Wonkyknee

Kathie, Nywoman, Craig, Anotherlostsoul - spring to mind!

I have booked all my flights (external and internal), all my hotels, Halong Bay cruise, and some guides (thank you Kathie for Minthu ref). all Burma trip through an agency.

I now need to know how much I should budget for 14 days in Burma, 14 days in Vietnam, 8 days in Cambodia, 6 days in Laos and 15 days in Chiang Mai (5days) Ko Chang (5 days) and BK (5 days) - including arriving and departure taxes in each country, entrance fees to heritage sites, temples, wats etc. Cannot afford Balloon over Bagan this time around.

Thanks to anotherlostsoul for help with Burma agency - a great help. Also, grateful thanks to Kathie and Nywoman for lots of help and advice and all the other reports I have been reading - I will pay my dues in kind when I have completed this trip - it starts on 29th jan and finishes on 28th March 2010.

Kathie

You can use ATMs in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. in Cambodia, the cash machines dispense US dollars. You'll use local currency in Thailand and Laos, but mostly dollars in CAmbodia.

Burma is the place where you ned to plan your money carefully, as you can't get more. (well, you can but it will be very expensive, likely a 30% surcharge). Take the exact amount of your bill from the travel agency. In addition, you'll need US dollars for entrance fees, and additional charges to your hotel tab (meals, laundry) and $10 departure tax. Take along US$100 to change for kyat in Rangoon. You'll need kyat to pay for taxis, food and purchases outside your hotels, Minthu, tips, etc. I think we exchanged about $300 for 10 days, but we spent pretty freely.

John H, who is also heading to Burma asked this same question, so check out the replies to his thread
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ominations.cfm

Nywoman

There are few ATM's available in Laos, and the fee is pretty high. In Thailand there are ATM's everywhere but you pay a withdrawal fee each time. If you bank reimburses you for ATM fees, it doesn't matter, if not it adds up pretty quickly.

As Kathy said go to the other thread, I am more of a budget traveler than she is, which is why $300 in kyat lasted for 3 weeks.

rhkkmk

its almost impossible to determine how much one should bring without knowing your spending habits, eating habits, spending habits.... its always way more than one plans for, imo

Wonkyknee

Kathie, Nywoman and rhkkmk -

Thanks for all replies - having looked at all the options, can you tell me if I can change $US into Lao currency when I arrive in the country - likewise, in Thailand? If so, where would be the best place to change these $US? I would call myself a budget traveller with the odd splurge along the way. I do my long-haul flights Business or First Class, all internal flights coach, go to ONE top-class restaurant in each city, spend one night at a 5* hotel when I "need" to, I am taking a deluxe Halong Bay cruise, purely because I may never do this trip again - so in short, I combine a mix of B&B's (but, choose TA top-rated stays)and the occasional 5* hotel. My eating habits will be mainly local restaurants. I like to walk a lot so will not necessarily take taxis everywhere - will use local guides to get information and background that would take me ages to read about! Again, I have seen very diverse fees for guide services - eg $60 for a day in Luang Prabang and $15 in Siem Reap - why? I hope this gives you a better idea of where I am at!!

Hanuman

This information might be useful for you.

ATM in Thailand dispenses Thai Baht. Thai Baht is the most established currency amongst the countries you're visiting so you can with relative ease exchange Baht back to USD when you leave. The ATMs at the airport, AIRSIDE, dispenses USD only so that could be useful for you.

ATM in Laos dispenses Kip but be aware that it will be harder to exchange USD back from Kip. Thai Baht is widely accepted in Laos but the exchange rate might confuse you.

ATM in Cambodia dispenses USD as the Riel is not worth much. USD is widely accepted throughout the country.

ATM in Myanmar - ha, ha.

You can change USD into the local currency in all the countries you're visiting. Exchanging the local currencies back to USD might be hard in some countries. Many foreign banks have surcharge for withdrawing money from ATMs(Thailand = 150 Baht or roughly USD 3.5 per withdraw and the maximum withdraw at one time is 25,000 Baht) so be aware. Credit cards is used widely in Thailand and only at the very local places will they not accept credit card. You might be ask for a surcharge of around 1 - 5 % for using credit card.

Guides - unless you have your heart set out for a particular guide, like Tong for Bangkok, I would wait until I have arrived at the destination and then negotiate. I usually pay around USD 25 per day for a guide.

rhkkmk

each area really sets the rate for that area for guides....in siem reap it used to be $20/day but had now crept up to as much as $40... it all depends on supply and demand really and the going wage....each country is different...

i agree with all hanuman has said, except i prefer to have my guide arranged in advance if he/she is to be with me for a whole day....if it is just a guide for a certain place then it is easy to wait until you arrive at that place... i feel this way you then get a tested guide, one who may speak better english in my case...