To those who have travelled in Asia

[Somnambulation]

How does it compare cost wise to Europe? Where like a four hour train ride might cost you 50 bucks in Europe, what would the Asian equivalent be? Or the average for a night at a hostel. Or a decent meal at a restaraunt?

[voyd]

I've only been to China but stuff is ridiculously cheap there.

Well, except they don't have those cheapo puddle-jumper flights like EU has.

[urOZm8]

I was in Bangkok only a few days and one day I had a taxi for just over $20AUD.

He took me to numerous palaces and temples and waited for me until I was ready to go another sight. That was from like 10am to 4pm. Dunno about public transport but Id say 'ridiculously cheap'

ev

[worldwidemike]

I can only speak for SE Asia, but I thought it was considerably cheaper than Europe. I had some severe sticker shock in Spain this March, after having done Asia mostly for the last year or so...

worldwidemike

[tumblezweedz]

By contrast, Japan is fiecrely expensive (no surprise). The train from Tokyo north to Morioka (about a five hour trip before the shinkansen) was a couple hundred bucks, Now there's a bullet train to Aomori, which makes the trip tons faster but probably costs a lot more. If you do plan to hit Japan, go north, young man! The south is beautiful for temples and castles, but the scenery in the north is awesome, and you'll get more of a sense of the traditional lifestyle.

Okinawa is nice on the beaches and there are some great museums etc, but with all the US bases, it sometimes feels like you're in an American town - K-mart & ToysrUs? Is that what you want to see?

We used public transit in Singapore. Also not a cheap city, but not outrageous like Japan. Looked at train fares in Malaysia which were cheap, but we wanted to travel in fall 2001...bad timing.

[urOZm8]

This question has a relevance to me now and I was in the library just before looking at Malaysia.
A 2.5hr bus ride from Melaka to Kuala Lumpur was like RM6.8 (maybe $3.50AUD) and from Kota Bahru to KL (9hrs, RM25, $12.50AUD) This bok was a few yrs old but Thailand is a bit cheaper, Singapore more costly and Indonesia slightly cheaper.
You thinking of going jake?

ev

[LiveFreeorDie]

In my experience so far, places like Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong are rather pricey - comparable to Europe or U.S. prices - if not more. Countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia are much, much cheaper. You can be in a taxi in Bangkok for over an hour (ride across the city for example) and it will cost maybe 4 to 6 U.S. dollars. A decent hotel is maybe $25 bucks a night in the city. Hostels and gueshouses are much, much less. Food is also cheap, you could eat streetside vendors for a dollar or two. Hong Kong and Singapore are very pricey. China can vary - if you go to Shanghai or Beijing it can be almost first-world prices. If you stay out in the boonies - away from the "westernized" cities, prices are very cheap. In any event, enjoy your trip there - its a great region to travel around in.

[Somnambulation]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Ive just just wondering how much money I need to make if I decide to go on another trip next summer, and if Asia would be the most cost friendly.

[joanofarc]

i can speak for thailand where: i paid on average $7 per night (my portion of a $14 ensuite double) for a room, $18 for a 13-hour overnight train ride with sleeper, and $3-4 at most for a meal in a sit-down but humble restaurant. beers are about, uh.. maybe a buck for a 20 oz. maybe less, i only had a few.

[Somnambulation]

Sounds hella good

[nikon]

I've just recently come back from Bali (2nd trip) and yeah things are cheap - not sure on public transport don't think they have any from memory. Taxi's are dirty cheap, you can use metered taxi's or barter your fare before you go, bit like urOZm8 in Thailand. Food is cheap over ther and there are heaps of places to eat out i was having really nice meals + large Bintang (local beer) for between 30,000-60,000 ($4-9AUD) - you could do it even cheaper though. Not sure on hostels though, plenty of places to stay hotel wise ($20-50 depending on star rating, etc.).

In Malaysia (3yrs ago) things are much like Bali, maybe a bit more in price. Meals wise plenty of places to eat + street vendors, in KL meals were more expensive ($10AUD+) but out @ Penang meals were $4-7AUD. You can barter your taxi fares easy enough too. There are buses from the airport but can't remember prices exactly.

In Hong Kong (2yrs ago) like LiveFreeorDie are more pricey, most meals are like $15AUD+ and if you can find stuff that isn't half cooked you've struck gold! Hong Kong has a good train system which is cheap, avoid rush hour if possible, its like a tin of sardines.

I think thats all i can remember of the top of my head, enjoy Asia its great!

[PhilBill]

In the Philippines domestic flights cost U$50 to U$65 one way from Manila or Cebu to any destination in the cuntry; buses and ships average U$1 / hour of travel time.

Meals range from $.50 cents for rice with a topping to U$3.25 for an all you can eat buffet on Boracay Island's famous white sand beachfront; local Tanduay rum is $.80 cents / liter, San Miguel Beer is $.35 to $.45 cents for the small bottle or El Grande is less than $.60 cents / liter and most other pleasurable "vices" are very cheap.

Basic clothing can be U$2 to U$9 / each.

Rooms with fan range from U$5 to U$10, with Cable TV and air-conditioning U$15 to U$25 / night/2 persons but long term discounts can be much cheaper like U$100 to U$200 / month fr most private housing units with 1000 square feet floor area. Life's BEACH in the Philippines!!
EXPLORE PHILIPPINES

[worldwidemike]

Philbill...good to hear from you again! Are you a world famous travel photographer yet?

worldwidemike