Hello
I am leaving on three tours through South East Asia in three weeks (Vietnam Highlights, Majestic Ankor and Bangkok to Singapore).
I am organising my finances now, and would like some advice on how to carry my money.
I am planning on gatting one of the Visa Cash Passports (a visa debit card), so I can access my own money from ATM's. My travel agent reccomends them, however I wanted to get some advice from people who have done any of these trips.
I realise that the only problem with this would be when I am in Cambodia, however as we are only there for 6 days, I could just access cash before leaving Vietnam.
Also, any suggestions also from anyone on how much money is needed on these trips??
Thankyou, Alison
Re: Money while travelling
Hi Alison,
Thanks for your question.
It's true that you won't be able to access cash from an ATM in Cambodia (there's only one ATM in the whole country as I understand it) but in Vietnam and certainly in Thailand this would be a suitable option.
There's an ATM by the hotel in Bangkok so you can get your Thai Baht when you get to Thailand. For Cambodia we recommend that you bring US$ in the form of cash and/or travellers cheques. Although these can be changed in Cambodia, you shouldn't need a lot of spending money so I would recommend taking some US$ in cash for this part of your tour.
There aren't too many ATMS in Vietnam but you can find some in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City so can withdraw some Dong at the start of your tour. You might also like to bring some US$ traveller cheques or some AUS$ as hard cash that you can also exchange in most places in Vietnam as backup.
At the start of your tour your tour leader will let you know when and where you can withdraw or exchange money, and how much you are likey to need before the next opportunity to withdraw/exchange.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Brendan
Re: Money while travelling
US$ cash is much better than traveller's cheques in Cambodia. Small denomination notes are handy - $1, $5 and $10, plus a few larger ones. I'd only ever use traveller's cheques as a back-up. There are a few more ATMs now in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap but unreliable. You cannot change Vietnamese Dong in Cambodia.
In Vietnam I used a UK high street bank ATM card to withdraw money in Hue, Hoi An and Nha Trang, in addition to the places Brendan mentions. I had US$ cash as back-up.
Re: Money while travelling
Thankyou Both
You have made me feel a lot better about using ATM cards, when combined with $US Cash.
Alison
Re: Money while travelling
When taking $US to Vietnam, make sure that they are nice new crisp ones of the latest issue ( they now come in pastel shades ). They are quite particular. My agent gets me mine , they are all unused.
Re: Money while travelling
Hi Wayne,
Thanks for the tip![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Regards,
Brendan
Re: Money while travelling
Ta Wayne
Great to see another South East Queenslander on this site also!!!
Ali