What Currencies Are Weak Against The Dollar?

Yeah, my post is very detailed and broken out by country. The only thing that has changed since then in Ethiopia is that you can buy domestic flights at local rates once you're in the country, so they're $30-50 and definitely worth it compared to the horrible buses that take 2 days (though a few roads have improved by now as well).

Also, check out this blog. This guy has backpacked 95 countries in the last 8 years and has lots of good info. http://onestep4ward.com

I have not traveled the entire world,
but was very impressed with the deals I got in low-mid end places like Taiwan, China and Thailand.

Of the three China was the cheapest, Thailand was the place where it was easiest place to find good deals.

Taiwan was by far the friendliest. I couldn't make plans around it, but people would stop along country roads and offer me cookies or water bottles just because they saw I am a foreigner.

We just returned from Japan, and with the exchange at 96ish (at the time), it made costs quite comparible to the US and Canada...no bargain, but still, was worth every penny.

I agree with the above; I think everyone flocks to Thailand because of the deals that can be found. Agentina was one that came to mind (though I have not checked in 6 months).

agreed.
and to reiterate:

I imagine places like Tanzania, and Mozambique (place I have not been to) are probably cheaper, but Thailand has a whole sector of its economy dedicated to budget travelers. You don't have to hunt around for good deals there. Saves time. When you pay $X,000 for your airfare time really is money.

Im in the process of planning Tanzania, and by the sounds of it, the majority is not cheap. You would need to really get off the beaten track to find the "African" deals. The majority of regions are influenced by rich tourists booking safaris and lodges through generic websites and tour groups....which can be a factor.

Japan is definitely much cheaper than before. India, South Africa, UK, Turkey, and Iceland. Certain countries like Argentina and Vietnam, their currencies maybe weaker than in the past, but because of inflation, they aren't as a bargain as you might think.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/youngadventure/sets/72157629191413595/

If you are looking for a country which is a good deal at the moment vs the USD, may I suggest Argentina. There's a semi-official "blue" market where you get up to 60% more of for your USD than if you change at the official rate or use an ATM. There's also a shortage of electronics, so many people bring iPads, iPhones etc and sell it there and they can even pay for their flight tickets that way (not sure if this is legal or not). I was there end of last year, and found some pretty good deals, although I still wouldn't classify the country as cheap on an international scale.

Also for Japan, it might be a good deal at the moment, but I just spent New Year's there and let me tell you it's still very expensive on an international scale. What you're looking for is rather countries where you can live and travel cheaply as a backpacker, right? Has very little to do with what the exchange rate happens to be.

There are a lot of countries in the world and I've been to most of them. Iran is an amazing place, and one of the cheaper ones, but as an American you can't travel there freely I think (need a guide; except some regions like Kish), so I wouldn't bother. Have you been to India and Nepal? Extremely cheap countries, and lots of things to see and do.

I did not find Tanzania, Kenya and Zanzibar cheap as a tourist, not at all. Besides, I found Zanzibar very overrated. The thing is, I think I was unable to live "like a local" in this region, and ended up paying tourist prices in many places. Perhaps you can do better than me. Also, you really should do a safari while you're there (serengeti migration is amazing!!) and that will completely blow your budget... Similar for Haiti, it might be the poorest country in the western hemisphere but I spent a fortune on my trip there since I couldn't live like a local! I'd blow $100 just going to the grocery store!

Egypt is extremely cheap and has a lot of things to see, although has a very annoying tourist industry (people cheat you constantly and you always have to be on your guard). I've been there 3 times and always enjoy going back. One year I flew into Cairo and then traveled overland to Turkey, through Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, this was such an amazing journey, but at the moment I think there's some instability in Syria so it might not be a good time to go.

How about Morocco and Tunisia? Cheap, good food, lots of culture and things to see. Annoying tourist industry again, but you can live with that... Northern Iraq is another nice and safe place (unlike the southern parts), you can go there overland from Turkey. Yemen is spectacular and cheap, but I don't know about the safety situation right now, if you'd feel comfortable. Turkey is absolutely fantastic, I've been at least 5 times, but it's not the cheapest, especially not the big cities and touristy areas.

You've been to China, right?

• I paid around $6 for a hotel in Dar es Salaam and about $12 on Zanzibar. I think that's pretty cheap relative to many other countries. Expensive things there include safaris and other stuff only foreigners come to do. In Ethiopia, hotels are $2-3, meals are $1. It's as cheap as it gets and much cheaper than Thailand.

• One thing you'd have to consider for Argentina nowdays is the $150 visa for US citizens (I went years ago when it was free). Tanzania is about $100 if you want to go to Zanzibar too. Ethiopia is only $20 if you arrive by plane.

• I would never recommend Japan as a cheap country even when their currency is down. A hostel bed in Tokyo with 25 others goes for $30-35/night. Even if it goes down to $25, it's still expensive. Same with transportation and food there.

Expensive things there include safaris and other stuff only foreigners come to do.

But part of why I travel is to see what the country has to offer... these African countries have really specialized in exploiting the tourist industry and charging as much as they can, like $750 to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, seriously?? In many other countries, I can see the highlights for free or for very cheap. Visiting the Great Wall of China for example was like $20.

Oh, OP, have you been to Philippines?? Another amazing super cheap country. And not too costly to get to from LA!