Re: Currency exchange thing
We brought over $33K in cash. Some was for my wife's relatives and some was for trying to convert. Well, if it's too good to be true...
My wife's mother-in-law was correct in that you can get a better exchange rate in the gray market than through a bank, but is wasn't nearly as substantial as she had told us. Just like in stocks, there is a buy/sell spread, which was about 7.5% as I recall, so even with help we didn't feel it was worth the hassle of going to a bank to wire the money back to the US.
However, I should point out that the whole country is like one big 50% off sale because of the devaluation. For local things, like CDs, the average price was about 12-14,000 won, or between $8 and $9. Books and food were also, therefore, quite cheap. Luxary hotels are a steal and offering really good rates.
So, now is a good time to go overseas... but just be sure to bring Tylenol and Pepto (gg).
- Jeff |
