Hi,
We are planning a trip next year from Sweden to Hong Kong overland for roughly 6 months. Our route will consist mostly of Eastern European countries-->Turkey-->Egypt-->Iran-->Pakistan-->China-->Hong Kong. Does anyone know if $15000USD is enough for 2 people and is 6 months enough time?
Thanks
The budget is ok. There will be some people who will brag about spending less. Most people will tell you that you need more time. But 6 months and $7,500 should be ok-ish.
But how will you get from Turkey to Egypt? And Egypt to Iran? Flying? That will take up some cash. Also, once out of Europe, every country will need a visa, most people don't factor it in, but they can add up to a couple hundred dollars. Suddenly that $7,500 goes down to $6,000 after a couple flights and visas.
Say an average of $30 a day per person.
On your timetable that will add up to $5400 a head more or less.
Its certainly possible.......as above,the 'extra'money will be for your visas (quite expensive on that route)and the times when you can't go overland and will have to fly.
In your profile you state that your planned overland route is Turkey, Caucasus, Iran, Pakistan & China. So I guess Egypt would either be a "side-trip", and error or a change of plan...?
If you basically travel through Eastern Europe with the minimum stops, then I think 6 months is good enough for "Turkey-Iran-Pakistan-China-HKG", which could mean, eg. 1 month in Turkey, Iran and Pakistan and 2 months in (some parts of) China and HKG. If you also want to spend some reasonable time in E.Europe, then I think you should cut time from other countries (maybe less time in Turkey and/or China, as I see you've already been there?)
However, if you also want to include all the 'Caucasus' in your route (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan... and even the Nakhchivan and Nagorno-Karabakh republics?), then I think your time may be not enough (even if 'skipping' E.Europe)...
Leave out Egypt if you want to do an overland trip. 6 months is probably enough to do the trip but depends what you want to see along the way - only places on route?, the highlights of each country?, the majority of what interests you in each country?
Your budget looks like enough but will depend on how long you spend in each country as living costs will differ in each. 'Eastern European countries' is not very informative!
Some of the visas may be awkward to come by while travelling so research this before setting off (where you can get the visa etc) and apply for as many visas before leaving home as you can. Note that most visas have a time limit eg 3 months to enter the country after getting the visa. Most nationalities need a visa for Iran, Pakistan and China.
Thanks for all the response- definitely glad about the consensus of our budget. We will have some more back up funds, but we rather not touch that.
To answer a few questions:
Going from Turkey to Egypt-- via Syria (if situations calm down), Jordan, Lebanon. But if we run out of time, we can skip Egypt. Its not like the pyramids are going anywhere. However, I would love to make it to Petra.
The vagueness of "Eastern Europe"-- so many countries, so little time. Definitely on my to go lists are: Montenegro, Moldova....actually everywhere. We will go with the flow of things.
Caucasus-- yes planning to do that. These countries seem incredibly out of the way to go on a normal vacation to.
Visas- Only one of us will need a Chinese visa so that cuts a chunk of the cost. I am not sure what other visas costs are but will definitely look much more in depth into this matter as the time comes nearer.
China, HKG-- actually we are planning to relocate to HKG as one of us has citizenship & family there (hence the end point). So we are only really keen on seeing Western China via the Karakoram Highway.
Accommodation-- We am so over the hostel dorms (specifically the person writing this). Been there done that. We will be staying in private rooms in hostels, cheap hotels, airbnb...
Food-- I love street food, even if it goes out of my system too quickly. We are definitely not picky eaters and I love Asian food. So eating won't take a huge proportion of our budget.
On my previous trips (never quite as long as this), I have found that I am definitely not a fan of slow-travel. I am a huge fan of public transportation though. So hopefully us rushing through countries won't dent our budget too much.
Anyways Thanks Again!!!
Oh, well that changes everything. If it were you original 6 countries, the time and budget were about do-able. But if you're throwing in the Middle East AND the Caucasus, forget about it. Doubling the original 6 (plus "Eastern Europe) makes 11/12 countries + Eastern Europe in 6 months. That's a lot.
Visas will be a pain. If you are Canadian (that's what your profile says) there is a high likelihood you will be rejected for the Iranian visa. This will mean another flight. You will need to get the Pakistani and Syrian visas at home, which will cause issues with timing.
Azerbaijan's ridiculous visa will kill the budget. At up to $100 for a visa, plus LOIs, it's a major dent in the budget. Never mind a dorm room in Baku costs $20/night.
You'll need to prioritize your trip.
Agree with #6....if you want to see anything of those countries as well,you will need to add more time.
And going faster and covering a lot of ground will cost you more per day......
As I said in #3, I also think you're trying to squeeze too many places and huge distances in too little time: 6 months is not as long as it sounds!
In "Eastern Europe" you definitely want to go to Montenegro, Moldova....actually everywhere. If coming overland from Sweden you would probably go through Denmark, Germany and Austria before getting to the Balkans. Once there, would you just speed across Slovenia and Croatia (and even B&H) before Montenegro, and then again speed through Serbia and Romania to Moldova, and then back to Romania and across Bulgaria to Istanbul? And what about Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia? And huge Poland, Ukraine, Belarus...?
And then, into the Middle East and North Africa, then into Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia... Do you realise you're planning on speeding through about 20 countries in about 25 weeks?!
Even if you're not a fan of slow travel, it's quite difficult to conceive this as a realistic trip that you could actually enjoy and where you could learn stuff from the places you visit... Do think about it twice! Read about stuff to see/do/learn/etc. in these 15-20 countries, write down a few places in each and every country that you'd definitely not want to miss, then work out an overland route linking all of them and calculate the distances you'd have to cover & the time you'd need, taking into account that you'll be travelling (as you want to) by public transport...
Costs would also be considerably higher with so many countries...
And another thing: in long trips, even people that enjoy slow travel, do need some time to rest and take it easy, especially after 3-4 months of travelling huge distances every other day...
Hope this helps!
Also, keep in mind that if you are going overland to Egypt with your own car (i skimmed but didn't see you explicitly mention what methods of travel you were using)...you'll need a carnet good up to 800% of the value of the vehicle. so even a vehicle valued at $1,000 with have a carnet cost (indemnity method) of roughly $1,500.