The Cost Of Life?

[sillybilly]

Looking at travelling towards Nong Kwai and Loas later this year. Would anybody have an idea how much to budget for per day.. The 2 of us would probaly stay in a guesthouse and eat the every day food that the locals would eat. We would probably do a couple of tours as well as a little bit of shopping...

Sure we understand that different people spend different amounts but if somebody could provide approx costs of acommidation, food, transport etc... all this would be helpful

Thanks everybody...

[technocracy]

Looking at travelling towards Nong Kwai and Loas later this year. Would anybody have an idea how much to budget for per day.. The 2 of us would probaly stay in a guesthouse and eat the every day food that the locals would eat. We would probably do a couple of tours as well as a little bit of shopping...

Sure we understand that different people spend different amounts but if somebody could provide approx costs of acommidation, food, transport etc... all this would be helpful

Thanks everybody...

Well I'll give you a quick run down on Laos:

Accomodation: Between $10-$20 will cover a decent enough room with Aircon, obviously high end will be better. You can easily find rooms for $5-$10 however these won't have aircon and at the lower end no have a toilet or shower in the room.

Food: If you go truly local and avoid Mekong eateries and go for noodle soup shops then a bowl of this is less than $1, depending on how local you want to go you can easily survive on less than $5. However eating down the mekong road with a few beers you should budget around $10 a day. Example one of the main bars for holiday folks (& locals) Kop Jai Deu the average meal is around $3 add a beer $1.5 = $4.50.

Shopping: Hmm well it depends on what you want buy! You have the new and old morning market, the new Chinese market (which is great!) and everything in between. Everywhere you get - barter - especially with when they are chinese often if you barter well you'll pay half the price!! They are sneaky buggers for trying to overcharge you - the Lao people aren't quite as bad but they will try it!

Transport: Tuk Tuks are the main way around for those without transport - everything more than 20,000kip in Vientiane and you're being conned! Lesson - know where you want to go and the general idea of distance and don't accept the figure. Otherwise hire a motorbike for about $6-$10 per day and get around easy or if you feel like punishment hire a push bike!!

If you can speak Lao or Thai then you'll get around a lot easier than if you can't, Laos doesn't have as many English speakers around as Thailand even in main areas, shops or banks etc.

[sillybilly]

Looking at travelling towards Nong Kwai and Loas later this year. Would anybody have an idea how much to budget for per day.. The 2 of us would probaly stay in a guesthouse and eat the every day food that the locals would eat. We would probably do a couple of tours as well as a little bit of shopping...

Sure we understand that different people spend different amounts but if somebody could provide approx costs of acommidation, food, transport etc... all this would be helpful

Thanks everybody...

Well I'll give you a quick run down on Laos:

Accomodation: Between $10-$20 will cover a decent enough room with Aircon, obviously high end will be better. You can easily find rooms for $5-$10 however these won't have aircon and at the lower end no have a toilet or shower in the room.

Food: If you go truly local and avoid Mekong eateries and go for noodle soup shops then a bowl of this is less than $1, depending on how local you want to go you can easily survive on less than $5. However eating down the mekong road with a few beers you should budget around $10 a day. Example one of the main bars for holiday folks (& locals) Kop Jai Deu the average meal is around $3 add a beer $1.5 = $4.50.

Shopping: Hmm well it depends on what you want buy! You have the new and old morning market, the new Chinese market (which is great!) and everything in between. Everywhere you get - barter - especially with when they are chinese often if you barter well you'll pay half the price!! They are sneaky buggers for trying to overcharge you - the Lao people aren't quite as bad but they will try it!

Transport: Tuk Tuks are the main way around for those without transport - everything more than 20,000kip in Vientiane and you're being conned! Lesson - know where you want to go and the general idea of distance and don't accept the figure. Otherwise hire a motorbike for about $6-$10 per day and get around easy or if you feel like punishment hire a push bike!!

If you can speak Lao or Thai then you'll get around a lot easier than if you can't, Laos doesn't have as many English speakers around as Thailand even in main areas, shops or banks etc.

Many thanks for the reply.... Now I have a better understanding of what to expect.