Vietnam - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 833

he best maps of Vietnam are the
International 1:1,000,000 Travel Map of
Vietnam , and several covering Vietnam,
Laos and Cambodia, including Nelles
(1:1,500,000); cyclists and bikers may
wish to track down the Viet Nam
Administrative Atlas by Ban Do.

US dollar travellers' cheques can be
cashed at major banks for 0.5-2 percent
commission (Vietcombank usually
charges the lowest rates for Amex
travellers' cheques), but often not at
banks in smaller towns.

PRICES AND BARGAINING
Vietnam's two-tier pricing system,
whereby foreigners pay more than locals
for transport and accommodation, is still
uno cially in place; even the national
train system quotes different prices to
locals and foreigners so it pays to ask a
local to buy your ticket. he Vietnamese
have a reputation for a particularly
voracious attitude to making money, so
be mindful of constant overcharging.
Many private transport companies charge
you twice the local fare, some xe om and
taxi drivers take you on circuitous routes,
taxis may have tampered meters or take
you to places where they can glean a
commission, street vendors and market
stalls increase the price of goods up to
tenfold when they see a foreigner
approaching, and we have even heard of
some shop owners becoming verbally
aggressive if a prospective buyer comes in
to browse but decides not to buy
anything. he good thing is that most
prices are negotiable, even for things like
accommodation; ask for a “discount”
when checking in. If shopping, bargain
hard but with a smile and good humour,
as anger and unpleasantness constitutes a
major loss of face. he idea is to agree on
a price that both you and seller are happy
with. Don't make your interest obvious,
shop around to see how much other
sellers are asking and decide on a
reasonable price that you're happy to pay;
if you can't get it, then walk away, and in
most cases the seller will chase after you.

MONEY AND BANKS
Vietnam's currency is the dong , usually
abbreviated as “VND” or “d”. Notes come
in denominations of 1000VND,
2000VND, 5000VND, 10,000VND,
20,000VND, 50,000VND,
100,000VND, 200,000VND and
500,000VND. Dong are not available
outside the country, but the US dollar is
used as uno cial tender throughout
Vietnam (with the exception of rural areas,
where dong is the preferred currency). If
you pay in dollars, the exchange rate is
20,000VND to the dollar, but if you
actually exchange dollars for dong at a
money exchange, you get a better rate of
around 21,000-22,000VND to the dollar;
large denomination bills (US$50 and
$100 get better rates than if you exchange
$1, $5, $10 or $20). At the end of your
trip, try to use up your dong, as few
countries outside Vietnam will exchange
their own currencies for it. At the time of
writing, the exact exchange rate was
21,090VND to $1; 34,626VND to £1;
and 28,822VND to €1.
Major credit cards are accepted in many
hotels and upmarket restaurants and shops
throughout the country. twenty-four-hour
ATMs (on the Visa, Plus, MasterCard,
Maestro and Cirrus networks) are
ubiquitous in larger cities, and even smaller
ones will have a couple (dong only).

11

DOLLARS OR DONG?
In Vietnam, most of the larger costs (such as
accommodation and transport) are quoted
in US dollars , but can be paid for in either
currency; smaller amounts (for a street meal
or a museum entrance ticket) change
hands in dong , but both currencies are
used interchangeably throughout the
country. We've given prices in the currency
quoted in each case.

OPENING HOURS AND HOLIDAYS
State-run banks and government o ces
usually open Monday to Friday, closing at
weekends. Banking hours are usually
Monday to Friday 7.30 to 11.30am and
1 to 4pm, though cash exchanges keep
longer hours. Most main post o ces are
open daily from 6.30am to 8pm or 9pm.