AsiaRussia

Where not to go to exchange money!!!!

By September 15, 2019 No Comments

At the beginning of August I landed in Kaliningrad, Russia, but had no rubles and the airport had no exchange office. Lucky for me the taxi and dinner took credit card, but I knew it would be better in the long run if I had some local currency on hand.

I checked Google Maps and it turns out there was a bank right next to my hotel and even better they were open until 8pm. Score! I went to the building and it looked “bank” enough for me not to think anything of it. I walked into a reception area and the girl behind the desk greeted me. I asked if I could exchange US$ for Russian ruble and she pulled out her phone. I figured she was calling a teller since there were no teller windows in view. That is when I really started looking around and noticed the room had more of a waiting room feel to it than a bank. That is when a lady in scrubs and surgical mask came out of a room. This plus me noticing pictures of teeth on the wall made me realize I had just walked into a DENTIST office!

The funny thing is the girl was looking on her phone where to send me to exchange money and it did not even faze her that I was in a dentist office looking to exchange money. I apologized for the intrusion and showed her that Google Maps had it as a bank. We both laughed and she showed me where I needed to go.

So there is a first time for everything. I would love to hear a time when you were in a totally different place than you expected?

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