Hi there, looking for some friendly advice...
I am a 56 year old woman, planning to do some major travelling in Asia, alone, in the not too distant future. I have had people dependent on me for many years, and am soon to be free! yay, this will be my time. My dream has always been to see more of Asia, particularly Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Northern Thailand, and am wondering if anyone can advise me how much per day, on average I will need. I am happy to live as cheaply as possible, but then again dont want to be in the bottom of the line cheap backpackers, sharing with others, or where there are too hard beds! On the other hand, I am pretty resilient and don't need3 or or 4 star hotels either. I know food is pretty reasonable. What do others allow, on average, per day? Any advice gratefully accepted
I am presuming you cross posted on the SEA branches, excellent advice will be given especially on the thailand branch
It varies slightly from counrty to country but I think I average about $30 per day. Allow $40 to be safe.
I spend $10-$15 for a single room and that gets me something perfectly clean and acceptable. Something rather nice actually! Food ..$2 -$4 for a main meal. I love street food ($1). Fruit during the day.
Bikes $1 -2 per day. If you want to see things (and I am guessing you do) then the the drivers, guides, boat trips, treks, transport, entrance fees etc all add up. But it isn't usually full on every day. One day I may spend $45 for a taxi to somewhere special plus a $10 entrance fee but the next may just be spent pedalling around somewhere scenic or trekking through the rice fields!
Then people like tips and the children always like to sell you souvenirs. And then there are the herbal saunas and massages.
Like I said it varies from country to country but this would be my estimate!
Forgot to say ... most of the time you will find people to share cars, boats, guides etc with. So don't worry about that! Just occasionally you end up doing something on your own and then it's a bit pricey .. but usually worth it!
Helen gives good advice. I did find that it varied a bit even from town to town and what
activities you might want to do. I would say take as much money as you can and conserve/indulge
accordingly. If you like massage, you don't want to miss out on that luxury. In Cambodia there is Massage
by the Blind. Trained in Vietnam in Shiatsu $4 hr.
In Cambodia, Siem Reap is more expensive than less touristed towns like Battambang and Kampot.
Of course take notes off the TT. Here is one for you in Luang Prabang..... a local family owned and run
small guest house off the main drag on a quiet side street Levasy Guest House (seem to have misplaced
the card... the side street is not far from Luang Prabang bakery) Nice small room for $7 , $9 with the balcony'
perfect for one. No website, I arrived with no contact and got the room with the balcony.
If you are going to Phnom Penh.... Mr Un Sokha will meet you at airport or bus. Easy going, reliable and
fair. I used him on 2 visits, he also gave me a tour of the town. It's nice to get off the bus and not have to
deal with the insanity of 20 drivers all shouting at you. His cell..... (855) 12 99 60 51 / 012 99 60 51
email sokha64@hotmail .com.
If you have questions about Laos or Cambodia, I was there last year alone and would be happy to
help if I can.
$30 - $40pd sounds about right - you will have no problem hooking up with other travellers if you want to share a room/taxi/ tour whatever. Often a single room will have 2 beds anyway, though in Phnom Phenh there seemed to be a number of singles - not sure why the difference there! Siem Reap will cost you more -you need to hire a tuktuk to get around unless you are very fit and an excellent cyclist- its a huge site but worth it! So is the boat ride to Battamberg - you probably will only want to do it once - but it is unique! Also definitly go on a Haiphong Bay junk tour - fantastic scenary - might be worth hooking up with someone to avoid paying a single supplement on that one! I travelled 2 years ago to Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam so PM if you want more info. You might find the link below useful too
You can travel quite comfortably closer to the $20 per day level in the places you mention. The bottom end backpackers are traveling closer to $10.
Places such as Siem Reap and Bangkok will cost more per day, but there are lots of interesting smaller, less visited places where you'd almost have to work to spend $10. (Unless you move to tourist class.)
Learn to read the code in the LP budget level sleeping sections. "Close to the action", "good place to meet others" is code for "un-uh". "A bit from the center of things" means "peaceful - check it out".
If you want to stretch your budget then eat where the locals eat. (You're traveling to see how they live anyway, aren't you?)
And travel as the locals do. (You're traveling, ..., ah, you know....)
Thanks for all the replies, they are all really helpful, and I am noting all the good advice. I am new at this, I assume the $$ values are american$$ ?? I am a kiwi, and initially naively assumed everyone had kindly converted to NZ $$ for me, magically, until someone said to me that they presumed it was american $. OOOPs, I realise that they are probably right. Never mind, as long as I know, it's easy to convert, and I certainly have a better idea now of how much I will need. I hope to be travelling for a number of years, I am selling my house, (I said this was serious!!!) so it all depends on the interest rates at the time. I WILL do this though, it is my dream, and I can see myself out there. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, then India (that'll take at least a year) Nepal, Tibet, and then the BIG one, China, where apparently there is NO english in parts, not even signs. By then I will be experienced enough to handle it! Any tips, and advice for a novice gratefully accepted. Thanks everyone......
Hi Heather
I doubt that even the most basic backpacker can travel for an average of $10 Us or NZ for a day as advised by Bob Trips. There might be days where you could spend less than that much in one day but if you are travelling from place to place things add up. Even in countries like Thailand where there is huge tourist competition and fantastic street food and great transport that is available to locals and travellers alike it is unlikely that you would travel for that much on average a day. Places like Cambodia are much more expensive.
But for god's sake woman dont sell the house and spend it on travelling. There are many other ways to do what you want.
Pm me if you want to talk more
Heather - yes I am a Kiwi and I am talking US$ - sorry its the reality - especially in SEA where places like Vietnam the currency is tided to the US$ and Cambodia use it practically in place of their own currency. Its therefore a better currency to budget in for that part of the world - just because the NZ goes up or down - doesn't really affect the cost of a hotel in Siem Reap!
Hmm I tend to agree with #8 too - though I wouldnt advise you take financial advise from anyone on Thorntree! At 56 you have at least another 9 years before you get National Super (you are aware that when you turn 65 you have to have resided in NZ for 5 of the last 10 years to collect - just a point that many don't know). There are lot of ways of financing trips but selling your house is a very drastic step. Can you rent the house, can you downsize and rent the new house? Can you borrow against the house knowing that you have a future income stream coming your way ( a pension maybe). Here are some of ideas on how t osave for a trip
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