Riel Problems

"Mo Money Mo Problems," I doubt that Biggie was talking about the Cambodian currency, the Riel. In Cambodia there are two ways to pay: you can either pay in dollars or in Riel, although places say they take cards they don't really.  Paying with dollars is really convenient and I think the locals actually prefer it,  as mostly everything is negotiated in dollars. The Riel on the other hand is when things start to get interesting.

Maybe 4 dollars?

The current exchange rate is roughly 4,000 Riel = 1 dollar. It does feel cool to have a couple million in any currency, but that's where the novelty wears off. The currency notes that I have seen goes as follows: 20000, 10000, 5000, 4000, 2000, 1000, 500, 100, 50. I believe there are larger notes, but like the tooth fairy or Tony Romo winning a playoff game I have never seen it. That means the largest bill being used roughly equates to $5 and the lowest is a meager penny. The beauty of a coin system that even if for some reason you have a dollar in pennies it still not that bad you can roll them up or have a cool fanny pack for your coins. On the other hand, carrying 40 one hundred Riel notes would be ridiculous. The vast amount of bills that you end up carrying starts to accumulate quickly. It would be nice if anything could be bought with the smaller bills, but ultimately that is not the case. The worst part is paying with large dollar bills and getting back a whole bunch of Riel back, when you know they have dollars. Ironically, another tidbit about currency is that if a dollar bill has the smallest mark or tear nobody will take it, while some of the Riel that I've received look like they've been used as emergency toilet paper (just kidding toilet paper isn't a thing here)

My reaction whenever I pay in dollars and get back Riel for change

All in all the Riel is not that big of a problem in the great scheme of things, just an annoyance which I find slightly amusing. If you're ever in Cambodia be prepared to carry a gangster roll of money or you can put it all in your wallet or purse and end up like George.....