Laos

How Much Does It Cost To Travel Laos?

I’M SHARING MY ACTUAL BUDGETS WITH YOU IN HOPES THAT IT WILL HELP AT LEAST ONE READER REALIZE THAT THEY DON’T NEED TO WIN THE LOTTERY TO TRAVEL LONG-TERM. THIS IS MY SEVENTH POST IN My “HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO TRAVEL” SERIES!

For many travelers Laos is their favorite country in Southeast Asia. I feel differently. For me I absolutely adored Luang Prabang with its historic french architecture and abundance of monks strolling around but the rest of the country left me desiring much. The roads are dirt and bumpy the bus rides long. Although if you are lucky you can be greatly amused on the local busses with the livestock, pots of raw meat and wooden doors that are carried by the locals. Vang Vieng with its lack of soul and hoards of drunken gap year tubers was far from my cup of tea. In my opinion Vang Vieng is the armpit of SE Asia! Yes, I said it. The locals are friendly and their smiles are genuine. Besides their attitudes and the scenery nothing really grabbed my attention in this country besides Luang Prabang and the very special travel companion I met there

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I spent 17 days in Laos

My total costs were $378.46 or 2,832,528.00 Kip

With a conversion rate of $1 = 7484.35 Kip

This made my average daily spending $22.26

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THE BREAKDOWN IS AS FOLLOWS: USD

LODGING:  $76.16 / DAILY AVERAGE $4.48

FOOD: $92.73 / DAILY AVERAGE $5.45

COCKTAILS: $4.01 / DAILY AVERAGE $0.24

ACTIVITIES (ENTRANCE FEES, DAY TRIPS, YOGA CLASS, MASSAGE): $63.47 / DAILY AVERAGE $3.73

TRANSPORTATION (TUK TUK’S, BUSES):   $92.33 / DAILY AVERAGE $5.43

CLOTHING:   $8.02 / DAILY AVERAGE $0.47

GEAR:  $2.81 / DAILY AVERAGE $0.17

How I could have done it for less?

The only real way I could have lowered my spending was if I had been sharing a room with someone. I stayed in dorm rooms in Luang Prabang but for the rest of my time I treated myself to private rooms. In Vang Vieng it was the same price either way so why not have some privacy. In Phonsavan there wasn’t a cheaper room option.

Oh, there was also the day I got completely ripped off and given the run around in Vientiane. My first afternoon in Laos straight from the Thai border I had to take three different tuk-tuks to get to the right bus station even though I had the name of the bus station written down and all the drivers spoke english. What can I say… Sometimes these types of things happen but you have to be careful not to let it happen too many times or it is a real budget killer.

Precious Playful Laotian Little Ladies

Remnants From Americas Secret War On Laos