May 19, 2004

Well, so much for the seasoned travellers. Today we flew from Hanoi to Bangkok, and I made a mistake that cost me a fortune. Apparently it is illegal to take Vietnamese currency out of the country, but I didn't know this (there was no information at the airport, I only learnt it was illegal by reading my Lonely Planet after I discovered my mistake). Anyway, there I am at the airport, having gone through all the security checks, and pat-downs from the friendly Vietnamese Airport Security Police, and emerging into the international departures lounge. There were a few stalls selling gifts, and a couple of small duty-free boutiques. There was even a bookshop, but it didn't sell anything in English - apart from an official documentary of the brave Vietnamese struggle against the French Imperialists at Dien Bien Phu! But there wasn't a money exchange. So I couldn't change my leftover Dong into Thai Baht. No worry, I thought, I'll change it in Bangkok.
It was only on arrival at Bangkok airport that I realised the depth of my mistake. They wouldn't change Dong, and they didn't know anywhere that would (that’s when I read the Lonely Planet!). So now I'm left with a rather bulging trouser pocket full of my Dong. And no way to get rid of it. And here's the sad bit - it's not just a couple of Dong. It is ONE MILLION DONG! - that's about $60 in real money - and its completely worthless. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll find somebody travelling to Vietnam that we can sell it to (If you're going on holiday to Vietnam, well, you know our email address!). And failing that, I'll have to run another competition on this website, and make somebody a millionaire!. And then they can have a bulging pocketful of Dong. Watch this space.