I thought it might be useful to give a breakdown on what we’re spending our money on so that you can plan and save for your own travels. We’re on a pretty tight budget and watching the pennies so you can easily spend more than this. We’re travelling as a couple so things like accommodation can be cheaper than travelling alone. We do, however, require our hotels to have halfway descent wifi and a working space. We’re also working on the road so we’re not necessarily having as many of the ‘tourist experiences’ as others might.

Accommodation:

• 580 000 Kip (43 GBP) (53 Euros) (72 USD)

Laos caters for all budgets. There are some good mid range options and some expensive high end. We also heard you can get a bit lower than what we paid but I’m not sure what the quality would be like. We had pretty basic rooms, and the hot water was often not hot.

Travel

• 477 000 Kip (36 GBP) (43 Euros) (59 USD)

Bus tickets, bike hire; it all adds up. To not much for two people really.

Food & Drink (non-alcoholic)

• 893 165 Kip (67 GBP) (81 Euros) (111 USD)

Drinks (alcoholic)

• 73 000 (5 GBP) (7 Euros) (9 USD)

Ah, Beer Lao. So cheap yet so tasty. My favourite of the South East Asian beers.

Cafes

• 224 000 Kip (17 GBP) (20 Euros) (28 USD)

A bit less working but just as much cake.

Other

• 137 000 Kip (10 GBP) (12 Euros) (17 USD)

SIM card, a visit to some waterfalls, a couple of donations.

Total: 2 384 165 Kip (179 GBP) (216 Euros) (297 USD)

The next three weeks of our time in Laos was spent housesitting for a lovely family and their lovely animals. We had a great time but the costs are unrepresentative of most traveller’s lifestyles so I’m putting this series on hold for a bit.

How are you doing on your budget? I’d love to hear from other travellers on a shoestring.

*All transactions were conducted in Laos Kip. Currency conversions are approximate, rounded to the nearest whole, and calculated at the time of writing.*