Ha Giang
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Ho Chi Minh City
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Sapa
Mekong Delta
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Thai Nguyen
Landing in Ho Chi Minh City next week for three weeks (HCMC, Da Lat, Hoi An, Hanoi) with my wife and two kids. Hotels are all booked and paid by card, but I have no idea what daily life runs on over there.
Is it mostly cash for street food, taxis, small shops? Which ATMs charge the least? Someone told me to bring USD as backup, is that actually useful or just old advice? And Grab, do you pay cash or card in the app?
I hate carrying a thick wallet around with kids in tow, but I also do not want to be that guy holding up a pho stall because my card does not work. What is your system?
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I carried around 2-3 million dong max and topped up at ATMs in bigger towns. Most places take card now anyway except street food stalls and small shops.
I usually carry around 2 to 3 million dong and top up from ATMs as I go. ATMs are everywhere in cities, less so in small towns so stock up before heading somewhere remote. Heads up that most ATMs charge 55k to 100k per withdrawal, so take out bigger amounts fewer times.
Replying to Janet Allan
Good to know about the fees, I would have been doing small withdrawals all trip. Do most hotels and restaurants take cards, or is it really cash everywhere outside the big cities?
Replying to Carl
Hotels and bigger restaurants in the cities take cards no problem. But street food, markets, small guesthouses, Grab bike, all cash. I take out 5 million at once to save the fees, that lasts me about a week. Bring a card with no foreign transaction fee, some banks charge extra on top of the ATM fee.