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[Currency Question/travel tips!]Going to Dominican Republic
kathos
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm going to the Dominican Republic in a few weeks for some vacation time and I had a question about money.
I checked the currency exchange website and 1 CND dollar is about 30 DOP (pesos) but what do they charge for stuff there? When I go into the capital and stuff like a pop in Toronto is $1, would a can of pop there be 1 peso as well? Or like 3 pesos?
Example: When I went to Peru a few years back I saw they were selling iPods, but it was like triple the price in PEN (Peruvian Nuevo Soles) I guess to reflect the American price?
Also what should I bring? I'm taking my DS along for the plane ride over and a camera for obvious reasons. But gadget wise I guess I should be leaving my phone up here right?
Kidnappings! Does that happen? When I went to foreign countries I was always flanked by my local cousins but is there a real danger in the Dominican or is it all just my paranoia with Hollywood make-believe mixed in?
Also any travel tips? What to bring? What to watch out for? Anything helps! Thanks guys!
I checked the currency exchange website and 1 CND dollar is about 30 DOP (pesos) but what do they charge for stuff there? When I go into the capital and stuff like a pop in Toronto is $1, would a can of pop there be 1 peso as well? Or like 3 pesos?
Example: When I went to Peru a few years back I saw they were selling iPods, but it was like triple the price in PEN (Peruvian Nuevo Soles) I guess to reflect the American price?
Also what should I bring? I'm taking my DS along for the plane ride over and a camera for obvious reasons. But gadget wise I guess I should be leaving my phone up here right?
Kidnappings! Does that happen? When I went to foreign countries I was always flanked by my local cousins but is there a real danger in the Dominican or is it all just my paranoia with Hollywood make-believe mixed in?
Also any travel tips? What to bring? What to watch out for? Anything helps! Thanks guys!
kathos on
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http://wikitravel.org/en/Dominican_Republic
I know for sure you shouldn't be worried about being kidnapped in the DR, just don't do anything "stupid tourist" and you'll be fine. I do know my friends got chased by a kid with a machete but thats because they went down the wrong road, and one girl being of the more oblivious type followed a guy back to his house to see his "surfing trophies" and by "trophies" he meant the montser in his pants. She didn't get raped or anything but the situation could have been handled better heh.
It will be hot so wear light clothes and take sunscreen if you burn easy. Ill let you know about the money as soon as I talk to my friend. Who I think is down there visiting his grandparents right now.
I'm currently living in DR since two years on the North coast and I'm French so sorry for the mistakes
About your questions, I can assure you the risk is little compared to other countries in South and central America. I've never heard about kidnapped people, except in Haiti. First of all, if you have chosen an "all inclusive formula", don't listen to all the bullshit reps can tell you ; they will just try to sell their tours. Of course, if you go outside during the night with lots of money or jewelery and in poor areas (or in some touristic areas), you have a risk to be robbed. Generaly, Dominican people are very friendly. They will always try to have some money from you (they will ask you to buy them a beer for example...), just be careful and say no, they will stop to harrass you right away. That's an advice I could give in whatever country you could go.
About the money, you can check the daily change at the Dominican central bank : http://www.bancentral.gov.do/tasas_cambio/TMC4001.PDF
I can give you some examples about prices (but everything depends on where you are) : a small beer in a bar is generally around 80 pesos, a small bottle of water : 10 pesos, a small coca cola : 40 pesos, the traditional meal (meat with rice, red beans and salad) is around 130 pesos...
DR is not the better country to buy electronic stuff, everything comes from abroad so they are generally more expensive. My boyfriend just bought an Ipod in the States, it was 9 000 pesos, here he saw it for 20 000 pesos...
Don't worry about the heat, take a hat, drink lots of water in bottle (never at the tap), put some suncream, stay in the shadow and you should be fine. And enjoy your trip !
If you want further information about the country, you can have a look at this website http://www.actimcabrera.com/en/dominican_republic.html. If you want more tips about what to see in the country, tell me where you are going and I could help you.
Bye
Eli