Cambodia's 2$ mystery
As some of you will know already, the most useful and popular currency for tourists in Cambodia is the US Dollar. The local currency is the Cambodian Riel with approx 4000 Riel equal to 1 USD (as of August 2013 anyway).
Our tuk-tuk rides from the hotel to the town centre in Siem Reap were typically 1$ or 2$ per way. American cents are not accepted so when we shopped or paid restaurant bills we would often get Riel notes back as change. We tried to hold onto a few Riel but they weren't too useful. The tuk-tuk drivers seem to prefer dollars and most shops displayed prices in dollars too. Twice we succeeded in bargaining and offering some Riel over a discounted dollar price. Occasionally we managed to use them in local shop to buy fruit.
Bargaining for me was mostly an unsatisfactory experience in Siem Reap. I speak here as someone who has grown up with it and enjoy the kick of getting a few cents/ pence/ anything actually off the marked price. When I'm in Asia I have to re-sharpen my bargaining skills, reminding myself once again of all the tactics learnt in the bazaars of Delhi. However in Siem Reap, none of the usual Indian bargaining tricks brought results. Mid-way through the trip I realised that not understanding the local language especially the numbers in Khmer was proving to be a serious drawback for both parties- the 'haggler' and the 'haglee' (!) Another real issue was that the locals in the town centre seem so spoilt by American, European and Japanese tourists that they would rather lose a handful of South Asian customers than spoil their high dollar rate.
The only success therefore was in negotiating items like five key rings for the price of three, or three t-shirts for the price of two. The cotton summer wear was the same price or slightly more expensive than the Indian bazaars. Once we got over this barrier of accepting that we wouldn't be able to budge these shop owners too much, we were able to enjoy the shopping a bit more.
As usual I got side-tracked as to the main reason for this post. So the two dollar story is bizarre. We hadn't received any 2$ notes till the second last day when the currency exchange shop slipped two of these in. We figured it wouldn't be a big deal the two dollar note is a valid currency in the US (although not many are printed these days). But wherever we tried to use these we got fobbed off. The ice-cream shop said the tuk-tuk driver will take them, the tuk-tuk driver said the local shop will take them and the local shop said the fruit-seller would take it. None of them did.
Back at the hotel, the reception staff said these are not accepted in Cambodia. We got onto the internet to find out why. Apparently the 2$ note was considered so lucky that it began to be sold for more than its face value. To the extent that in 2011 an enterprising American youth managed to fund his whole holiday by carrying 2$ noted from the US and selling them at a profit!
Due to this artificial demand and possibly use in illegal activities, only $1, $5, $10 and higher notes are accepted in Cambodia. Beware though as poeple will try to slip 2$ notes in your chnage when you are not paying attention. At the airport when we ordered french fries from a cafe, the waiter tried to give us back change in 2$ notes. We had to ask him for 1-dollar notes instead! Also feel free to politely ask for better notes if shops offer dollar notes which are torn or really worn out as other local shops may refuse them.
As for our 2$ from the currency exchange shop, we kept them as memetos, thereby adding to the 1.2 billion dollar worth of 2$ notes that are supposedly being hoarded by people in the US.
Our tuk-tuk rides from the hotel to the town centre in Siem Reap were typically 1$ or 2$ per way. American cents are not accepted so when we shopped or paid restaurant bills we would often get Riel notes back as change. We tried to hold onto a few Riel but they weren't too useful. The tuk-tuk drivers seem to prefer dollars and most shops displayed prices in dollars too. Twice we succeeded in bargaining and offering some Riel over a discounted dollar price. Occasionally we managed to use them in local shop to buy fruit.
Bargaining for me was mostly an unsatisfactory experience in Siem Reap. I speak here as someone who has grown up with it and enjoy the kick of getting a few cents/ pence/ anything actually off the marked price. When I'm in Asia I have to re-sharpen my bargaining skills, reminding myself once again of all the tactics learnt in the bazaars of Delhi. However in Siem Reap, none of the usual Indian bargaining tricks brought results. Mid-way through the trip I realised that not understanding the local language especially the numbers in Khmer was proving to be a serious drawback for both parties- the 'haggler' and the 'haglee' (!) Another real issue was that the locals in the town centre seem so spoilt by American, European and Japanese tourists that they would rather lose a handful of South Asian customers than spoil their high dollar rate.
The only success therefore was in negotiating items like five key rings for the price of three, or three t-shirts for the price of two. The cotton summer wear was the same price or slightly more expensive than the Indian bazaars. Once we got over this barrier of accepting that we wouldn't be able to budge these shop owners too much, we were able to enjoy the shopping a bit more.
As usual I got side-tracked as to the main reason for this post. So the two dollar story is bizarre. We hadn't received any 2$ notes till the second last day when the currency exchange shop slipped two of these in. We figured it wouldn't be a big deal the two dollar note is a valid currency in the US (although not many are printed these days). But wherever we tried to use these we got fobbed off. The ice-cream shop said the tuk-tuk driver will take them, the tuk-tuk driver said the local shop will take them and the local shop said the fruit-seller would take it. None of them did.
Back at the hotel, the reception staff said these are not accepted in Cambodia. We got onto the internet to find out why. Apparently the 2$ note was considered so lucky that it began to be sold for more than its face value. To the extent that in 2011 an enterprising American youth managed to fund his whole holiday by carrying 2$ noted from the US and selling them at a profit!
Due to this artificial demand and possibly use in illegal activities, only $1, $5, $10 and higher notes are accepted in Cambodia. Beware though as poeple will try to slip 2$ notes in your chnage when you are not paying attention. At the airport when we ordered french fries from a cafe, the waiter tried to give us back change in 2$ notes. We had to ask him for 1-dollar notes instead! Also feel free to politely ask for better notes if shops offer dollar notes which are torn or really worn out as other local shops may refuse them.
As for our 2$ from the currency exchange shop, we kept them as memetos, thereby adding to the 1.2 billion dollar worth of 2$ notes that are supposedly being hoarded by people in the US.
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