I guess it's fair enough when you pay about 15 quid for a flight that it will be delayed, but Air Asia eventually got me to Krabi today, 2 hours late, following the Lao Airlines flight that got me from Vientiane to Bangkok. Incidentally, I can report that if I'm similarly late flying from Phuket to Bangkok on Saturday, I might be late for work next week. I can also report that Lao Airlines seem to be a thoroughly competent outfit despite rumours about their safety record...or rather, their reluctance to publish their safety record, even since ditching their black-spot 'Laos Aviation' moniker.

It's good to be back in Thailand, which is a veritable land of plenty compared with Laos. One major drag in Laos is carrying around vast wads of hyperinflated currency...there are no coins, and the biggest note is 2000 kip which equates to about a quid. My wallet burst at the seams within seconds of drawing cash out of the first Lao bank.

Having said that, Laos should be contextualised as being a poor country only in the setting of SE Asia. If you beamed out of anywhere in, say, sub-Saharan Africa and found yourself in Laos, you'd be a happy eater.