Vientiane
Sunrise, Vientiane, January 10th, 7:04 a.m. We had
arrived at midnight in Vientiane. Going through
customs was not too difficult, though at that hour,
everything seemed a bit surreal. Especially the
requirement that one have pictures of oneself, but since
many didn't, it was ok. Kao did not have too much
trouble getting through customs.
After customs, we went to convert money at the official
government exchange. Since "kip" are not exchanged
internationally, the only official place to get kip is from
the government. We decided to convert $300. At the
exchange rate of 1 US Dollar = 9,775 Lao Kip, we were
handed a huge wad of almost 3 million kip! We were
millionaires!
The bills we were given were 10,000 kip notes. That
meant we got about 100 bills for each $100 we
converted. We decided it would be best if Kao handled
the money. Have you ever tried to put 300 bills in your
pocket? Kao was happy!
