vaccines and travel to S.E. Asia from Paris - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

antino · 06-13-2006, 09:26 AM

I am considering heading to Vietnam and Thailand as soon as possible. I will be getting into Paris this weekend, and am wondering where I might be able to get the necessary vaccinations. I have travel insurance, but I am not sure if it covers them, but I'll buy them if need be.
Once I have that taken care of, I'd like to head out as soon as possible, but still trying to figure out how to get there. I would like to stop in Olympos and Istanbul, Turkey on the way. I have heard that cheap flights to India can be found in Turkey, and then cheap flights on to Bangkok. This would be OK, but I'd really like to make my way across land. Any advice? I'd probably want to skirt Iran and Afghanistan, but does anyone know if it is possible to train / bus up from Turkey, through southern central asia and down into India?
Thanks for any help.

**travelpunk** · 06-13-2006, 11:28 AM

Here's a list of hospitals in France. I'm sure they can assist you with the vaccines part-

http://adams.mgh.harvard.edu/hospita...ld.html#FRANCE

Some helpful transpo info on Turkey.

Good luck with your travels and please give us some updates

!

**Esterina** · 06-13-2006, 06:29 PM

In such situations, your embassy in Paris will be of good help. They should know where to go and what to do.

And wow ! you are going for a great journey !

I do see a few "challenges" lying ahead of you. If you skip Iran and Afghanistan, it means you'll start in Pakistan. It is possible to go overland until Myanmar, but this country won't allow foreigners in but through the airport. And north is the Himalayas -and I think it's the eastern end of Tibet-, so no entrance allowed in China there. You'll need to fly from India or Bangladesh to Bangkok.

Pakistan (Pakistan Embassy in US) requires a visa. Not sure if you can have it upon arrival, they don't mention anything on the site.

India (Indian embassy in NY)requires a visa before entering the country.

Bangladesh (Bangladesh embassy in US) requires a visa. I didn't find wether or not you need it prior to arrival.

Thailand - Up to 30 day stay doesn't require a visa.

And you need a visa prior to arrival in Vietnam as well, easy to find in Thailand. Well, all visas can be purchase in the neighbouring countries, so if you're not in a hurry, it's probably the best solution.

Ground transport will eat a lot (A LOT !) of your time ! But it'll be worth every second.

catfewd · 06-14-2006, 03:35 AM

i 'forgot' to do my vaccinations before i ended up in thailand, so if that happens to you you can just go to any of the hospitals here, i went to the bangkok christian hospital on silom road and get the vaccinations done here... for about 3500baht i got hep a, b, typhoid, and some other stuff i'm not sure what :P

but ofcourse it's better to do it before since hep a and b doesn't really kick in for a few weeks.

also pick up some doxycin... i may be confusing the name, but it's the anti malariea tablets, not a problem in the big cities, but if you're in the jungle, you might want to take those every day.

**ajb3000** · 06-14-2006, 12:46 PM

If you want to do it all by land (and avoid Iran), how about heading up to Moscow and catching the Trans-Siberian or Mongolian to Beijing?

**Esterina** · 06-14-2006, 05:40 PM

^^^Good idea ! Or you could enter SEA from China into Laos. You'd need to get the russian and either mongolian or chinese visas first though, and they take quite a long time to have, because of the letter of invitation. The lao visa is delivered upon arrival for $30 cash (exact money needed).

antino · 06-17-2006, 01:51 AM

thanks for all of the advice. i got my vaccinations taken care of in paris, now trying to figure out the travel. unfortunately it looks like i will have to abandon the across-land idea as i don't have the time to wait for all of the visas it will require.
so from what I have found so far, it sounds like flights from istanbul to india, and then from there to bangkok might be the best way to go. any advice on this? i assume these flights, like any others, will require some advance purchase to get a good price on? any resources for buying these online, especially the india-thailand leg? or should i just get a ticket to india, then look for flights there and spend a week or two?

thanks.

**Esterina** · 06-17-2006, 07:35 PM

Unfortunately, visas are a pain... They prevent us from spontaneous trips.

I don't know about the Turkey-India flight, but I'm convinced you don't need to buy a flight in advance from India to Bangkok. Spent a couple of days in Delhi to shop for the best airfare and hop!

And for the benefits of others, would you please tell us how you got your vaccines ?

antino · 06-18-2006, 01:23 AM

unfortunately i don't remember where i found the list of doctors i got this info from, but this is the doctor I got my vaccination from:
Thevenot, Jacques
Centre Medical Des Entreprises
Travaillant a l Exterieur
10 Rue Du Colonel Driant
75001 Paris
France
Telephone: [+33] (1) 53-458660; Fax: [+33] (1) 53-458672
E-mail: cmete@wanadoo.fr; Web: http://www.cmete.org

He does not really speak English, so it was a fun conversation which neither of us really understood. In the end I got a typhoid vaccination and malaria prescription for a total cost of 39euros.
It is also possible to get the vaccinations at both the American and British hospitals. The American hospital costs 76 for the consultation and one vaccine, and they only do vaccination appointments on Saturday mornings.

**Esterina** · 06-18-2006, 10:19 AM

Thanks antino !