Hi Everyone, I'm new to Travel Blog and i'm excited to start blogging and getting involved in the forums.
I'm off to Cambodia in a few days (every excited).. I would need to exchange some money prior to my arrival so how much should I exchange into USD and Riel? How much money is safe to carry around? Are ATM withdrawals safe?
Any other money tips would be most helpful.
Thanks
Reply to this Hi
Most transactions in tourist areas of Cambodia are done in USD. Riel is used like small change. There are around 4000 riel to the dollar, so if something costs $2.50 and you give them $5, you will get $2 and 2000 riel change.
On the borders with Thailand they also accept Thai baht. Don't believe people at the borders who tell you you need to change money to riel because noone accepts dollars. It's not true and they usually take you to a local money changer with a rubbish exchange rate where the transaction is done so quickly you haven't time to work out whether you are getting enough money back.
So, I would buy some USD to take with you and go from there. There are ATMs all over the place and we have never had any trouble with them. Most ATMs seem to give out USD too. They often ask if you want big notes, small notes or a mix, which is nice because it's really annoying when you try to get $100 out of an ATM and it gives you one $100 note that's then really difficult to change!
They are funny about damaged notes, so don't take old or ripped dollars with you.
You want to be a bit careful about bag snatching and pick pockets in Cambodia, particularly in tourist places (its a poor country), so I wouldn't carry large amounts of cash in one place. Have a wallet for day to day money and then perhaps a money belt for storing notes?
Hope this helps and have fun!
Kate
Reply to this Thanks so much Kate.
So I guess there are many money exchange shops in Phnom Penh. Would I get a better rate from the money exchange shops than at the hotels?
Reply to this Hi Ruth
Sorry, what money are you going to exchange? If you take USD you use them for transactions, you don't need to exchange them first. Prices are all in USD. That's what I meant above, we were told to change USD for riel because you couldn't use riel, when in fact this is a complete lie. They just wanted us to change money at their rediculous rate. You don't need to change money at all.
If you really need to, like if you still have Thai baht from Thailand or something, you can check out the various exchange rates before you change any money. You can see if the shops are cheaper than the hotels and then make your decision. We didn't change money in Phnom Pehn, just got it out of the bank, so I don't know.
Have fun!
Kate
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