Pre Flight Check for Vietnam Trip with Nok Air

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Most people are surprised that even though I have been in Thailand for more than twenty years, I haven’t really explored the rest of the region much. It is true I have done brief side trips to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Luang Prabang in Laos, but I haven’t actually been to Myanma or Vietnam yet. People have also been telling me that I should diversify my websites a bit and write about countries other than Thailand. I have resisted this so many times but I finally relented when Nok Air invited me to go with them on a trip to Vietnam next week from 9-11 October 2015. Their inaugural flight to Ho Chi Minh City was on 1st October. Nok Air will fly to Ho Chi Minh City four times a week to start with before becoming a daily service towards the end of the year. In addition, they will fly to Hanoi starting on 1st December.

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The three day trip to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam will include these stops: Ho Chi Minh Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, General Post Office, Saigon Opera House, Ho Chi Minh City Hall, Tran Nguyen Hai Statue, Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater, Tran Nguyen Hai Statue, Fine Arts Museum, horse carriage tour, The Archbishop’s Palace and Ben Thanh market.

Here are some things I’ve found out already:

  • As a Brit, I don’t need a visa for a 15 day visit
  • The currency is called dong. 1 Baht is currently 617 dong.
  • The electricity and power sockets seem to be the same as Thailand
  • Their weather is about the same as ours with temperatures of 32C and high chance of thunderstorms

Other than that I don’t really know what to expect on this trip. The guys at Travelfish have a great online guide for Ho Chi Minh City which I will check out later. If you have been there already and have some tips for me then please leave them in the comments below. Hopefully I will be able to pick up a local SIM at the airport so I can tweet the trip live on @RichardBarrow. Where can I exchange some Vietnamese dong before I go there? At the exchange booth at Don Mueang?

 

 

6 thoughts on “Pre Flight Check for Vietnam Trip with Nok Air

  • October 4, 2015 at 8:25 am
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    Regarding fx. Best is to use ATMs with intl credit cards. At SGN Airport use the one from Citibank, it is free of charge.

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  • October 3, 2015 at 10:55 pm
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    Don’t see the War Remnants Museum listed. Must see place in HCMC.

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  • October 3, 2015 at 10:35 pm
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    You don’t have to go far to get tips on HCMC….just read the blogs by your good friend Mark Weins. He did quite a good write up on HCMC on food and travels. Look it up!I went there last July 2015.

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  • October 3, 2015 at 7:16 pm
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    There’s no way to get Vietnamese dong outside of Vietnam. ATMs are plentiful though.

    Reply

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