see my passport, he then walked me up to the immigration office to get an exit stamp. However the officer was currently on lunch, after about a 15 minute wait the officer showed up stamped my passport and waved me on. I tried to show him my bikes blue card, he continued to wave me on with little more than a nod of recognition that I had even tried to show him something. They were all very friendly.
In between the crossing offices there is a frenzy of activity lorries everywhere, most of them having their cargo moved between Viet lorries and Cambodian ones, or vice versa.
On the Cambodian side I almost passed by their immigration office as no one was waving down incoming traffic, it was only become I was riding so slow that a herd a call from within one of the offices. I pulled over where a guard asked to see my Cambodian visa, I told him I didn't have one. He pointed out an office behind theirs and said I had to apply there. Again the officer was nowhere to be seen, but this time the wait was only about 5 minutes. I had to fill out 2 forms, one was the visa application and requires a passport size photo (which we didn't bother with) and a $25 fee (I paid 600,000 Dong), the other form was stapled in to my passport and will be used on exit, the visa will last for 1 month I was told. Once I had the documentation I was pointed back to the immigration office where my passport got a new sticker (the visa) and a bunch of stamps, I was then sent on my way. I was stopped one final time leaving the border by a guard who checked my Cambodian visa. Again all the guards seemed very friendly.
The whole thing took about 40 minutes and was pretty hassle free. No one questioned if I was exporting my bike or even if I intended to bring it back, in fact no one even looked at the bike (an old Honda GLPro).
I'm gonna try and get me and my bike down to Bali then sell it. I then have a flight on to Perth where I'm going to get a new bike and try to cross Australia. Finally (before heading back to England) after recuperating some cash in New Zealand I'm looking to try a run from the southern tip of South America up to Vancouver then across to New York.