Pay US$ in Cambodia and Vietnam
 

From all that I read and hear, US Dollars are king in Cambodia and to a lesser extent in Viet Nam. Now as I assemble a supply of cash to carry; with large and small bills I realize that it starting to become a lot of bulk.

Does anyone know if the US$2 bill is acceptable or is it so uncommon in the region (like it is in the US) that no one will take it?

My thinking is that some US$2 bills would lighten my burden of some of the bulk.

By the way, I have taken the advice to only carry crisp bills.

I would suspect that a $2 bill would not be accepted in either country.

My experience in VN is that you pay less in dong. So don't bother to take small US bills for VN. Use an ATM or exchange a US$100 bill for use in VN.

Just bring $100 in ones and the rest in tens and twenties. Yes it's bulky, but you'll get the best results. Forget the $2 bill, it's a false "economy".

its a pain....i also took a few $50's for guides, etc when i knew their cost...i came home with 1/2 of my 1's however

I was able to break larger bills at the hotel front desk (the Sofitel Royal Angkor) in Siem Reap. It was not a problem.

Dollar bills are very important. The price of a lot of items at the temples is $1 as well as tips for various things. I thought the people gave me change (unlike Thailand where the cab drivers are known to never carry change).

You will have no problems using $2 bills in Vietnam. In fact they are very popular and they collect them. Bring as many as you want!

Just back from Viet Nam and Cambodia where we did use a few $2 bills with no problem. As Bisbee said, they seem to display the $2 bills. They are good in both countries.

Tatersalad, that's so funny! So, when you used $2 bills, did you get more than $2 worth of goods, since they are collector's items?

There are now ATMs in Siem Reap. One at the airport and several located around town. They dispense US$.

Looking at ebay just now:

- a set of 10 consecutive $2 are fetching $20.21 with 36 minutes to go;

- a set of 5 consecutive $2 (1976) are fetching $13.01 with an hour to go;

- a set of 25 consecutive $2 (1976) are fetching $66.

I’m not so sure that they are collector items, more of a curiosity. I saw a few of them on display in shops in Cambodia but more so in Viet Nam because that is where we spent most of my time (not most of our $2 bills). I noticed a bell man at our hotel in Hoi An had one in his wallet window where most of us would put our ID or driver license.

We used VND for the most part in VN.

As for the value of goods received; I don’t think that I ever manage to get the best bargain for my money, but it’s usually only a few pennies anyway.

The only time I know of someone objecting to the $2 bill; my wife told me of an American lady who was given one in change (just after I had spent a couple of them). She didn’t think that they were valid in the US; my wife, not knowing that I had just spent them, told her that we just got a bunch of new ones from the bank before we left home.

Just one of a million interesting moments in travel.

As for the ATMs in Cambodia; although I didn't need to use one, I never did see one in either Phnom Penh or Siem Reap, nor did I look very hard. I did make a point to look at the departure area at Siem Reap airport and didn't see one there but would guess that it would be at the arrival area anyway. With the number of visitors and the amount of construction in Siem Reap I'm sure that they will be on every corner soon, like they are in Viet Nam.

were there any $3 bills being exchanged??