Watch those exchange rates!

We thought we’d planned things pretty well for leaving Thailand. After buying some food for the plane, and donating the remaining loose change, we had four 1,000 Thai bhat (BHT) notes in hand to exchange to Singapore dollars (SGD).

The posted rate at the airport was 22.66, so our 4,000 BHT would be 176.52 SGD. The exchange booth wasn’t near our gate, so we decided to wait until we arrived in Singapore to exchange our notes. First mistake…

Everything on Tiger Airline flights is “extra” but we had expected that no-charge water would be available. Unfortunately not—so when we asked for some water, the smiling hostess unscrewed the caps and passed them to us. “That will be $6.40 sir.”

For two small bottles of water? Yikes! I found my wallet and pulled out one of the notes. “Uh, sorry… all we have are 1,000 bhat notes.”

“No problem sir. At our onboard exchange rate of 27.14, that will be $30.40 less the water, so here is your change in Singapore currency…” Mistake number 2: carry smaller notes!

We arrived very late into Singapore—and learned that Tiger Airlines flies into the “Budget Terminal” instead of the modern Changi terminal. The currency exchange booth was still open, but the rate was 23.53—much better than the rate on the plane, but still more than at Bangkok.

Withdrawing cash from an ATM incurs additional bank charge fees, but having to exchange currency adds even more to the effective exchange rates.

Millions in my pocket

As I noted in an earlier post, getting used to currency is a necessary early task as one travels from one country into another.

At the airport in Luang Prabang, we were able to exchange our remaining KIP into Vietnamese dong (VND), but were refused a receipt—never a good sign! As it turned out, the exchange rate was almost exactly the official rate though, and the handful of bills gave us an idea about what to expect as we flew to Hanoi.

An ATM at the very modern Hanoi airport spit out four 500,000 VND notes—the per transaction maximum, and roughly equivalent to C$120. Not a lot to count, so I put the 2 million VND into my pocket.

As usual, large denominations didn’t go far: dinner was 142,000; a beer 18,000—and our comfortable hotel room ~400,000 VND per night. We were determined not to be caught short when it came to leaving our Hoi An hotel after nine nights—plus we’d both had several custom shirts made—so we made a point to withdraw enough over several days to have several million VND between us.

All Vietnamese banknotes feature the smiling face of Ho Chi Minh. Large denomination notes have a clear watermarked panel in different shapes for different bills as a feature to help thwart forgeries.

Unfortunately though, the 10,000 and 100,000 VND notes are quite similar. When we left Vietnam, our cash count and record of spending was off by ~190,000 VND. Apparently some Vietnamese are well experienced at noticing the difference: we decided we’d almost certainly given a couple of people a 100,000 note instead of a 10,000 note, and not realized that the change tendered was short.

Oh well… chalk it up as a C$11 lesson!

Money matters

Getting a wad of bills adding up to 700,000 is a bit unnerving—even if it is really only about C$90.

In Laos, the currency is “Kip” (LAK) and the few ATMs in Luang Prabang will only dispense a maximum of 700,000 at one time. For most Laotians, this would provide food for a family for quite a while, but it can disappear quickly when a typical tourist meal for two costs 110,000 Kip.

The US dollar is still the preferred standard here, and many costs are quoted in USD. If you have them, dollars are happily accepted; if not, an exchange rate converts the price to Kip. The rate varies but is generally (in February 2010) around 8,400 Kip to USD$1.

But how much is that in Canadian dollars? Checking for a rate online can give a ballpark figure, but ATM and bank fees can change the effective rate dramatically. Our Canadian bank charges C$5 for an international ATM transaction, and the Laotian bank charges an additional fee in Kip. For relatively small withdrawals, these charges will end up boosting the real exchange rate.

We check our bank statement online to see the actual amount debited to calculate a real rate, and it demonstrates why larger withdrawals make more sense. For example, the 500,000 Kip withdrawal on February 18 ended up being a debit of C$65.73 with a C$5 fee, so the effective rate was 7,069 Kip to C$1 (500,000/70.73). A withdrawal of 700,000 the next day was C$91.16 with the same C$5 fee, so the effective rate for those Kip was 7,279 to C$1.

A 10,000 Kip beer paid from the first withdrawal will be C$1.41, but C$1.37 from the second. This isn’t a big difference for a single beer, but the 3% on a guesthouse bill of 1,045,000 would be 31,350 Kip — enough to enjoy 3 beers.

A small inexpensive calculator helps us develop a sense of costs in Canadian dollars. I put the real rate into the calculator memory so I can use it to divide common prices in Kip. Renting two bikes for 35,000 Kip each is C$4.80; an 80,000 Kip massage for two is C$10.99; and an hour of Internet access for 6,000 Kip works out to C$0.82…

After a day or two, we seldom need the calculator. Mind you, it still feels strange to think nothing of spending 120,000 on a nice meal!

Slow boat down the Mekong: pay a bit more

The towns of Chiang Khong in northern Thailand and Huay Xai in Laos straddle the Mekong River that defines their common border. Both are heavily reliant on the steady flow of tourists beginning the “classic” boat trip down the Mekong to Luang Prabang.

A burst of activity every morning brings ferry loads of people from the Thai side to wait in immigration lines on the Laotian side before boarding various classes of boat for the downstream journey.

The “fast boats” can make it in seven hours, but the 5–6 people on board have a bumpy, noisy ride, and the helmets they need to wear makes picture-taking impractical.

The “slow boats” take two days, with an overnight stop in Pak Beng. The public versions have wooden benches, and pack in as many people as possible. These are commercial river boats, so can stop for passengers along the way. Many such boats take turns operating as luxury boats, wherein the wooden benches are replaced by comfortable upholstered seats, and carry a limited number of people.

We had been planning to take a slow boat, but were becoming apprehensive after reading forums where people described sore bottoms from hard seats, being stuck in direct sun, excessive drinking and cigarette smoke — as well as a general melee for getting seats and then finding accommodation in Pak Beng. It was beginning to sound like a hassle instead of a highlight.

Amongst the horror stories in a forum thread about the slow boats, one comment about a positive experience prompted me to email Adisak at Nagi of Mekong — despite some followup responses that made him sound unreliable. I got a response immediately. Not only was he prompt, but provided details for days and costs. We had no specific dates at that time, but kept in touch, and by the time we were ready, we let him know. He booked our selected hotel in Chiang Khong (their web site was broken), and picked us up the morning of the cruise. We fully expected to be part of a larger group, but learned that we were alone with one other couple: the entire boat and an English-speaking Lao guide for two days!

Adisak crossed with us and helped by explaining the crazy immigration process: everyone pushes and congregates at three mall windows as the very methodical Laotian officials process the passports and take cash for the visas as if there was no crowd at all. Knowing that there is a process — however bizarre it may seem — made it a lot easier to cope with!

Passports with new visas in hand, we were whisked off to the boat, where our bags and the other couple were waiting. We thanked Adisak for his help and he waved as we pushed off. We only then realized he hadn’t asked for payment. When I asked Pet, our Lao guide, he nodded and smiled. “It’s okay, pay later.” (We did!)

As we passed the first of the public boats loading up, we were glad to have paid the premium as people with big bags scrambled up to claim the good seats. Slower people, or those less fortunate in the immigration process, would have noisier seats near the back or be stuck on middle of a bench.

The public boat ticket prices are much lower, but an accurate comparison is hard to make. Different sellers charge different rates, and the boats rotate in service, so quality can vary. I spoke to one couple who had paid 1,200 THB each (~C$38) — but then had to pay for the ferry across the river, plus a tuk tuk to take them and their bags to the dock, plus food on board, plus a dismal room in Pak Beng…

For 4,600 THB (~C$144), we had comfortable seats, excellent food on board, a well-informed English-speaking guide, several interesting stops, and a comfortable room with breakfast in Pak Beng.

All of the logistics were looked after for us, so there was almost no stress. We arrived in Luang Prabang feeling relaxed and stimulated.

The extra cost was a very small price to pay for an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime trip.