Our new destination has been planned: we will head to Cambodia!

While surfing the web, we found out that you can apply for a VoA (Visa on Arrival) directly at the airport in Cambodia. As we are on the go since months, we didn’t apply for a visa before, so we decided to go on with this solution and enjoy 30 days in this wonderful country.

IMPORTANT: As with visas there are always exceptions, we always advise to double-check if your nationality is entitled to obtain a visa on arrival. If you come from certain countries, you are not allowed to get it and you need to have a visa stamped on your passport before entering Cambodia.

After the worst and most shaking flight ever, we finally landed at Siem Reap airport.

During the flight, we received and filled in the usual customs and arrival/departure cards with all our data.

Inside the airport, everything is clearly indicated: visa on arrival, passport control, customs, and so on. Anyway, you cannot miss the “visa on arrival” desk as it is full of people and with a never-ending line.

 

Visa on Arrival

Before queuing, take one of the “visa on arrival” forms that are already on the desks in the hall and fill it in. You will need also a passport-size picture, and the correct amount of $ (for the tourist visa, 30-days single entry, for almost every country the fee is 30 $).

The procedure is easy and straightforward:

• you queue with all your documents and money ready, waiting for your turn. You will notice that there is a long desk with 7-8 employees seated, working.
• the first employee will take all your documents and check if the information are complete and correct. If so, he will take the 30 $ and keep everything on the desk. And you will be sent to the 7^th or 8^th employee, the last one.
• in the meantime, you will see your passport going through every of the 7-8 employees, everyone has his/her own task: prepare the sticker, fill in the sticker, stick the sticker on the passport, stamp the sticker and the passport, file the paper application, and so on
• the last employee, is the one who calls loud the passport names and hands them in to the owners.

Great, we can enter the country and stay there for 1 month!

 

Passport Control

A good dose of enthusiasm before the next queuing period: passport control.

At the passport control, you hand in the passport, arrival/departure cards, and customs declaration.

• the passport will be checked, scanned and stamped
• the arrival card will be stamped and kept there
• the departure card will be stamped and stapled on your passport
• the customs declaration will be handed back to you

Every passport check last at least 5-7 minutes if there are no issues. In case of questions or doubts, it can last even longer. The check itself is the same as in every country (I guess), but the authorities take their time to make everything correctly.

 

Customs

Once you survive the passport control, you need to line for the customs.

Now, the procedure here is not really the same for everyone. There is one responsible who will tell you which way you need to follow, if you can directly exit the airport or not, if you have to scan your bag or not, and he will keep all the declarations.

We were among the lucky ones who could exit without any other check.

In the arrival hall, we saw a guy holding a sign with our names on! Our pick-up was there, despite the 1.30 hours of delay… He welcomed us with a huge smile and proudly walked us to his tuk-tuk.

We are finally ready to start our Cambodian adventure!

First stop, Siem Reap.