Cheapest and more expensive countries

Nice topic gozub; 4 of the most important concerns as well...

I d) public transport - could be broken a little - local urban $1 - inter-city $10 per 100km? (roughly in Chile?)


A country I know well - Malaysia

a) Cheap Hostel - US $6-12
b) Street Food - US $1 - satay (chicken on a stick - yumm!) Cheap Restaurant Meal US $3-5
c) Beer US $2 - 5
d) Public Transport - local urban US $1, intercity - US $8 / 100km

Reply to this

Among those countries where I've been I would say Indonesia:
a) Cheap Hostel: US$5
b) Street Food: US$1
c) Beer: US$2-3
d) Public Transport: US$20-25 for a trip from Java to Sumatra (kind of 24hours long)
that said, quality is really poor. In Thailand or Malaysia you can get far better quality at just slightly higher prices.

As for the most expensive, Norway, doubtless. Take Indonesian figures and roughly multiply by 10.

Marco Reply to this

I agree that everyone wants to know how much a country costs and in my opinion the Lonely Planet Guides etc always manage to get it wrong somehow!

A few ideas from where I've been:

Africa - East Africa
a) Cheap hostel US$ 5-10
b) Cheap food - street food US$ 1-3
c) Beer US$ 2
d) Public transport , most bus journeys work out at about US$2-3 per hour

Africa is obviously relatively cheap but one thing I would say is that budget a lot more than you anticipate as by the time you come to doing all the extra activities that you want to do it all adds up - the main touristy things ie safaris bungees, skydives rafting etc range from 50 - 150 US$ each time......Things like public transport though are really good and safe so use them!!! Reply to this

Call me a breadhead but this is the best forum ever...priceless (there I go again) for budgeting future trips.

However, I don't mean to be anal, but ur man Conmel has started with all that € nonsense!

Prices go up and ...well up, and since 2005 the euro has appreciated drastically against the dollar, and most everything else.

The point I'm trying to make is if this forum can be contemporary, and universal, it will be invaluable. Reply to this

ConMel... Beer is available in Pakistan... Murree beer, and it is quite good actually... You need to get it in an International 5 star hotel in some hidden away alcohol shop and you need a permit or a bribe... Anyway I think a beer is something like 2 or so dollars...

India:
a) cheap hotel: 1 - 2 dollars for a dorm bed or a sleazy single room, 3 - 5 dollars for a reasonable room with private bathroom
b) cheap street food: for less than a dollar you can get all you can eat thali... for 2-4 dollars you can eat in a midrange restaurant and stuff youself
c) beer: 1 dollar in Goa, but mostly between 1 and a half and 2 dollars
d) public transport: urban busses... stupidly cheap (probably around 10 cents or less), rickshaw 25 cents for a km, taxi about a dollar a km.... intercity trains and busses: 10 dollars for about 12 hours... Reply to this

I found Laos one of the cheapest countries to travel through and the beautiful thing was, when I visited, eveything seemed to be 10 000 kip (about AU$1)
A beer $1
A meal $1
A ride in a taxi $1.
Although things got rather pricey after that 😉
A room $2
A long haul bus trip $3.
In fact thinking back on it, I think the most I paid on any one item or service (not including a flight we booked) was about $10 for a rediculously "expensive" meal on the Luang Prabang waterfront.

The most expensive I've been has to be Iceland. I'll give the prices in British pounds since thats the currency I was earning at the time.
A beer, depends on where but generally £5-6 (I also paid a rediculous price for a standard Johnnie Walker and Coke at about £9)
A hostel room in Reykjavík £30
Short 10 minutes taxi ride £15-20
A packet of crisps £3
Things are so expensive that after a while, you just end up laughing at how much you're spending. Although most of the attractions in Iceland are natural ones and free so I guess the expense can be offset a bit. Reply to this

It's difficult to gauge how expensive Thailand was in 97 cos I left my money belt (containing cash and cards), at the bar in Heathrow Airport, and as a result my friend and I were forced to spend his stash for the duration of the trip...

But just weeks after we came back the Asian crisis hit, and I'm guessing the mighty punt Éireannach could've seen you partaking in a whole bucket-load of 'curb crawling'!

Anyway, upon arrival back in London, I discovered someone had found my money belt and handed it in, complete with cash and cards!.

...that reminds me, I must remember to pay my mate back one day...

For the record you can buy beer in Iran too ...I'd initially tried to procure some from the Jewish community in Yazd, but to no avail. So in Esfahan, still on the hunt, we translated some Japanese scribbles in a hostel travel advice book... ran along to an Armenian shop down the road with an empty bag and a fistful of Rials(approx.$20). Walked in the shop, put the bag on the floor, handed over the cash and simply stated a number (8), then kicked the bag under the counter as the instructions had stipulated. Then the guy told us to go away and come back in 10 minutes and "be careful".

When we returned the bag was still on the floor in the shop, though this time it was a little heavier;-) We went back to our dorm where me and three other guys locked the door and indulged in a little criminality with 8 cans of 50cl Tuborg Red...I don't think beer ever tasted so good?

Emboldened by this, the next day our order had increased and we decided to hit the shop during in daylight hours. However this time during our waiting period, as we stood about trying to seem innocuous, we were approached by a couple of friendly Mullahs (a Mosque entrance was just 50yards from the shop).

Normally of course this isn't a problem, but we were a little jumpy, and in order close the conversation we agreed to meet them the following day for a chat... and through that meeting we were able to arrange a Q&A session with the third highest Mullah in Iran...but that's another story. Reply to this

Aspiringnomad ==> Good story about Iran... I actually saw some beer just behind the counter in a shop in Teheran (Effes from Turkey) and it wasn't the alcohol free stuff... But the price was ridiculous... Still I was surprised that it was on display (though on the floor in a dark corner, but you could still see it)... Also you can still get some Shiraz wine in Shiraz, in the Armenian neighbourhood...

So what did the Mullah have to say? I have always wondered if they had their own stash of alcohol tucked away somewhere... Did you perchance interview him whilst enjoying a nice wine in his home?

Mell ==> Actually the permit doesn't state that you are an alcoholic... It is simply a form for foreigners exempting us from the alcohol ban... But even without the permit you can quite easily get alcohol on the black market, together with AK-47's, heroine and other such goodies... :-)

Iran:
a) Cheap hostel: 3 $
b) Street food: 1-2 $
c) bottle of beer (taking Aspiringnomads story into account) 2.5 $
d) public transport: 5-6 $ for an overnight ride Reply to this

Q&A session is Question and Answer session. Reply to this

The cheapest country that i know so far is Lake Toba
For a hostel you can still get there for only 3$, street food is 1-2 $ .You should visited the place once, as it is very beautifull see more info of the place

Reply to this