Since Facebook groups are a bit of a black hole when it comes to information, I thought I'd copy & paste some useful tidbits.

From Warrick:

£1 GBP =

  • 1.60 $ USD
  • 1.14 EURO
  • 28 Czech Koruna
  • 4.85 Romanian New Leu
  • 116 Serbian Dinar
  • 2.23 Bulgarian Lev
  • 2.66 Turkish Lira
  • 17000 Iranian Rial
  • 4.57 Turkmenistani Manat
  • 2778 Uzbekistani Som
  • 234 Kazakhstani Tenge
  • 72 Kyrgyzstani Som
  • 45 Russian Ruble
  • 1978 Mongolian Tughrik
  • 10.38 Chinese Yuan Renminbi

And James on the merits of the IDP.

A lot of negotiating later, and blunt refusal by the corrupt bastard, we got it back for $200. ALWAYS show the International Driving License, and buy two of them. They're basically disposable

Still I think leaving a policeman with your disposable drivers license and then driving away sounds like a recipe for disaster.

From observing hard negotiating Israelis in India, I think good negotiation is about persistence. I plan to brush up on my weak Russian (& learn Farsi?), stay positive, polite and friendly and let the fun begin.