Vietienne, Laos

morning cup of tea
Originally uploaded by Scratchin Dog

Ahhh, money. I find it really hard to mentally change money into real australian dollars in my head.. and here, they will do the US$ into kip, then into baht if you want. Am now carrying 3 types of currency.

10.00 AUD = 74,107.17 LAK (known as the kip)

or approx 150,000 is AU$20.. or 50,000 is AU$6.70

In real terms: 10,000 = 1 longneck of Beer Lao (except for happy hour when it drops to between 6 -8,000 kip)

A dodgy hovel of a hotel room is 50,000 or AU$ 6.70. For that you get a bed, a shower (over the toilet) and no real windows.. and a fan (thank god!).

Off to watch the sun set over the Mekong and eat street food. Whole fried river crabs are crunchy!