9 week budget China, Thailand, Cambodia
Replies: 14 - Last Post: May 5, 2012 2:16 PM Last Post By: SoloHobo
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9 week budget China, Thailand, Cambodia
Hi everyone!!I am a 22 year old female, and i was wondering how much money (dollars) will i need. I plan to sleep at hostels, eat street food (no fancy restaurants) visit sights and sometimes go out at night. Plane tickets are already payed for but not trains and buses. The trip will be during june and july.
Beijing 3 weeks, the acommodation there will be payed separetly.
Shanghai 1 week
Chiang mai
Chiang Ray
Kampaeng phet
Ayyuthaya
Bangock
Siem Reap
One of the islands (if i have time/money)
Hong Kong 1 week (i probably will stay here at a friends house)
5 weeks China
3 weeks Thailand
1 week Cambodia
Inside Thailand i probably will travel by train/bus, i will use airplane only if its a really big distance.
Do you think i will be able to get around for 3000-4000 dollars???
THANKS!!!
1
You don't need that much money. But if you want to spend that much money you could have quite a trip! May I ask why three weeks in Beijing? Could you spend a week in Beijing and two weeks in other places? With the kind of money you have I don't see why you would spend all your time in Beijing?? How about cut Beijing to one week, Shanghai to 3-4 days (really you don't need this much time in Shanghai) and then go to Xi'an for 3 days (Terra Cotta Warriors, etc.), spend 5 days in Sichuan (Chengdu, Jiuzhai Valley, E'mei mountain, Leshan, and some Tibetan villages), the 5-6 days in Yunnan- (check out Kunming, Dali and/or Lijiang and the Tiger Leaping Gorge), from Yunnan its not difficult to get to HK.2
Hey!! im spending 3 weeks in Beijing because im doing a course, so that is mandatory... what i was thinking of doing is maybe 4 days in shanghai and 4 days in chengdu.If you think its more than enough... i obviously dont want to spend all my savings, i could do fine with 2500?? for the 9 weeks?
Thanks!!!
4
I did a trip a couple of years ago for 8 weeks - 5 weeks in China (mainly Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou) + 1.5 weeks in northern Thailand and 1.5 weeks northern Laos.I budgeted about $50 a day and it worked out to be about right. Some days were only $30, others were maybe $70, but it averaged out to about $50/day. I don't ever stay in dorm rooms, I just try to get a basic single room with a bathroom and air con. I could get that sort of room for $15-30 in China and $10-15 in Thailand and Laos.
I didn't plan to take any internal flights in China but ended up taking 4. They were only about $50-70 each for a one hour flight.
Personally I would try and budget the full $4000 to allow for flights between each of those countries as well, but its likely you won't spend all of it.
5
I personally wouldn't go all the way to Chengdu for only 3 days, especially if you are starting in Beijing and ending up in Shanghai. That's a lot of distance to travel for so little time. I would try to pick a place or two to stop on the way between Beijing and Shanghai or perhaps visiting Shanghai and places around it. I'm sure you'll get some travel ideas while in Beijing.Just a tip, sometimes flights are quite cheap especially when booked in advance. For China check out sites: Ctrip and eLong . For SE Asia, try AirAsia . There are some budget airlines in Thailand as well, but I can't remember what they are called.
I think your budget is more than enough. If you are taking a course and essentially living in Beijing for a few weeks, you won't spend all that much money on living expenses (you said your accommodation is already arranged). Maybe you can take some trips on the weekend to Datong, Chengde,Tianjin, and the Great Wall. For the week traveling at the end, you might want to budget US$50/day so you have enough money to visit all the sites you like (admission can be expensive) and travel comfortably by train or flight.
I think Thailand can be done for quite a bit less than China. When I traveled there a few years ago I budgeted about US$30/day and I got by just fine though I traveled fairly basically and didn't drink alcohol.
6
If you fly to Chengdu you can have a lot of fun, even if its only 3-4 days. I live in Chengdu I could give you some ideas to maximize your time. If you're an adventurous eater and you like meeting friendly locals you should have a pretty good time!7
Hey, another idea...how about two weeks in Thailand instead of three? Then you can see a lot of other epic Chinese places and two weeks should be plenty of time in Thailand! That would give you another week to spend between Yunnan and Sichuan and maybe even time to see the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an.8
What do you hope to see or do in Shanghai? It's a rather expensive megacity. Unless you have something particular in mind, you could almost surely spend that Shanghai week in some more interesting way. Plus in June and July, Shanghai will be quite hot.9
Hi there your budget sounds pretty good. I would strongly suggest a few days in Xian. Its an overnight train journey from beijing and it has loads going for it, not just the terracotta warriors which is a huge attraction in itself. There are mountains just outside the town and the town itself is fantastic and well worth a couple of dyas. You are so close that its well worth your while going there for a few days.good luck
angie
angietravels
10
If your going all the way to Changmai, then why not head up Chang Rai, cross border to Mekong and get slow boat to Luang Prabang? 3-4 days there then shuttle Vang Vieng, a backpackers haven for a good party on the river ( I hate it but young folks love it) have some happy pizza and then make way to capitol and fly to Siem Reap/Angkor Wat...of fly to Pakse and enjoy 4000 islands, cross Cambodia here and shuttle to SR/AWT. This will allow you some variety of culture, ethnic villages and landscapes, as well a easy to use backpacker circuit thats fun too...11
I agree with Dale 164 as far as daily budget. $50 a day should be fine with the kind of rooms and food you mention. In 2009 and again last month I traveled in Hong Kong, Chengdu, Yunnan, Yangshuo area, and Phnom Penh/Siem Riep and that was my budget per person (I was traveling with partner and 2 teenagers). Street food is amazing and so cheap - even in HK. You can probably vary your accommodations a little if you don't want to do hostel all the time - you can often find nice small hotels for similar price. Of course you can always spend more money, but I find that the interaction with local people (and even other travelers) is inversely proportional to the cost of a hotel. And that's the whole point of travel, right? Enjoy! Sounds wonderful.12
OK, so i actually changed my itinerary a bit, after the 3 weeks in beijing (that cant change) I will spend another 2 weeks in China, and then 17 days in Thailand and Cambodia and i will go back to china for 2 weeks. After beijing i was thinking about going to Xian for a few days and afterwards to Chengdu and Yunnan, however given the long distances i hace to chose between Chengdu (i will not be focusing in the actual city) i want to visit leshan, emei shan and the giant panda breeding centre. About the Yunnan province i am very intrested in getting a feel of the chinese rural life and beautifull sceneries, what do you guys think??13
Sounds good. So you will have 4 weeks to travel in China total? That's a good amount of time to see Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces. Keep in mind, if you go in the summer there will be lots of tourists. It might be difficult to get a genuine feel from "Chinese rural life." Hopefully you can find a way to get a little off the beaten path, especially if you are learning Chinese in Beijing (is that what you are doing?).14
You will need a 60 Day Multi Entry/Exit Visa for China, or two 30 day tourist Visas. I am not sure how easy or possible it is to get the 60 day from your local embassy where you live, or to get another 30 day in Bangkok.
