Location
Quy Nhon is a coastal town in central Vietnam that can be reached by plane from Hanoi and from Ho Chi Minh City. Arriving from abroad, the second alternative is recommended because of the fare and the duration of the journey (one hour vs. 1.5 hours). The airport is around 20km north-west of Quy Nhon.
Travel and Cost
Typical flights from the US to Vietnam are currently (as of April) in the $1200--1500 range. Conference registration and full room and board with early registration are:
- $635 total for a shared room (total cost w/ airfare ~ $1800--2100)
- $760 total for a single room (total cost w/ airfare ~ $1960--2260)
Domestic flights within Vietnam can be found from ~$100 round trip.
Numerous daily flights are available from Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam Airlines , VietJet Air , Jetstar) [Google flight search]. From Hanoi there are flights by Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air every day. [Google flight search] See also the useful booking site (vietnamflight). Note: you may find better pricing booking directly through the local airline sites rather than going through a third party service.
Alternative solutions are bus and train (useful information is given here). The bus is the cheapest means of transport. Buses are becoming more consistent with international standards. The express buses are faster than local buses, which stop anywhere on request. There are also buses chartered by private companies. The express train connecting Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City is named the Reunification Express. There are 3 per day in each direction. Trains that are registered SE are the fastest, while the TN are (much) slower, see Golden Trains (between Saigon & Quy-Nhon).
VISA
A visa (tourist) is required to enter Vietnam for the PASCOS conference
To obtain a visa:
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Apply for a tourist visa at your nearest Vietnamese consulate
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Or you may apply for a tourist visa through the Internet
Please inform the conference secretariat of your internet visa number and arrival date and time at your airport of entry.
This internet visa procedure is cheaper but it does take some time (~60 min) at the airport immigration office, depending on the queue. Do not forget to bring 2 passport photos and USD in cash as required by the internet visa service.
Note: a VISA waiver program for several countries is set to expire in June 2016. We strongly recommend that all participants plan to obtain tourist VISAs prior to the conference.
General Information about Vietnam
Travel and currency
Tourism
