How much money for one year in Asia???

magda wrote:

One more thing - people in SEA consider white backpackers as rude and
don't really like them. Do you know why? I know. I learnt that when I
was living in Malaysia. Many white backpackers are not really
interested in Asian culture, they treat locals with superiority. And
when I was reading some of your posts I clearly saw Asian point of
view....

This is going to spark yet another discussion. But overall what you
write is true.
--

Alfred Molon

http://www.molon.de/Galleries.htm - Photos from Myanmar, Brunei,
Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Egypt, Austria, Budapest and
Portugal

magda wrote:

From your posts I can presume that for one year in Asia I would
need anything from 7000$ to 14000$. I was wondering why there
are so big differences between your sugestions.

It depends on many factors like the cost of living in their home town
(e.g. London is very expensive), how much vacation time they have (some
americans get very little), how much consumerism they're used to, their
lifestyle, etc.


I guess it is important what my priorities are. I am not going to go
to Asia to drink beer or party every second night. I am going to go to
Asia to see things, observe people, understand their culture.

From reading your posts, I'm confident you'll have a nice trip with
7000$. The best sights in asia are not monuments, they are the
day-to-day life, the culture, the people.

I'm disappointed when I hear my fellow citizen come back from Thailand
and all they talk about is the cheap beer and pretty bargirls.

One more thing - people in SEA consider white backpackers as rude and
don't really like them. Do you know why? I know. I learnt that when I
was living in Malaysia. Many white backpackers are not really
interested in Asian culture, they treat locals with superiority.
I call that the colonial attitude.
And a lot of people look down on people who aren't as wealthy. But it's
a rather silly since their relative wealth varies with the exchange rate.

magda wrote:

From your posts I can presume that for one year in Asia I would
need anything from 7000$ to 14000$. I was wondering why there
are so big differences between your sugestions.

It depends on many factors like the cost of living in their home town
(e.g. London is very expensive), how much vacation time they have (some
americans get very little), how much consumerism they're used to, their
lifestyle, etc.


I guess it is important what my priorities are. I am not going to go
to Asia to drink beer or party every second night. I am going to go to
Asia to see things, observe people, understand their culture.

From reading your posts, I'm confident you'll have a nice trip with
7000$. The best sights in asia are not monuments, they are the
day-to-day life, the culture, the people.

I'm disappointed when I hear my fellow citizen come back from Thailand
and all they talk about is the cheap beer and pretty bargirls.

One more thing - people in SEA consider white backpackers as rude and
don't really like them. Do you know why? I know. I learnt that when I
was living in Malaysia. Many white backpackers are not really
interested in Asian culture, they treat locals with superiority.
I call that the colonial attitude.
And a lot of people look down on people who aren't as wealthy. But it's
a rather silly since their relative wealth varies with the exchange rate.

Tchiowa wrote:
It is the backpackers looking down on the locals that causes the problem.

That's what I was trying to say. But not just backpackers, tourists in
general.

The most interesting places are the ones which haven't been spoiled by
previous tourists.

Tchiowa wrote:
It is the backpackers looking down on the locals that causes the problem.

That's what I was trying to say. But not just backpackers, tourists in
general.

The most interesting places are the ones which haven't been spoiled by
previous tourists.

However, I am a bit puzzled if someone is really
willing to travel one whole year.

HUH? 'Really willing' my friend, people travel for years and years on
end, I don't really understand the 'really willing' part, you make it
sound like a chain gang

(note: Your reply appeared only today, Jul 13 on my news server)


On Wed, 7 Jul 2004 22:09:35 GMT, Thomas F. Unke
wrote:

me writes:

Nonsense. In India, say 5$ already gets you an ok place

I travelled for many months in India. Probably you and I have
different ideas of "ok". In some tourist spots, a 250 RP GH may be
acceptable. In most other places you have to pay more for a decent
place, if you don't want to stay in holes.


Well then yes, our ideas of ok might be different. For me, a clean
room and private bathroom with hot water (or a service where the hotel
brings a bucket of hot water any time) is quite ok. I've found it
everywhere in India for 150-250 rupees, even in Calcutta. I didn't get
the chance to visit Bombay though.

Again, nonsense. A taxi from one end of Bangkok to the other will cost
you 100B tops,

Nonsense. BKK taxis are cheap, but including waiting time, not that
cheap. Around 8B/km if there are no traffic jams. For 100B, you can do
12-13 km. But not surprising, you have no clue how big BKK really is.


12-13 km, well yes. How big is BKK, what does it matter, is the
average visitor travelling from the suburb on the one end to the
suburb on the other end? That's totally irrelevant. The average
visitor will take taxis from their hotel to and from the sights.

Waiting time, traffic jams, well, it pays know Bangkok a little. Nobod
in their right mind will take a taxi from Pratunam to suk70 or
something at 3 pm. You take the skytrain, nice, fast and easy. And
arriving at the station near where you want to go, you catch a taxi.
Or you take the river boats, nice, easy, cheap and fast, and then take
a taxi. Saves you a lot of time. But of course you wouldn't know that,
they don't tell you that in the Mandarin Oriental now do they? (nice
place though haha)

If you take a few motor rickshaws in India (one of the cheapest
countries anyway) it will sum up to several $ a day alone.


So? That's part of your 20$.

* no aircon bus

Nonsense. An A/C bus from Bangkok to just about anywhere in Thailand
will cost under 15$.

25$ would come nearer the real costs.


25$ from Chiang Mai to Hat Yai maybe yes.

* no sleeper train

Same again.

You never travelled long distance in India I assume.


Yes I have. I have always (when in India for leisure) travelled
second-class sleeper and for example a Delhi-Varanassi trip will cost
you 5$.


* eat only street food

Nonsense. There's plenty of very nice A/C all-you-can-eat,
stuff-yourself-till-you-explode, places in Bangkok where you'll spend
5$ tops. Not in the backpacker areas obviously (there you'll get a
coffee and a muffin for that price haha).

I don't care about backpacker areas. But if you want to enjoy BKKs
food, you need much more than 5$.


For 5$ I could take you (but I won't as I feel no desire whatsoever to
ever meet you) to fantastic Thai all-you-can-eat buffets frequented by
Thais and not would-be Mr Thailands like yourself.


* no beers

Nonsense. Ever seen the family-size 640 ml bottles for 1$ tops just
about anywhere in Asia (except for Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singaore)?

Much more in restaurants, esp. in BKK where it is easily around 100
B. Have a few beers and some decent food and your 20$ budget is
reached.


I have decent food on the pavement along Suk, drink beers that cost
40B, maybe 50B tops.

Nonsense. You won't visit Taj Mahal every day of your trip, will you?

There are many places which charge high entrance fees for
foreigners. But I'm sure you haven't seen any.


Sure I have, but again I state my point, youwon't visit the Taj every
day of your trip, now will you?

Do a day sightseeing in Istanbul and you will not eat for a month to
get back to your 20$ budget.

Well, as I said, I don't know about Turkey as the last time I have
been there is 10 years ago (unilke all the other places in Asia I
mentioned).


* no diving or other activities which cost money

Again, you won't dive all of your holiday now will you? That month of

You certainly have no idea of the costs if diving.


You have a point, I am not a diver.

Of course, for this budget, countries like Japan or Korea, but also
Hongkong or Singapore, are completely off limits.

Total nonsense.

Ever been to Japan? Korea?


Yes. I agree with you those places are completely off limits on the
20$ budget. I don't agree about HK or Singapore.

Hong Kong being so incredibly expensive, where do these people get
these stories?

From traveling there, not from bull**** on usenet.


I lived and worked in HK so I think I know what I am talking about.

in advance, Hong Kong is very possible under 20$ a day. Sure, forget
about restaurants and lots of beer and bars and so on, but for a

Oh yeah, no restaurants and no beers. Exactly what I wrote.


Well, yes, no restaurants and no beers in HK, I agree with that. In HK
and Singaopre, yes, I agree. Not in the other countries.


Even Turkey has to
be avoided.

Dunno about Turkey

Yep, you don't know. Just in your former message you wrote how cheap
it is to get from Istanbul to Delhi. You are full of bull****, have
never travelled to the places you talk about.


You're entitled to your own opinion.

Costs will be higher in Hong Kong and Singapore, but the AVERAGE
will be below 20$, no problem.

So what, costs will be higher in Hongkong? You just said that Hongkong
on 20$ a day is "very possible". You don't believe your own bull****?


I said 20$ a day is very possible. It is very possible. You can get
accomodation in a pleasant youth hostel (not the horrible Chungking
mansion or Mirrador) for 8$, take busses all day long for say 5$, eat
a couple of McDonalds meals for 5$ and have change left for bottles of
water. Not the most culinary diet, I agree, but you'll survive for a
few days.

Just in case you do blow your budget in HK, pigging out for the buffet
on the Peak for example (which is nice indeed), then the average
certainly will be below 20$ if you spend any amount of time in India
or Iran.

And about the "average". Sure if you hang around the cheapest beach
bungalow in Ko Pha Ngan for 3 months, you may cut your average costs a
lot.

But if you travel a lot, don't hang around only where it is cheap,
want to see a country and not come for the sole purpose of saving your
money, you will definitely need more than 20$ a day.

But I have to admit: During my travels I met quite a few people like
you who are proud to do it on the lowest budget possible. Mostly, they
are not the most pleasant fellow travellers.

Well, yes, dear friend, I have met quite a lot of people like you too,
throwing around money unnecessarily, proud of being able to waste
money, while a bunch of Thai are standing around grinning ear to ear
discussing how stupid the falang is. Well, good for them, they make a
good living of ignorant foreigners who think they 'know' the country
and who think they get a good deal in that gweilo place having 'real'
food in that 15$ buffet while you get the exact same food but better
for 2$ on the pavement.

Good luck to you.

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:29:29 +0200, the renowned me
wrote:


Well, yes, no restaurants and no beers in HK, I agree with that. In HK
and Singaopre, yes, I agree. Not in the other countries.

If you really just want a beer, they are relatively cheap and cold at
the 7-11 or grocerty stores in HK- less than 1/5 the price of a beer
in a pub in Lan Kwai Fong, IIRC.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:29:29 +0200, the renowned me
wrote:


Well, yes, no restaurants and no beers in HK, I agree with that. In HK
and Singaopre, yes, I agree. Not in the other countries.

If you really just want a beer, they are relatively cheap and cold at
the 7-11 or grocerty stores in HK- less than 1/5 the price of a beer
in a pub in Lan Kwai Fong, IIRC.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

I was out of line there. I apologise.



On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 20:39:19 +0200, Alfred Molon
wrote:

me wrote:

Are we getting personal, Thomas? Your ancestor's behaviour in Europe
in 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 wasn't the most pleastant either but you
don't see ME mentioning that here in the original debate, now do you?

First of all if you bring these arguments into a thread about travelling
in Asia, you really have a problem.

Second, you need to refresh your history. Germany didn't start WW I
(1914-18).