October
Bun Awk Phansa festival
Bun Pha That Luang in Vientiane.
Bun Nam, (Boat Race Festival), Savannakhet, Vientiane, Huay Xai near Vietnam.

December

Lao National Day

January

Bun Pha Vet It (temple festival)

February

Makha Busa (Full Moon festivities)
China New Year and Vietnam Tet are celebrated in Pakse, Vientiane and Savannakhet.
Bun Wat Phu (Champasak)

March

Bun Pha Wet festivities.

April

Bun Pi Mai Lao is the Lao New Year, celebrated in Luang Prabang.

May

Bun Bang Fai is the Rocket Festival

July

Bun Khao Phansa

It is a great experience to shop in Laos. The merchandise are generally very cheap and there are a lot of choices for buyers.

Things to buy in Laos

Most products will eventually find their way to the Vientiane Morning Market. This is were you will find it all at the best prices.

• Fabrics (silk, cotton, hand wooven)
• Art and Antiques (most items are copies and replicas)
• Silver and Gems (only buy from serious shops)
• Watches (replicas)

Not counting grand shopping centers where you are told the prices and they are written on the tags, most markets, street vendors, and souvenir stands don’t label fixed prices for their things and customers need to bargain.

Bargaining in Laos

Sellers there always try to get more money from foreigners whom they assume to be wealthy and have a lot of money to spend. When you go to stores and souvenir stands, the prices they tell you are not the truth. The legitimate prices are standardly half or even one third of what they tell you. Seller often know how to speak English. They try to defraud you, and tell you that you are the first customer of the day to shop at their store today and they offer you the item at their buying price for some luck. Resist the urge to believe them. The “buying” price they quote you is always several times more than the real value of the product.

Also remember, you’re not in Marrakesh so don’t abuse the vendor with too much bargaining, it is rude.

Lao food is superb and eaten very often all over the world. It is really a lasting experience to taste Lao food directly from Laos.

Restaurant prices

You have to take caution when eating in restaurants. Even natives can be charged too much sometimes when they patronize restaurants. There are some restaurants whose menus are simply just lists of dishes that do not include the prices. In case of this you need to ask the waiters to inform you of their prices of the dishes prior to ordering otherwise they might give you a big bill with heavy prices at the end of the meal.

Food market prices

Prices at the food markets are incredibly cheap and you can usually order various meat or fish dishes and then sit at a nearby table restaurant offering vegetables, rice and noodles.

Lao Food and drinks

• Laap (chopped meat)
• Tam Mak Houng (Spicy papaya salad)
• Som moo (pork sausage)
• Barbequed som moo
• Foe (noodle soup)
• French Baguette
• Beer Lao (one of the best beer in the world)

Traditional Lao food is usually spicy, dry and very delicious. Bon Appetit!

Letting a travel agent plan your group tour is an interesting way to inquest Laos. There are a lot of famous tourism specialists in Laos and most of them use their own websites to post information. You can look on the internet for popular travel agents in Laos and get your plans set in advance if possible.

However, if the website booking function is unavailable or you would like to book for a tour when having come to Laos, you need to ask for their prices and a fixed list of available tours in advance. Many well known tourism companies offer their tours and prices listed on message boards in their offices. If you are going with many tours of the same company, you can probably ask for a discount because it is a typical thing in Laos.

Laos Activities

• Trekking (tribes)
• Mekong river cruise travel
• Kayaking, rafting and canoeing
• Wildlife watching (elephant, tiger, birds, monkeys, deer, cats, flying squirrels, bats, snakes)

Laos major tourism highlights

• Vientiane (Capital)
• Luang Prabang (Historical Capital)
• Vang Vieng (Tubing)
• Phonsavan (Plain of Jars)
• Hongsa (Thai Lu culture)
• Nam Ha NPA (wildlife)
• Vieng Xai (caves)
• Tham Lot Kong Lo (cave, river, temples)
• Wat Phu Champasak (Angkor Khmer temple)
• 4000 islands (Mekong and waterfalls)

More and more tourists visit Laos every year because of its friendliness and slow development. Vacationists can enjoy visiting grand temples, pagodas, and peaceful traditional villages or lying around in the sun near the Mekong river in luxury seaside resorts. However though, to get the best of your travel, you are advised to know at least something about the art of bargaining in Laos.

Other than luxury resorts, grand hotels and big restaurants where fixed prices are listed, you can bargain for just about anything else in Laos. But remember, this isn’t Marrakesh so don’t be too obsessed in your bargaining.

Lao Money

There are no ATMs so the best is to bring us$ or Thai baht, although some Lao kips are necessary for small purchases.

Banks will readily change your us$ or foreign currencies at a small commission.

Before you board your plane for Laos you should have some knowledge and a general idea about the prices you will find in Laos.

The Lao money is called the Lao Kip with $1 = 8,700 LAK.

Surfing the internet, you can easily find out information about prices of going by taxi or several means of transportation. However, if you’re traveling pretty far, you have to bargain for a less expensive price because for some types of long routes, the price does not include what is counted on the taximeter. If you travel by taxi over a distance which is more than 40 km, you should think about calling the taxi company beforehand and ask for their price for a trip as far as that.

Laos Prices

Prices for food and transport in Laos are very cheap, also expect to pay the ‘falang’ price for lodging.
Transport between South Laos and North Cambodia is quite costly. You don’t have to pay an agent in advance.

Infrastructure

Travelers to Cambodia need to understand that the infrastructure of the country is extremely limited and that eighty percent of the population earns its money through agriculture. Ferry boats will take people from one place to another and people with pickup trucks will line them with benches for public or long distance travel.

There is no railway and many of the roads away from major municipalities are not paved or are not able to be accessed throughout the year. Telecommunications may only be via cell phone in some areas of the country.

Visiting Laos

The country of Laos has two World Heritage sites, Luang Prabang and Wat Phou. Visitors can see these sites as well as the Plain of Jars, also in the running for a World Heritage Site. Luang Prabang is the former capital of the Kingdom of Laos until 1975. Wat Phou is a ruined Khmer temple complex in southern Laos dating from the 11th through the 13th century.

Located at the base of mount Phu Kao about 6 kilometers from the Mekong River, this site is currently a center of Theravada Buddhism. Buddhist temples can be visited as well in other places in Laos, such as the Buddha Park along the Mekong River near Vientiane. Now that the Chinese government has recently allowed its own citizens to travel in Laos and Chinese tourists make up 25 percent of all travelers to Laos.

The most common food staple in Laos is rice, which has cultural and religious significance to its people.