WATCH: Scott Market, Yangon, Myanmar: Changing Money at the Market
After breakfast at Beautyland II around 10am, we gathered our team of Kat (Switzerland), Anke and Moritz (Germany), Michael (Australia) and us (USA) for an excursion to Scott Market, which is now called Bogyoke or Aung San Market to change money. We did not change money at the airport as the Lonely Planet says not to, but that would be our first error. When the book was printed, the exchange rate was 1000K to $1usd and the airport rate was 450K. But on September 28, 2012, the official rate was 854 and the airport rate was slightly higher.
We went to the Money Changer in the market as Banks are closed on Saturdays. The rate at the guesthouse was significantly lower than at the market. When the Moneychanger opened at 10:30am, there was a crush of people inside. The whole store was packed but the officials moved us to the front of the line and we changed money quickly.
George had brought 5 $100usd bills to change. It turns out 2 were from Bangkok Bank and were fine to change but three were from the United States and were not able to be changed. The imperfections seemed slight to us. One bill had a water stain in one corner and a barely noticeable fold mark on the other. If you are going to Myanmar, bring only the cleanest notes possible with dates after 2006 with not one mark, tear, fold, or stain.
When they offered us our money in Kyat we inspected it. We tried to return a Kyat bill with a mark written on it. The man said, “No problem.” It seemed very strange to us. September 29, 2012
This movie is from our 28 days in Myanmar (Burma) from September 28, 2012 to October 26, 2012 and our year TRIP in South East Asia, see all the videos from our trip.