That's all that's required if your a USA passport holder. Other nationalities might need to submit printouts of round-trip air ticket, itinerary, and hotel confirmations. And some nationalities don't even need a Vietnam visa.

The Malipo border is closed again. I just went there last week, they don't allow foreign passport holders to cross anymore. Only Chinese and Vietnamese. I asked why they closed again, nobody knew. Nor could they say when/if it will be reopened anytime soon. It is closed indefinitely.

Imagine my annoyance when I realized I had to go all the way back to Kunming, and take another route to Vietnam via Hekou border crossing. That was 2 days lost of my short vacation time.

Sorry to hear that Jake. I’m pretty happy I got to do it while it was still open to foreigners. But why must you go back to KM, surely you can get to hekou via wenshan, Mengzi or even Malipo. btw You should have gone to Laoshan while you where in Tianbao