Vietnam and Cambodia

I spent five weeks in Vietnam (2 weeks volunteering in Hanoi with Global Volunteers and 3 weeks on an OAT tour). I also went to Cambodia. I never had any trouble using my credit union debit card in ATMs there and recommend using ATMs rather than exchanging dollars. I also used credit cards in places like hotels.

Cambodia actually uses American dollars as their currency and that’s what you get when you use an ATM. Do not ask for multiples of $100 because you are likely to get $100 bills which can be hard to break. Ask for an amount like $80 so you get smaller bills. If you bring dollars from home, the bills must be pristine! I had one $20 refused in a restaurant because of some small defect. Get the best bills your bank can find and maybe iron them (that’s what I did LOL!)

The Global Volunteer team stayed at the Hanoi L’Heritage Hotel, right in the heart of the old part of the city. It was a great location and the staff were very friendly and helpful. They have an elevator and AC. The breakfast was good and served up on the top floor with a view of the surrounding city. One note: ask for a room on upper floors because some of the rooms on lower levels are “caves” with no natural light. The “window” is up against a neighboring building.

The equivalent of Uber in Vietnam is “Grab” and it’s very inexpensive.

There are many local tour companies for day tours. The hotel can help you book these or browse sites like TripAdvisor.. A street food tour is lots of fun and will introduce you to wonderful food.

If you fly to Cambodia and then end up returning to Vietnam for your flight home, be sure to get a Vietnam visa allowing for multiple entries.

Bring new, undamaged US bills in low denominations to Cambodia. (edit - oops - this is noted above!) No need for an ATM machine there if you are comfortable carrying cash - distribute in various locations (purse, money belt, etc) for carrying. US credit cards (Visa, Mastercard) will generally be accepted at larger shops, hotels, restaurants.

I have sometimes found it hard to get newer bills at my home bank - I've had to travel to several branches when I needed them. The tellers generally understand the request in my area of Chicagoland, but they often don't have newer bills in the till.

Where in Cambodia are you traveling?

I'll note that though Cambodia accepts the US dollar, any change you get in coins will be in Cambodian riels. Try to spend that as soon as you can as it's impossible to exchange when you get home (versus your pristine US paper money). It has been a minute since I was there but I did get some local currency in Cambodia and Vietnam from ATMs without a problem.

Giang Son gemstone jewelry in Hanoi and Ha Tam jewelry to exchange USD for VND (New/ clean and big notes for better rates).
Mai Linh or Vinasun taxi brand (Grab motorbike/ car like Uber will be cheaper).
You can use baolau dot com site for booking trains and vexere dot com site for booking buses.

We stayed at Maison 557 in Siem Reap and loved it!

Thanks for great information!

People will tell you to bring clean $100s to Vietnam and exchange them at gold merchants. I found this inconvenient and bulky. I used ATMs after researching which ones had best fees. A Charles Schwab account takes 20 minutes to set up and refunds all of your foreign ATM fees. We used credit cards everywhere except little places. You just typically pay 3% to cover their costs.

Don't use taxis. Download the Grab app and use that. It's easy to use, you don't have to worry about getting overcharged and it's absolutely the most convenient choice. You can opt for a scooter ride on that app if you want. In congested traffic, that's the best way to get around quickly.

Hanoi is really awesome. Stay near Hoan Kiem. We stayed at the Hanoi Pearl which was a really nice splurge. (still super cheap by US or Canadian standards)

I did a trip report this year if you want to take a look at that. Have fun!