Stuff you need backpacking around Laos

The official language of Laos is Lao, a tonal language closely related to Thai. Thanks to ubiquitous Thai broadcast media most Lao understand Thai fairly well, but it's worth learning a few basic expressions in Lao. French, a legacy of the colonial days, still features on signs and is understood by some older people, but these days English is far more popular.

Clockwise from top right: Sticky rice, minced pork laap, tam maak hung and raw vegetables on the side Lao cuisine is very similar to the food eaten in the north-eastern Isaan region of Thailand. The staple here is sticky rice (khao niaow), eaten by hand from small baskets called tip khao. Using your right hand, pinch off a bit, roll into a ball, dip and munch away. The national dish is laap (also larb), a "salad" of minced meat mixed with herbs, spices, lime juice and, more often than not, blistering amounts of chili. Unlike Thai larb, the Lao version can use raw meat (dip) instead of cooked meat (suk), and if prepared with seafood makes a tasty if spicy carpaccio. Other favourites include tam maak hung, the spicy green papaya salad known as som tam in Thailand, and ping kai, spicy grilled chicken. In addition to purely Lao food, culinary imports from other countries are common. Khao jii pat-te, French baguettes stuffed with pâté, and foe (pho) noodles from Vietnam are both ubiquitous snacks particularly popular at breakfast. Note that foe can refer both to thin rice noodles (Vietnamese pho) as well as the wide flat noodles that would be called kuay tiow in Thailand.

Sunset and Beerlao by the Mekong, Vientiane The national drink of Laos is the ubiquitous and tasty Beerlao, one of the few Lao exports. The yellow logo with its tiger-head silhouette can be seen everywhere, and a large 640 ml bottle shouldn't cost more than 10 to 12000 kip in restaurants. The brewery claims they have 99% market share, yet you can get Carlsberg (from the same brewery) and Heineken (imported from Thailand) - but why should you? Rice whiskey, known as lao-lao, is widely available and at less than US$0.30 per 750 ml bottle is the cheapest way to get hammered. Lao coffee (kaafeh) is widely reckoned to be among the best in the world. It's grown on the Bolaven Plateau in the south; the best brand is Lao Mountain Coffee. Unlike Thai coffees, Lao coffee is not adulterated with ground tamarind seed. To make sure you aren't fed overpriced Nescafé instead, be sure to ask for kaafeh thung. By default, kaafeh lao comes with sugar and condensed milk; black coffee is kaafeh dam, coffee with milk (often, however, you'll get non-dairy creamer) is kaafeh nom. Tap water is not drinkable, but bottled water is cheap and widely available. There is not much nightlife outside of Vientiane and Vang Vieng. To have a beer in some places, simply visit a restuarnt. Aslo bewarned some clubs are seedy establishments!

The Lao currency is the kip, which is inconvertible, unstable and generally inflationary. As of 26 October 2007, there are around 9,600 kip to the US$ and 13,000 kip to the euro. The largest bill is only 50000 kip, the other notes in common circulation are 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000 and 20000 kip; withdrawing the maximum of 700,000 kip from an ATM (about US$70) could result in 70 notes of 10000 kip each. This makes carrying large quantities of kip quite inconvenient. Fortunately, there is little need to do so, as US$ are generally accepted (although typically at somewhat disadvantageous rates - about 5-10% less than the official rate is common), and Thai baht are also readily accepted in many areas. For short visits to the main centers there's little point in exchanging kip, as changing them back is a hassle in Laos and impossible elsewhere. More touristy places and banks are also starting to accept euros. So if you're from one of the euro countries, just bring some just in case. This could be cheaper than changing your euros into US$ or baht and then into kip. There are now quite a few ATMs in Vientiane, and they have also appeared in Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Pakse. (There is also an ATM on test run in Luang Nam Tha). ATMs accept MasterCard, Maestro and a few others. Outside of Vientiane, ATMs do not accept VISA. Relying on them is at this stage risky due to their ludicrous unreliability — but if it doesn't work the first time, keep trying every few hours (they tend to get emptied in the course of the day, due to the huge numbers of notes withdrawn). Many banks, travel agents and guest houses will allow you to take out cash from a credit card as a cash advance. This usually occurs by withdrawing the money in US$ from the card as a cash advance; the card issuer will usually charge a fee (about 3%), the Lao bank involved will charge about 3%, and then the agent providing the cash advance might (or might not) charge another 3%, and then the amount is converted from US$ to kip at a poor rate to the US$, costing another 5% or so - hence, overall, these transactions are much more expensive than the typical charge for withdrawing cash from ATMs in other countries. However, as for example euros get pretty bad rates compared to US$ when exchanged in Laos, getting a cash advance in US$ and changing it to kips might actually save money compared to bringing euros with you to Laos. Expats living in Vientiane routinely get cash from ATMs in Nong Khai or Udon Thani (Thailand), where the maximum per transaction is mostly 20000 baht, or ten times what you'll get in Laos. Changing traveller's cheques is easy in any large village. Banks give good rates, but seem to abide in morbid fear that a tourist might stumble upon them and change money. To avoid this unpleasant eventuality, they ensure that the banking hours are very restricted and that both Laos and European holidays are fully observed, with generous buffer days between the official holiday and resuming work. Many shops start an hour's lunch break at noon, and some maintain the (now abolished) official French two-hour break. Nearly everything is closed on Sundays, except restaurants and many shops.

Costs

US$20 a day is a good rule of thumb, though it's possible to get by on less than US$10. A basic room with shared bathroom can be as little as US$2 in Vang Vieng or as much as US$8 in Vientiane. Meals are usually under US$5 for even the most elaborate lao, thai or vietnamese dishes (western food is more expensive), and plain local dishes can cost less than US$1. A local bus from Vientiane to Vang Vieng costs US$2.50; the slow boat from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai costs US$20 for both days.

What to buy

Typical Lao dresses in cheap machine-made fabric can be made to order. Expect to pay around US$5 for the fabric and US$2 for labour. Handmade Lao silk is one of the most attractive things to buy. The Talat Sao (Morning Market) in Vientiane has dozens of small shops selling 100% handmade silk scarves or wall hangings from US$5 upwards depending on quality, intricacy of design and size. Beware cheap synthetic fabrics sold as 'silk' imported from China and Vietnam. Be careful also of 'antique' silk. There is very little left but new fabric can be made to look old and worn. Still attractive, but don't pay more than US$30-50. In markets, always bargain: it is expected, but keep smiling...