Bring US$50 to Vietnam and exchange it. The rate is now over 20,000 Vietnamese Dong per dollar.

Inflation in Vietnam has been high for most of the last decade, twice jumping well over 20%. The cumulative effects on prices is obviously huge. While you may feel cool with a few mil in your pocket, you still wonder where the money went after buying lunch at Burger King in the airport. (By the way, the Whopper tasted just like a Whopper does in its country of origin, which is a lot more than I can say for Vietnamese food in O’Hare!)

The rate on the Cambodian Real isn’t quite so high, but when Karin generously tipped her tuk-tuk driver in Siem Reap a hundred, he giggled and rolled his eyes. She only later realized that her generosity equalled a little over 2 Canadian cents. (so she tracked him down and gave him something appropriate!)