Mon 23rd Feb – Chiang Rai (Thailand) to Huayxai (Laos)
DW: Caitlin has been increasingly apprehensive about Laos as the deadline approached. However, despite many concerns from Thai parties we met, getting into Laos is easy. Do your eVisa ahead of time, pay your last minute 50THB “administrative fee” in cash and negotiate a ride into the city with another Thai traveller who seems somehow less prepared than us.
Thailand has too many rules and too much structure. There are only so many surprises you can have there. Laos thankfully looks like it has resolved these issues. I am looking forward to seeing what it has in store.
CR: I freak out about the haze but a rainy day sorts it out a little later.
Essentially the government maintains an official exchange rate (versus USD, which nearly all of their international trade is done in) that is set once a day. On a daily basis this will not match supply/demand because the price is not a result of market trades.
But if the rate is out of whack with real life forces for too long, two things will happen. Everyday people won’t be able to access the official rate (it is given only to special parties, like government officials) and a black market will open. The black market rate for USD will differ from the official rate and be a more accurate reading on supply and demand. Secondly, the currency will depreciate and become essentially worthless. Lack of faith in the currency leads to a scramble for USD as a safehaven.
It seems to me there would be a very real chance that the Laotian Kip disappears in the future. In theory, having your own currency gives you the lever of domestic monetary policy but having such strict control of your currency feels like it comes from a bad place – overcompensating on top of an exceptionally precarious economy – and it can’t last forever.
CR: Two ten year olds run this cafe and it functions as you’d expect. You place an order. The order is made. Cash is then exchanged. The next person places order. The order is made. Cash is exchanged. There is no parallelisation of tasks. Instead, in downtime, such as when the shot is being pulled, the boy plays on his phone while his sister stares at you coldly. In an hour they duo sell two drinks. It’s not helping me understand the Lap economy.
CR: I love that the view of the Mekong is obscured by three Jerry cans.
DW: I struggle to understand how we would even begin suing a Laotian company in the event anything did go wrong. I suspect there is no chance.
What an experience.
The original name was bank of don’t worry you can trust us.
Bank of strong is the best name ever. The dude at the front desk seems in shock that he has a customer. He went home that day to tell his family and friends about the crazy tourists from Australia.
Completely understand the concerns about water quality but everything in those bowls was either washed or cooked in local water.
Cait, you need to use your Jamaica blue experience to sort out the cafe. There’s a little food/drink display cabinet right next to where the kids are standing. They have either sold out of stock or it’s just permanently empty. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s the latter.
Would love to know how much the official exchange rate differs from the black market one.
The t and c’s on the last photo are scary and funny at the same time.
I love b, e and f.
F is the best. Cait, if anything goes pear shaped at work just pull out f from your top draw and say do your best because this is what you agreed to before dealing with me.
Declan speaks words of wisdom. Imagine going into the Laotian court system on a personal injury case. All the people working in the court that day would fall over laughing.
You made it!! You seem happier in Laos 🙂 maybe cause no trekking yet? How is the accommodation?
The beer must taste so good in the heat.
Favourite photo: activity around the slow boat. Enjoying the river starring in this holiday. The food looks so tasty. Is it different to Thailand? Looks so fresh so I hope you can enjoy the herbs and vege or are you avoiding them?
Would definitely include clause f. In future agency agreements. Hope you see some gibbons – I just remember them being so noisy at the zoo. Sending love xx
Mum: We are happy to be in Laos! It was the reason for the holiday. We added in Thailand because the closest direct flight we could get was Bangkok.
The food is fairly different, in that it is a (sometimes chaotic) mix of Thai and Vietnamese. I am having herbs in moderation. Too sad to let them all go back uneaten.
Clause f is a classic. Many a tourist mishap cleaned up with that clause.
No Gibbons which was pretty sad. But we felt like Gibbons on the Zip!
Mum: Accommodation is poorly maintained and varying a lot by price. But the pro is that the views have been great. In the small town of Huay Xai a shoddy room with a great view is A$50. In Luang Prabang a shoddy room with a great view is A$220 a night. I think it’s expensive because most people travelling in Laos are backpackers so there is less supply of ‘normal’ accommodation. All the hotels are super insecure… None of the balcony doors, which typically wrap around to the next room, lock adequately. Bit of hope for the best…
Dad: I was so impressed at how much they counted the Kip they were exchanging for Thai baht for us. The worker counted it twice, put it through a machine, and then counted it again. We were exchanging about A$200 and it came out at 3 million kip and the highest denominated bill is 100,000 kip. We walked out with a fat stack of bills. Since covid Laos has experienced rapid inflation in the last five years. It’s had a few years of inflation between 20-30%.
That’s right about water quality. It’s easy to stress about it but it feels pointless unless you take care of your own food, which is never going to happen.
Dad I would say permanently empty display cabinet is the right assumption out of the two.
Welcome to Laos! I love that you’re already multi-millionaires – at least in Kip. That ‘Bank of Strong’ motto really is peak marketing for a place where you need a backpack just to carry enough cash for dinner.
Dad is spot on about that cafe display cabinet; it’s definitely a permanent installation of ’emptiness’ rather than a sell-out. And honestly, looking at the welding on that tuk-tuk, I think ‘Clause F’ in the waiver is just being realistic. It basically translates to: ‘If the zipline gives way, may the forest spirits be with you.’
Caitlin, the ‘shoddy room with a view’ for $220 in Luang Prabang sounds like a classic tourist trap, but at least you’ve got the BeerLao and the Mekong views to take the edge off. Good luck with the Gibbons (and the zip lines)…try not to think about the welding while you’re 40 meters up in a treehouse!
MG: It rocks to be a millionaire for a little bit until you’re blowing 10,000s on a coffee. Like Will said in Margin Call, “you learn to spend what is in your pocket”.
If I died Zipping, you can guarantee I died terrified and concerned. .
That’s right it’s a total tourist price ramp up but that is hard to avoid when you are a tourist.
I think next time I see Gibbons at a zoo I will have a newfound kinship with them.