Of course you are entitled to do whatever you want with your money, subjected to CRA.

If your concern is convenience, then I'd suggest converting loonies to greenbacks at home. You'll have no problem changing or spending USD in Viet Nam. The exchange rate is irrelevant: your currency is currently weak. The real question is where will it be easier to change your money into something more useful in Viet Nam, at home or in-country? It's a no-brainer.

Weak or strong loonie there is always the premium for changing a currency that is not widely traded of 5 to 20%.

C'mon the CDN dollar is super strong
I think I will be fine regardless what route I decide on. Here are the most up to date rates as we speak which I received from the SGN currency exchange site.

1 CDN = 16,611 DONG ( includes 2.5% commission )
Current wholesale rate is 17,016

1 US = 22,000 DONG ( " " )

1 CDN = .75 US

If your are changing sums in the hundreds of $$$ then I very much recommend changing at gold shops in the city, you will get a much much better rate than airports or banks.

I've only been to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) as a cruise ship stop. We booked a guide and driver to bring us around. Maybe you want to do that, rather than do-it-yourself.

I blogged about it here.
http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogsp...-uncle-ho.html

Couple of my points:

Money: I am surprised that nobody mentioned withdrawal from an ATM. Please don't make me believe that Canadian banks do not have ATM/Debit cards. While all banks in Vietnam add their fee when using overseas cards, local AgriBank adds just 1$ equivalent (other banks add $2-$4) and HSBC does not charge additional fee.

The best exchange rate you can get is at gold shops. Exchanging money at the airport won't give you good rates.

What to do/see - up to you, but honestly, anyone suggesting Tunnels need to be treated with a suspicion. Because these tunnels have very little to do with reality or history. If you want to see the city, it might worth to check at TripAdvisor with local student groups offering tours around the city for about $20.

Couple of safety tips: do not walk next to to road with backpack or purse - bag/purse snatching is endemic. Recently there was a story at TA of a girl who was dragged on a road by a motorcyclist couple hundred of feet when he tried to take her bag. She ended up in hospital with 40 stitches.

Also do not flash your camera (do not carry it on stripes, but always put inside a bag) and you phone - never put a phone on a table in front of you when you stop by for drink/meal.

Gold Shops? Good to know as I would have never been looking for that. I assume they are plenty and easily identified.
Yeah, I'm not one for using my ATM card when travelling to some of these destinations. I know everyone uses it but it's just me.
We were going to do the Tunnels but decided against it. We are going to do the full day boat tour on the Mekong.......really looking forward to that!
Thanks for the feedback........If I continue to let my wife read this stuff she is going to start freaking out about her purse and such!!! LOL.

If you think about it, money exchange is just essential side business for jewellery/gold shops - what do you to when a customer shows up with bunch of their own currency? And gold is, well, gold standard, pun intended, carrying universal exchange rate built-in.
These shops are at/nerby every big/medium market/bazaar in Vietnam. They can be easily identified because all of them have glass walls and blight of gold jewellery is coming from there.

This is not a joke. It is not intended to to freak you/your wife out (however here in this forum there were cases when people decided against travel after reading some stories) but just to prepare and having right expectations. Just follow common sense and advices people are giving in forums and you will be fine.

Agree with invisible, being vigilant about your belongings is a must. It is safe there but if you are lax with the way you handle your belongings it could lead to theft.

My Viet wife and myself always use the gold shop "Dntn V�ng H� T m" on the south western side of Ben Thanh Market. Easily findable on Google maps.
They are very busy and were offering 800 dong per Aussie dollar better than the airport that's an extra $20 per $500 changed.
That pays for a very good restaurant meal

Walking in HCMC is great, if you don't mind the heat of course, or if you can find some streets with some decent tree shade. Vietnam is INCREDIBLY safe, so that will not be an issue. Just watch out when crossing the street for all the Honda 50s. Just start crossing and do not stop.

As for eateries, I can recommend Quan Ngon. It's a small chain of local eateries, very casual, cheap, and fairly good quality. There's at 138 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa which is almost in front of the reunification palace.

Also, I really like Au Parc for breakfast. It's not very Vietnamese, but it's a very nice cafe. It's at 23 H�n Thuy�n, almost at the corner of Pasteur.

Wow, that's a long time in Nha Trang. I have a very good friend who lives there, though he is currently in California. There's an Australian guy who runs a BBQ shack and does an incredible grilled tuna steak. Can't remember the details. There's some culture around Nha Trang, such as the Champa temples, but to me 11 days in Nha Trang would be overkill, but then again I don't like to go to one place and sit quietly on the beach for too long.

What kind of tour? Boat tour? If it is a 3-4 days cruise on the Mekong, then I am jealous. If it's a one day tour, skip it. It's a massive tourist trap. Instead, google Vietnam Vespa Adventures and do the one day tour on Vespas. They will skip (most) of the stops at the pearl/silk/gold/etc factory and take you deep into rural areas.

Also go to google and search XO Tours. It's similar to Vespa Adventures, but it's with Vietnamese women in traditional dress as guides to HCMC on Xe Oms (scooters, hence the XO Tours name). I have done one of the 4-hour night tours of HCMC and it's fantastic. Very off the beaten path, and a great way to try real local food. I did it with another 8 friends and they were super flexible on where we wanted to go, where to stop, and what to eat. We basically asked them to take us to where they had dinner, and it was delicious, and not a single tourist could be seen.

Have fun. HCMC is one of my favorite cities to go to from Singapore.

Awesome. Thank You!! Will research all of this.
Yeah, Nha Trang for an extended period..........this is our annual "hot/beach" vacation out of the Canadian cold so we enjoy just relaxing on the beach and taking in the sun/scenery with some cocktails.
We usually try and stay away from the pre-arranged tours because we are well aware of how touristy they are! We just didn't have much time so we booked a day tour on Le Rive - it seemed to be one that had the most positive reviews and such so we will suck it up and at least get to experience a little bit. I liked the fact that you start on the boat right from HCMC rather than a bus to get you to the area. I hate sitting on the bus!!
Thanks again........we will make the best of it! Hopefully the weather cooperates as it sure looks like a lot of rain right now but we are a month away.

If your into well priced cocktails and roof bars I spent the night at Liberty Central Nha Trang last night their cocktails were quite good and at 100-120k each I thought well priced and the rooftop was very nice.
I actually found the hotel to be incredibly good value for the quality of the room if your looking for somewhere different in Nha Trang.
If you want great Vietnamese BBQ try
Nh� H�ng Lạc Cảnh restaurant, always really busy with locals, food is great and cheap as, 6 of us last night ate and drank for 700k dong.
Easily my favourite NT restaurant.

On the money front, does anyone the best ATM to use for a UnionPay cardholder?
I'm primarily looking for ATMs at Saigon airport with low/ no fees and more than 2,000,000 available to withdraw.

Also, does anyone have any information on the ATM situation over Tet?