Balls ! I rocked into Phonsavan at 8.00 PM, checked my tank bag and realised I had left my kindle on the back of the bike in Vieng Thong. I stopped to ask a local if there was a restaurant where all the westerners hung out - no idea, nor a GH where people stayed, no idea, WIFI ? whats that ? Craters was the name I was trying to remember, and Nice GH was the place..
The GPS sent me to some Maly hotel, "How much ?" 200,000 kip .. err, sorry, I think that too expensive for my budget - there was no way this room was 900B - Suddenly the price dropped to 150,000 kip and a book came out showing me all the other guests and the price paid .. woop! woop! alarm bells ringing .. i was out like flynn.
After riding around a few places, they appeared closed for the night with no customers, I pulled into the Kemphonelor Guesthouse, it looked like the aquamarine Russian consulate in the headlights.
They had rooms, in fact, they had a lot of rooms - like an empty hotel. The price was 60,000 kip - great.
The room was more than acceptable, it didn't have aircon (no need, i guess) but everything in the room was new and hardly used - all the stickers were left on. The room seemed warm when I entered which was most welcome as I was soaked from riding in the rain, the people were helpful, they didnt really speak Thai or Laotian very well - I guess they were Vietnamese. They didnt mind that I dripped muddy water over their spotless lobby.
For this alone, I recommend them highly, at a decent price - sorry, no pic of the room - but it was way better than most budget rooms in this forum.
N19.44277 E103.18250