Money Money Money Exchange

One of the things about traveling on a budget is that some countries are a lot cheaper to travel than others. The sad side to this is most of these countries are quite poor and many of the citizens have lower standards of living than we are used to at home. This is definitely the case in many of the countries I am going to try and visit on the trip. As a result the US dollar goes a long, long way and can be used to have significantly more time traveling or higher luxuries for the same cost as, say, going to Europe, which I like a lot when trying to be budget minded!

The website that I use to keep up with daily currency fluctuations is XE.com currency exchange. One thing I should note is although these are traditionally accepted rates the bank that you get money out of will tack on some fees and has some pull on how they can set their rate. As a result your actual exchange rate will probably be slightly lower if you go to take money out. Just to get an idea of what you'll need, it is good to find out what the currency exchange rates are and then what typical costs are for food, hostels, and the rest of the typical fees you'd see while traveling are in each country. I compiled a list of the current currency exchange rates, accurate to December 15th. I will probably update a list like this a few more times before I go, just be aware that they could fluctuate drastically and daily depending on the market, all values are equivalent to 1 USD. (Pictured: Holding about 500Euro, or $750USD in May 2008)

Japanese Yen: 90.5
Chinese Yuan: 6.8
Hong Kong Dollars: 7.8
Macao Pataca: 8
Vietnam Dong: 16,784
Cambodian Riel: 3971
Thai Baht: 34.7
Malaysian Ringgits: 3.5
Singaporean Dinar: 1.5
Indonesian Rupiah: 11,123
Indian Rupee: 47.5
Nepal Rupee: 75.3
Brazilian Real: 2.4
Argentinian Peso: 3.4
Chilean Peso: 634
Peruvian Nuevo Sol: 3
Mexican Peso: 13.3

I could go on and on with examples on what some conversions are and will likely talk about them in some detail when I post about the following topics in the future but here is a brief snippit of what I have found.

Many hostel booking websites like hostelworld can let you see the price in the USD equivalent so that takes knowledge of the exchange rate out of the picture. On the above list those can go from $25USD/day dorms in Japan to $3/day singles in Western India.

Other important things to know, like transportation, vary with style as well. In China a hard overnight sleeper can go around 200 Yuan, or $30USD shared with 4 people for a 20 hour ride. On the cheaper end a bus cross border through Cambodia and Thailand can be under $10 for a 10 hour ride. There are plenty of options and frills that can vastly increase the price for these, however.

Traditionally most tourist sites cost something proportional to what the cost of everything else is - more expensive in Japan and cheaper in places like Cambodia. Unfortunately in some of these poorer countries they are now instituting a separate tourist fee for the large attractions that is many times higher than that for locals. One good example of this is the Taj Mahal in India where locals pay 20 Rupees ($0.50) and Foreigners pay 250 (~$5.50) plus additional fees.

It is still relatively affordable, but when you are trying to stretch a budget $5 could go for other things like transportation to the next city or a full days worth of meals, it would really add up over time.

Posted in: Currency,Initial