Sorry for neglecting the Lao side of things for a while, this year has been very busy for me as far as ruby slipper making is concerned.

Below are some photos from our trip to Talat, which is a town around 2 hours drive from Vientiane. It's probably shorter than that but they are building a road so driving was pretty slow.

The food was quite nice and the cruise was enjoyable. You need a bit of money as it can cost 300,000 kip (nearly $40 US for just an hour) and you have to buy your own food and drinks. I've been on a river cruise and blew $250 US for two hours. Smaller boats don't have toilets so its best to go before you hop aboard.




Trip to Talat, Vientiane province

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Might just do that and make a trip to Talat for a boat cruise. Just have to find the time but will make time at some point 😊

Laos is a very expensive country, even more than Thailand sometimes. I was in Laos for 3 months and spent about $2000

About $650 per month is quite cheap, probably more of a backpacker-style holiday on a low budget.

Some of my relatives spend an average of $1,500 per week in Laos. They tend to look for the best hotels and best restaurants.

Very nice food.

I went to a world heritage in Yunnan and it is wonderful. the pic is big, I cut it to 3. It is a paddy field covering several big mountains.  Most people are ethnic Ha Ni, or Ai Ni. 3 hours trip to moutain foot, 1.5 hours to mountain top.

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In rural Thailand, like Lumpang,or Chiang Rai, or Khon Khaen. it is acceptable.  But. 1 month costs 1200 USD it too much. I think you indulged in pubs every day.  ;D ;D ;D


Buk Nut wrote on 16^th Mar, 2015 at 10:34am:

Laos is a very expensive country, even more than Thailand sometimes. I was in Laos for 3 months and spent about $2000

How burgeoise admin. So much for Lao people being communist.

Yeah that is pretty despicable behavior... unfortunately far too common among the hi so capitalist swine. Spend money acquired from logging and deforestation while their countrymen suffer malnourishment.

I'm also not happy with the illegal loggers in Laos.

They cut down trees in Laos, trees become free for them, and they sell them for money or use the trees to make products for sale. They are wealthy, they make good money and send their kids overseas to get a good education. I know people like that in Laos but no one can say anything.

These days there is not a lot of trees on the streets of Vientiane like the past, so the city has become hotter.

Admin, is this ທ່າລາດ or ຕະຫລາດ

The first one is correct, the second one means "shop". A different meaning.

We usually don't accept Lao language on this forum but that's fine since it's hard to understand the pronunciation of some Lao words in English.

I think "Talad" is market, shop would be "Han" no?

Heh, it's just as I thought, I was just making sure.

"Han" basically refers to one store, or one shop. A shoe store for example is "Han Gerp".

"Talad" also means market. Every shopping place in Laos seems to be called a market, even our largest shopping center, the Morning Market.

Market to me just sounds like a place where they sell fruit and vegetables. Most people wouldn't call the Morning Market in Vientiane a "market" if it was their country, but more of a shopping mall or shopping center.

What happened to that mall they were building in Vientiane? I heard they ran out of money and stopped building it.

Actually I saw it last year and it still wasn't done.

It will be big. Things are slow in Laos but everything gets done eventually.