Identifying the various denominations of the local currency is a major issue for the newcomers to Laos. One cashier told me he could identify how long a customer had been in country by how quickly they counted their money to pay their tab. When I received my expense reimbursement and my living allowance, I became an instant multi-millionaire. They call it the "Kip". One US Dollar equals around 7,900 Kips. It seems to be reasonably stable.