Visa/Accommodation/Transportation

Visa

For entering Vietnam, you may not need a visa. Citizens of the ASEAN countries, Russia, P.R. China, R. Korea, Japan, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain may not require visa for short visit. Your passport should be valid for 6 months. More information on Vietnam visa exemption can be found here. If you are not sure, please inquire at a Vietnamese consulate.

In case you need a visa, please complete the VISA FORM and return it to the Secretariat at least 3 weeks before your arrival date. The organizers should request a visa for you in the Immigration Department in Hanoi.

After we get your visa approval document issued by Immigration Department (the usual processing time is one week), we will send you a scan of this document by email. You would need to bring this document to a Vietnamese consulate of your choice and submit it with a visa application in order to get the visa stamped on your passport.

In some cases, it is possible to get a "visa on arrival", that is a visa to be picked up at the border checkpoint at a Vietnamese international airport.

Accommodation

• Sen 2 Hotel (3 star): for speakers
  1.5 km from the school/workshop venue
  Address: 118/26 Nguyen Khanh Toan Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi, Vietnam.
  Standard: 770,000 VND/room/night
  Superior: 890,000 VND/room/night
  Deluxe: 1,100,000 VND/room/night
  Suite: 1,600,000 VND/room/night
  Tax and service included. American and Vietnamese breakfasts included.
• Blue Pearl Hotel (3 star): for students/postdocs, shared 2 per room with block booking (19-25/11/2017)
  1 km from the school/workshop venue
  Address: 4 Tran Tu Binh Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi, Vietnam.
  American and Vietnamese breakfasts included.

Exchange rate: US $1 ~ 22,700 VND. Money exchanges are possible at bank counters within the airport, or in the banks on streets.

Most of the hotels/shops/restaurants in Hanoi accept international credit cards.

Transportation

The Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) is about 26 km from the recommended hotels.

From the Noi Bai airport to the hotel

There are several transportation options:

• The standard way is to take a taxi. You pay according to the counter and the price should not exceed 400,000 VND (~ US $18).
• Take the bus No. 86 to go to the Hanoi Train Station (the bus ticket is 30,000 VND). The bus stop should be located nearby as you walk out from the airport building. The bus operates every 20-30 min from 6 am to 11 pm. Then take a taxi from the Train Station to go to your hotel.
• There are a number of shuttle/mini buses that can drop you at few places inside Hanoi for 40,000 VND. You may have to wait as the bus starts to move only when there are enough passengers. Tell the driver for getting off near Daewoo Hotel. Then take a taxi or walk to your hotel.
• Uber and Grab may provide their services for better price than standard taxi.
• The Sen 2 hotel provides a pickup service for about 700,000 VND (~ US $31). Please let the organizers know if you want the pickup service by the hotel.

From the hotel to Noi Bai airport

Please ask the hotel reception to order Noi Bai Taxi for 180,000 VND/ride. The order should be made a day before or at least few hours before your departure. Please indicate to the taxi driver that you go to the International Terminal (Terminal T2) of Noi Bai Airport instead of the Domestic Terminal (Terminal T1) in case you take an international flight.