After quickly queuing for a visa and collecting my bag, which amazingly was already there after only 15 minutes of getting off the plane, I was headed to the money exchange counter. It’s impossible to buy or sell Laos KIP outside of the country so I purchased enough for a day or so. I got talking to a fellow solo female traveller and as luck would have it she was staying at my hostel so we agreed to share a taxi together (my first tuktuk ride will have to wait until tomorrow). A fairly short but interesting (in terms of the view) journey later and we had arrived at Dream House Hostel (2), Vientiane.
The staff were very friendly and welcoming and even carried my rucksack up to my room (which was unusual for a hostel in my experience!). I’d made sure I’d memorised ‘hello, good day (sam-bah-dee deh), how are you, thank you very much (gchop-choy deh), please etc.’ on the plane ride over. It always really helps slightly breakthrough the skin of a country if you can at least speak the basics (sometimes it’s highly necessary if no one speaks English!) and locals will always really appreciate it that you’re trying make an effort. Also, for me it’s about respecting someone else’s culture.
