On my first visit to Italy, I remember being impressed by the value of the lira (the exchange rate was something like 1,200 lira to the dollar). Well, Italy got nothing on Laos, where $1 gets you about 10,000 kip (geep). For the last week, I carried around a pile of 1,000 (10c), 2,000 (20c), 5,000 (50c), 10,000 ($1) and 20,000 kip (2$) bills. Since the 20,000 kip seems to be the largest bill, we got a large stack of bills when we changed money. I can’t imagine trying to pay for anything really expensive (more than $100) in cash. So…when was the last time you spent 100 grand on dinner?
We actually didn't need to take much money as there isn't much reason to spend. We stayed with friends most of the time and even our guesthouse room in Vang Vieng only cost $10 per night. Since it is a communist country private enterprise isn't much encouraged and most products come from Thailand with a mark-up. However, we did find some electronic products unique to Laos. Interesting names, we thought.
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