Categories: LaosTravel Budget

Travel Expenses: Vientiane, Laos

Throughout July, I’ll be writing about my post-trip accounting and evaluation of my Southeast Asian month-long backpacking trip. This includes the costs of each leg of the trip and reviews of accommodation and transportation.

First up is my travel expenses in Vientiane, Laos. I planned on staying in the capital for four days, but I left for Bangkok early, taking the bus instead of the train. Vientiane can be easily done in one day, two days if you plan on going to places in the outskirts of town.

Vientiane 2009
June 11 – 13, 2009
	Exchange Rate:	US$1 = LAK 8,500
		US$1 = Php 48
	In LAK	In PhP
Land Transfer
Luang Prabang to Vientiane	LAK 140,000.00	PHP 790.59	1
VIP bus

Accommodation
Saylomyen Guesthouse	LAK 120,000.00	PHP 677.65	2
Double, fan, ensuite T&B

Transportation
Tuktuk	LAK 90,000.00	PHP 508.24	3

Food
Meals and snacks	LAK 294,000.00	PHP 1,660.24	4

Miscellaneous
Map	LAK 20,000.00	PHP 112.94	5
Internet	LAK 49,500.00	PHP 279.53	6
Laundry	LAK 15,000.00	PHP 84.71	7
Admission fees	LAK 10,000.00	PHP 56.47	8
Exit fee	LAK 2,500.00	PHP 14.12	9
	Total	PHP 4,184.47


The peso equivalent was computed by dividing the amount in Lao Kip by 8,500 (the dollar conversion rate to kip) then multiplying by 48 (dollar conversion rate to peso)
1 The bus fare from Luang Prabang to Vientiane includes a tuk-tuk pick up from the guesthouse, a light snack, a bottle of water, and a lunch coupon at the stopover.
2 Urgh.
3 There’s no set tuktuk fares for fourists. Before you get into one, agree on a price with the driver. But Vientiane is small enough that you can walk from one tourist spot to another.
4 Meal include a very filling Mexican lunch, a very rich French dinner and a great value breakfast set.
5 A map is a great buy in Vientiane so you can easily get around. Once I had my map, I just walked around the city.
6 Considering that I spent half the time in Vientiane than I did in Luang Prabang, this is rather troubling.
7 Bloody expensive for a small plastic bag of dirty clothes. I did get my laundry on the same day though.
8 Both Wat Sisaket and Ho Phrakeow charge 5,000 kip admission.
9 This is interesting. Nobody in our group knew of an exit fee upon leaving Laos, yet there were signs all over the immigration counters. The girl ahead of me paid 20 baht, because she has already changed her kips to baht. She never got any change. However, when it was my turn at the counter, the guy pointed at the 2,500 kip price in the paper. Surely, 2,500 kip does not equal 20 baht.

This post was last modified on Wednesday, 30 January 2013 17:53

Nina Fuentes

Nina doesn't aim to travel to every country in the world -- she just wants to travel to the places that means the most to her. She started traveling in 2006, and hopes to travel for as long as she can. Her travel blog, Just Wandering won the Best Travel Blog in the 2010 Philippine Blog Awards and in the 2011 Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards.