More and more countries are becoming accessible to our fellow tourists. Exotics is still of interest to those for whom the Crimea or, say, Arkhyz was the most unusual before. And it is not surprising that the countries of Asia and the East attract unbalanced Russians and residents of the CIS with a bright and unusual way of life, peculiar customs - all that is called the word “exotic”. Recently, Vietnam has occupied a significant place in the list of these states. Its monetary unit, accordingly, became interesting to a large number of those who want to visit this country.
A bit of history
The name of the native currency of this state came from the metal from which Vietnam originally made dongs. The monetary unit as a result is called a word, sounding very similar to “bronze” or “copper”. And she first appeared in 1947 in North Vietnam, and in 1955 in South. When Saigon fell in 1975, the South Vietnamese dong began to be called free, and in 1978 the dongs of the North and South united, and the banknote became common to all parts of the country.
Cost and convertibility
Dong is the smallest and also non-convertible currency. Initially, like, say, the ruble, it consisted of smaller denominations - 10 hao or 100 sou. Now, however, the dong has fallen so much in price that such small banknotes are simply missing. Among many other countries, Vietnam suffered from inflation. Its currency is now in the thousands, but it costs a little. So, in order to convert the dongs into rubles, thousands must be multiplied by one and a half. And, for example, the North American dollar costs more than 21 thousand dongs. In connection with such an abundance of zeros on banknotes, the smallest - with a face value of only a hundred, and there are 500 thousand. There were still coins worth 200 to 5 thousand dong, but this is a rarity. It will come across when traveling to Vietnam - you should not let it down, you see, it will turn out to be sold to some numismatist, and much more expensive than the face value.
How to pay on a trip
Since it is not possible to get dongs in Russian exchanges (we remind you that it is not converted), you will have to take dollars with you on the road. There is no country more friendly to them than Vietnam! The monetary unit of the United States will be willingly exchanged for dongs practically everywhere, just consider the incredulity of the local population and get clean, whole and relatively new bills. And it’s very common practice to take bucks, and give change in dongs. The monetary unit of modern Vietnam is willingly exchanged by its inhabitants for yen, baht, yuan and the euro, although preference is still given to the dollar. The main thing is not to forget to declare imported money at customs, otherwise you may not be able to take the "change" out of the country.
Where is it more profitable to change
The safest places are hotels, the airport and exchange points. Recount necessarily obtained everywhere: do not hesitate to cheat! Experienced travelers are advised to ask how much is the monetary unit of Vietnam in jewelry stores, they say the rate is better there.
Bank cards
Instead of cash, it is more convenient for many to pay their expenses with a plastic card. If you belong to this category, check with the bank that issued the payment method, whether it will operate in Vietnam, and how much will be charged for the service. It is worth considering that at the ATM you can get money there, but only in the form of dongs, and 10% will be torn off for the service.