Ethiopia Daily Budget

A few of the prices that nomad001 list are high, but in general it is a spot-on assessment. (i.e. St Mary's Cathedral admission only costs $6, but the priest asks to be tipped for everything, so you could easily spend $15 as nomad001 describes. A guide is not required for Simiens.)

wilddog, you are correct that Ethiopia is still relatively cheap. But it has become much more expensive in the past several years, and the budgets in older guidebooks are no longer appropriate.

$100 for a car is a good deal in Ethiopia. Budget backpackers do in fact pay this price, but group together to share costs--with 4 people this is only $25 per day.

nomad001's assessment about "having to bite the bullet" is also correct. Getting a group together to share costs is not always easy. It is not like going to Arusha, where you can just show up, and things fall into place.

There might not be "poor" backpackers, but there certainly are "miserly" ones. I take wilddog's being "budget-conscious" as meaning you see everything possible (within reason) but as cheaply as possible. Sadly, there are more than a few backpackers who travel half-way around the world, then forgo an incredible experience because it costs a few dollars more than they expected.

Peace,

BB

Sorry WildDog but the vast majority of backpackers I met there were doing very few excursions in Ethiopia. Why? Cause it costs money ... too much money, yes, but either you pay or you don't do them. I saw virtually no backpackers doing the southern circuit, none doing any but the basic boat tour on Lake Tana, only two doing the Simien trek on the cheap, and after four days in Axum, I couldn't find a single one interested in seeing the rockhewn churches. Not one! There are plenty around, but its "too expensive", which I found laughable as many seemed to be flying within Ethiopia. Lots of package tourists, but this was the first time in 20+ years of traveling that I actually had real trouble finding other people to do excursions. It was strange ...

(I consider myself a backpacker but I'm willing to spend the $$$$ when I have to ... and I had to in Ethiopia)

A few of the prices that nomad001 list are high, but in general it is a spot-on assessment. (i.e. St >Mary's Cathedral admission only costs $6, but the priest asks to be tipped for everything, so you >could easily spend $15 as nomad001 describes. A guide is not required for Simiens.)

The ticket - which I kept - (as of Mar. 2009) is 120 Birr (which is about $11) plus a small tip, so it does cost about $14-15, though the ticket does get you in to two other churches. Prices were jumping fast in Ethiopia!

$100 for a car is a good deal in Ethiopia. Budget backpackers do in fact pay this price, but group >together to share costs--with 4 people this is only $25 per day.

True ... but trying to convince them was another matter. It was very strange ... most countries have a wide range of tourists of all budgets, but my experience here were mostly people on the extreme ends.

There might not be "poor" backpackers, but there certainly are "miserly" ones. I take wilddog's >being "budget-conscious" as meaning you see everything possible (within reason) but as cheaply >as possible. Sadly, there are more than a few backpackers who travel half-way around the world, >then forgo an incredible experience because it costs a few dollars more than they expected.

I have a similar philosophy ... I try to be as budget conscious as I can but when I need to crack open the wallet to see something interesting/unique, then I do it ... but I seemed to have real trouble finding people like us while I was there; I usually did eventually but it took some work. Maybe I was just unlucky?

Thanks for the price update nomad001. The price for the Axum church compound has doubled since last year! For that price, I want a glimpse of the Arc of the Covenant. ;-)

Yeah, maybe just unlucky. I didn't meet any extreme SE Asia-type backpackers while there...mostly people who spent the same or more than me, and then yes, there were those at the high-end extreme. We easily filled our boat to the central monasteries in Bahir Dar (300birr each), but it was December so there were probably more people around. And the TESFA trek, which at the time cost about 300birr per day, was fully booked every day with 3 guides to choose from. The 4 others independent travelers on my trek had all been spending more than me elsewhere in the country, but were a loooong long way from being package tourists.

I do recall a couple guys that left our New Year's celebration in Addis early because they said they'd run out of money. We spent 10USD each for massive amounts of drink and food--we had all just met that night so we got individual dishes instead of sharing, and it was far too much--and a couple more dollars for beers back at the hotel when we first met. So considering it was a special occasion, it did seem a bit cheap to me that they cut out before we had just a couple more drinks--but to be fair, I have no idea how much they'd spent earlier in the day.

I appreciate the information put forth in this thread--thanks to all.

Wilddog, I just received an advance copy of the new edition of the Bradt guide, so I reckon that if you ring or email Bradt directly (see www.bradt-travelguides.com/contactus.asp) they should be able to rush you a copy before May.

There's nowt as queer as folk as they say. Travel half way around the world and then don't do or see anything cos its too expensive?? Very weird these backpackers...
Why not just stay at home?

On the other hand, the beauty is that everybody is free to chose where they want to go and what they want to do. I met people at Angkor Wat who didnt pay the entry, but that was an ideological thing, not wanting to line the pockets of the petroleum company that owns it. Having said that I generally stump up the costs (within reason, my reasonable budget) because I dont want to regret not doing it later, but I know I wont regret spending 15 dollars when 15 dollars becomes a very small amount back home! What I dont like however is having to witness some backpackers showing off how they didnt pay to go somewhere, as if by not paying and not seeing it makes them better, kind of a take on the Buddhistic aescetic thing!

I haven't met many people who completely skipped a site due to the money (or ideological reasons--like the pair I met who went to Bagan and then didn't enter), but people who will indeed show off that they paid 50 cents less than me for a far crappier bus. 50 cents.