Nepal and India - how many $ per day for budget backpacker.
Replies: 4 - Last Post: Feb 12, 2013 7:24 AM Last Post By: davidparquesol
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Nepal and India - how many $ per day for budget backpacker.
Hi. I was wondering if anyone had ideas about how much I would need to spend per day in India and Nepal, providing that I would sleep in lowest tier accommodation and couch surf as much as I can, and travel as cheap as possible? I'm shooting for 20$ per day but don't know if that's really possible.And another question: what food to eat? This would be my first time in these parts and as I read street food is a very bad idea, so at what kinds of places should I eat to lessen my chance of stomach problems and how much would a meal cost, obviously keeping in mind that I don't and can't eat in expensive hotel restaurants.
Any info is very much appreciated :)
Edited by: roxunreal
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A thought about food in India for you: imagine if you can, a restaurant catering for tourists etc.S/He has a fridge full of food ready to sell and of which profits depend on. The thing is, how long would you keep that food in there if there is little custom? Now imagine it being an electric starved fridge going on and off all day and night. You could argue that a stomach used to food that has gone through this could deal with the bacteria better than a stomach unaccustomed to it. It’s just a thought and doesn’t describe all restaurants.
Now imagine a street vendor selling a biryani off the back of a bike or from a scaffold and tarp shed. Of course the words Russian roulette spring to mind here but remember bums on seats don’t lie. S/He has just cooked it, it’s steaming hot and it will be all gone very soon. You could argue that it is the safest food to eat around.
I have rarely eaten in restaurants, choosing instead to eat with the locals on the street (some of which tell me they have travelled far to eat from this street vendor) I have been ill twice in India, once after eating at a deserted beach shack that had seen few tourists (electric starved fridge), the other, I am verry sure, after eating at a restaurant highly recommended by the LP.
Street food is NOT a very bad idea, but you do have to use your head.
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Also as far as expenses go, it if possible to live on very little when you find your feet. I set aside an average of 250Rs for travel between places and about 300R for a place to sleep (and that’s living it up for me). As far as food goes I generally find a stall serving samosa or something fried for breakfast costing around 20Rs, a hand of banana or some curry of a street vendor for about the same & a Thali which costs around 50Rs for my evening meal. I never eat too much, as finding toilets can be hard sometimes so think about that. Water is about 15Rs a bottle, 25 for pop and a quarter of the hard stuff for as little as 80 – 120Rs so $20 can go a long way depending on where you are and how you want to live. Don’t forget on top of this there is having fun and paying for the attractions which are not charger for at the Indian rate.4
just to give you an example what I paid in my stays in India and Nepal for 3 moths:Hotels
Varanasi 550 rupees, bathroom, hot water, wifi, facing the Ganges.
Rishikesh 200 rupees, bathroom, hot water, wifi Rs.100 day.
Allahabad 900 rupees (in Kumbh Mela), bathroom, hot water, plasma tv, stylish bed.
Agra 350 rupies, bath, hot water, 20 m south gate facing Taj Mahal, viewed from the roof.
Kolkata 250 rupees, shared bathroom, no wifi
Pokhara 300 Nepali rupees (about 3euros-4USD), bathroom, solar hot water, facing the lake, 2 beds, wifi
You can survive with 20 euros- 25 USD a day.
You can check this videoblog if you want more ideas about what to visit:
http://depucelaalaindia.blogspot.in/
all the best
