On backpackers

As readers of this blog know, I spent more than half of 2019 travelling around SE Asia, covering a lot of ground in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

I didn't carry a backpack, because I'm old and have spinal issues, but I was, to all extents and purposes, a backpacker: It was an extended trip. I moved around from place to place every few days. I explored widely -- not just the "top tier" tourist destinations in each country, but loads of places that see almost no Western tourists. 

I was a backpacker, with a smart cabin trolley by my side.

Backpackers get a lot of hate from a lot of places. Government ministers can be often seen leading the pack (for example, the Indonesian Tourism Minister claiming in September 2021 that backpackers weren't welcome "to keep the country clean" once Bali reopened for tourists, as if the trash that washes up on the region's beaches was all tossed by backpackers, while all the $200 a night tourists carefully took their empty Evian bottles home with them at the end of their trip).

Some of this hate-the-backpackers may be based on economic self-interest (either the speaker owns a big 4 or 5-star hotel, or the people making the largest donations to his or her campaign do), but a lot of it seems to be more based on outdated concepts.

When was the last time you saw a bunch of old-school backpackers anywhere in SE Asia?

These days, boutique hostels with infinity pools have replaced the old-timer $3-a-bed shacks. The image of the hippy backpacker in torn trousers and a fraying Bob Marley t-shirt, spliff in one hand and banana pancake in the other, stopped being relevant sometime in the 90s. We're all flashpackers now.

So why the continued hate?

As the Indonesian Ministry for Tourism got a lot of negative press for his "clean" comments, I thought I'd like to share some facts with him (cause he's bound to read this; I had 7 visitors last month, so my site is bound to become world-famous any day now):

In 2019, I spent 51 days (7 weeks) in Indonesia, flying in to Yogyakarta at the start of August, and flying out from Flores via Bali in late September.

During that trip, I spent an average of $46.31 USD per day, so just shy of $2400 USD in total. That's in-country spend, so doesn't include flights to get to Indonesia, nor the visa. I also don't usually drink when I'm travelling, so the total is a little lower than it would be if I liked a beer or cocktail of an evening.

I stayed in 20 different hotels or guesthouses in Indonesia, ranging from Solo and Semarang in Java, to Pemuteran and Pantai Jemeluk in Bali, to Gili Gede and the Senaru on Lombok, to LB in Flores. Most of them I stayed 3 nights, although there were a few where I was mostly breaking a long journey, and only stayed 1 night, and a few smaller towns where I only stayed 2 nights.

I must have eaten in a hundred different restaurants, cafes, food stalls, and hole-in-the-walls. I used local taxi drivers, and tour guides, and laundry services, and shops. I carried a refillable water bottle everywhere I went. I took 2 minute showers to reduce my water usage. I didn't eat any banana pancakes (not that there's anything wrong with that) and I didn't smoke any spliffs. I spread my money around to a lot of small businesses, owned by locals.

According to the government ministers who make pronouncements on this sort of thing, that makes me undesirable.

They'd prefer that I flew in for a week, and stayed at a 4 or 5-star resort. That I was a "quality" tourist.

The 4-star Mercure Resort in Kuta is currently offering rooms for $38USD a night. It's owned by the Accor brand, so most of the proceeds will leave Indonesia, but never mind. While I'm there, I won't eat all my meals in the hotel, so I will undoubtedly visit local spots, like Starbucks. Too bad the Planet Hollywood restaurant closed down. 

Even before Covid kicked the socks out of prices, I would have probably spent less in country for a week in a 5-star than I did for 7 weeks backpacking, and would certainly have spent less for a week in a 4-star. And almost all of the profits would have been offshored. The locals would have received no benefit, apart from mostly low-paying jobs.

Or, I could be a backpacker, and put money into the pockets of local small business owners.

Yet the government ministers still keep insisting the 4 and 5-star tourist is desirable and the backpacker is undesirable. Which begs the question: 

What are they smoking?

2019 travel costs for Thailand

Back on my 2011 travels, I included a breakdown of travel costs for Thailand. I thought it might be useful to update those costs for my 2019 trip, as I spent 3 weeks in SE Thailand in July, a month in north and northeast Thailand in October, and 9 days in SW Thailand in December.

One caveat, my travel style has always been more flashpacker than backpacker, and is probably even more so, now I'm middle aged. I like AC. I hate share bathrooms. For convenience, I've broken the Thai portions of the trip down into different sections, as the costs do vary a little (with the islands costing noticeably more than the mainland).

Peninsular towns (Songkla, Phattalung, Nakhon Si Thamarat, Surat Thani, Chumphon, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Hua Hin, Trang, Satun): average costs per day = £26.29 (1045 THB)

Accommodation average £17 per night (675 THB)

• Songkla - 1175 THB (£29). Songkla is very popular with domestic tourists, and I was there over a weekend, meaning most places were fully booked. I therefore had to take a more expensive room that I normally would.
• Phattalung – 730 THB (£18.25) 
• Nakhon Si Thamarat – 495 THB (£12.40) 
• Surat Thani – 490 THB (£12.25) 
• Chumphon – 622 THB (£15.50) 
• Prachuap Khiri Khan – 570 THB (£14.25)
• Hua Hin – 744 THB (£18.50)
• Trang – 502 THB (£12.50)
• Satun – 590 THB (£14.75)

Food and drink: average £5.50 per day (217 THB) – mostly cheap restaurants and a few food stalls, but no alcohol. Sample costs might be:

• 30 THB for khao gaeng (curry rice) at a market stall
• 20 THB for an iced coffee at a stall
• 60-70 THB for an iced coffee at a fancy coffee shop
• 90 THB for khanom jeen (a noodle dish), a sharing-sized side of goong tod (fried shrimp fritters) and an iced tea at a small restaurant.

Sightseeing is pretty cheap, as museum fees are generally not excessive (perhaps 100-150 THB) and that wandering around and visiting wats is largely free. Average £0.68 (27 THB) per day.

Transport is also affordable: I used a mix of trains and minibuses to move between towns, with  sorngtaews, the occasional taxi, or often just my feet to get around in town. Intercity train journeys varied between about 20 and 100 THB, depending on the distance (3rd class). Intercity minibuses varied between 80 and 180 THB. I typically spent an average of £1.62 (64 THB) per day.

Northern and NE Thailand (Chiang Mai, Chiang Dao, Thaton, Mae Salong, Chiang Rai, Phayao, Phrae, Phitsanulok, Dan Sai, Chiang Khan, Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdaham, Ubon Ratchathani): average costs per day = £25.64 (1026 THB).

Accommodation average £14.43 per night (577 THB)

• Chiang Mai - 500 THB (£12.50)
• Chiang Dao – 500 THB (£12.50) 
• Thaton – 400 THB (£10) 
• Mae Salong – 700 THB (£17.50). Paid extra for a room with a view of the tea fields.
• Chiang Rai – 600 THB (£15) 
• Phayao – 690 THB (£17.25)
• Phrae – 700 THB (£17.50)
• Phitsanulok – 535 THB (£13.39)
• Dan Sai – 400 THB (£10)
• Chiang Khan – 720 THB (£18)
• Udon Thani – 590 THB (£14.75)
• Nong Khai – 575 THB (£14.34)
• Nakhon Phanom – 500 THB (£12.50)
• Mukdaham – 952 THB (£23.80). I'd been roughing it in southern Laos for two weeks, so decided to treat myself to a plush hotel for a couple of nights.
• Ubon Ratchathani – 425 THB (£10.65)

Food and drink: average £6 per day (240 THB) – mostly cheap restaurants and food stalls, plus a few fancy coffeeshops and the odd "nice" restaurant, but no alcohol. A bowl of khao soi (Chiang Mai style noodles with beef or chicken) or a stir fry on rice is typically between 40-60 THB.

Sightseeing is pretty cheap, as museum fees are generally not excessive (30-100 THB). Some of the more popular wats charge up to 100 THB entry fee as well. But I spent more time wandering about towns and hiking into the countryside around the town then visiting paid-for attractions, so my average spend was only £1.13 (45 THB) per day.

Transport is also affordable: I used a mix of coaches, minibuses and sorngtaews to move between towns, with a quite mobile schedule - I spent 4+ nights each in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, but most places I stayed only 2 nights, with a couple I only stayed a single night to break up a longer journey. Average spend was £2.31 (93 THB) per day.

Island sites (Ko Samui, Ko PhaNgan, Ko Lanta, Ko Ngai): average costs per day £35.80 (1424 THB)

The islands vary enormously in terms of cost. On some of them (I'm looking at you, Ko Ngai), expect to pay mid-range-and-up prices for basic, cold water fan-cooled rooms. Other islands offer some very good value rooms, especially as soon as you move one row back off beachfront properties. Average £18.36 per night (730 THB).

• Ko Samui – 800 THB (£20) - bungalows one row back off the beach
• Ko PhaNgan – 600 THB (£15) - small hotel one row back off the beach
• Ko Lanta – 520 THB (£13) - bungalows a 4 minute walk inland from the beach
• Ko Ngai – 1335 THB (£33.35) - beachfront property, but I was in one of the cheap bungalows at the back.

Food and drink is also more tourist-focused, and more expensive. Average £9.40 (374 THB) per day. If stopping by a small Thai restaurant anywhere near the beaches or touristy areas, expect to pay a minimum of 120-150 THB for a basic curry, rice, and water (double that if you're eating in your hotel's restaurant, or in a very touristy area). If partaking of international food, expect a minimum of 250-300 THB pp, excluding drinks. Still probably cheaper than back home!

Fees for diving and snorkeling trips, boat trips, etc., can add up pretty quickly, but swimming, walking on the beach, and snoozing in a hammock are all free :)

Ferries to or from the islands are usually fairly tourist-focused, so expect to pay a minimum of 300 THB every time you to from the mainland to an island, or from one island to the next (and some of the other islands I didn't visit are considerably more expensive to reach, with ferries costing 800 or 1000 THB per person). So if you're planning on doing a lot of island hopping, your costs will mount horribly quickly.


So, that gives you a rough idea how much you might spend, assuming you travel as a solo flashpacker.

2019 travel costs for Laos

I visited Laos for the first and second time this year. I crossed from NE Thailand into Laos at Vientiane in October 2019, and spent three nights in Vientiane, then up to Luang Prabang for 6 nights. Then I visited again spent in November and December 2019, crossing into Southern Laos from Cambodia, and working my way north through the 4000 Islands, Pakse, Savannaket, and Thakhek, to cross back into Thailand at Nakhon Phanom. Here is a brief run-down of my spending on these trips (as a solo flashpacker).

Although not as expensive as Cambodia, Laos is still a bit more expensive than Thailand, with loads of fancy French restaurants and patisseries to tempt you into going over your budget. I spent an average of £40 / $48.50 USD per day (about 1480 THB. By comparison, I spent about 1000 THB a day in northern and NE Thailand).

Accommodation often hovers around the $20-22 USD mark for standard, decent places with AC. Exchange rates vary a lot from place to place, so these are all approx.

• Vientiane – $22 (210,000 kip)
• Luang Prabang  – $20 (180,000 kip)
• Don Khone (part of the 4000 Islands) – $33 (300,000 kip). There were loads of cheaper, more backpackery places available on the islands, especially on the more touristy Don Dhet, but I decided I wanted to splurge a little on a nice place in a quieter part of the islands. 
• Pakse – $29 (260,000 kip)
• Savannaket – $22 (205,000 kip)
• Thakhek – $22 (200,000 kip) 

Food and drink: average $17.23 USD (£13.13) per day in the north (a lot of tourist-oriented restaurants, a lot of fancy pastries and croissants, and a few high end meals at expensive restaurants) and $9.90 USD (£7.54) in the south. Sample costs might be:

• $3.37 (30,000 kip) for a croissant or pastry, and coffee or tea
• $7-7.50 (60,000-68,000 kip) for a baguette and juice or coffee
• $14.50 (130,000 kip) for a three-course lunch in a nice French restaurant
• $5-6.60 (45,000-53,000 kip) for a curry, rice, and water at a tourist-oriented small restaurant
• $2.25 (20,000 kip) for a plate of local food in a small (non-touristy) restaurant
• $1.15 (10,000 kip) for noodles at the market
• $0.50 (5000 kip) for a large bottle of water in a touristy area

Sightseeing: average $5.85 USD (£4.50) per day.  Sample costs include 10,000 kip ($1.12) donation at a small temple, 20,000-50,000 kip ($2.25-$5.60) entry to museums or tourist sites, 85,000 kip ($9.55) for a half-day boat trip out of Luang Prabang, and 200,000 kip ($22.50) for a full day kayak trip out of 4000 Islands. Remember to budget for souvenirs (all those beautiful hand-woven textiles are sure to catch your eye....)

Transport: average $4.90 USD (£3.80) per day. Coaches or minibuses between towns typically cost around $3.50-$11 per trip, depending on the distance, and tuktuks and taxis around town tend to charge tourist prices, so expect to pay $3 for a short trip, and $6-7 for a longer one (such as from Luang Prabang or Vientane town centre to the airport). Arriving in Luang Prabang, the airport taxis even put me and another tourist in the same taxi, and charged us both full fare!

So, that gives you a rough idea how much you might spend, assuming you travel as a solo flashpacker, and like your French pastries as much as I do.

2019 travel costs for Cambodia

I visited Cambodia for the first time in November 2019, and thought it might be useful to share how much it cost (as a solo flashpacker).

First off, Cambodia is harder to do cheaply than neighbouring Thailand. You will often end up paying more to find decent accommodation, and it can be harder to find street food (certainly, the street food is less accessible). Although I found cheap local noodle places in some places, in others those sorts of joints were either few and far between, or seemed (to my fastidious Western eyes) quite decrepit, so I didn't necessarily feel comfortable eating there. Plus all those fancy French restaurants and patisseries are quite tempting....So I ended up going considerably over my budget, and spent an average of  $66.67 USD (£50.61) per day.

Accommodation average $31 per night (£23.59). Siem Reap has an enormous number of hotels and dorms, across all price points. At the price I was paying, expect a nice room in a small hotel with a pool. Phnom Penh has a lot of quite dodgy, cheap places. I splurged for a midrange hotel, so I could be assured a pleasant stay, away from the noise of the city. Sihanoukville should be avoided at all costs (the town has been turned into a massive construction site and garbage dump, with almost all the old backpacker-friendly places gone). The islands are nice, but very expensive (I guess that's supply and demand, now Sihanoukville has been destroyed, there are very few places left for beachgoers to visit). Kampot, Kep, Kratie and Stung Treng have more of the old backpacker vibe going on, with plenty of good-value accommodation available.

• Siem Reap – $24.
• Battambang  – $20 
• Phnom Penh – $34 
• Sihanoukville – $40 – arrived too late to want to go to the islands, so spent a night in town. That was a mistake.
• Koh Rong Samloen – $69 for a perfectly average bungalow joint. Decent place, but about twice what I'd expect to pay for something similar on the Thai islands.
• Koh Rong – $52
• Kampot – $17
• Kep – $20
• Kratie – $15
• Stung Treng – $15

Food and drink: average $17.68 USD (£13.42) per day. A lot of tourist-oriented restaurants, a lot of fancy pastries and croissants, and a few high end meals at expensive restaurants. Sample costs might be:

• $3.50 for a croissant and coffee for breakfast
• $2.75 for an iced coffee in the Angkor archaeological park
• $5-11 for a meal at a tourist-oriented café or small restaurant (ie., a veggie bowl and smoothie, or a sandwich and iced coffee, or a curry and rice). Expect prices at the lower end of the range in the more backpackery sites, and the upper end on the islands or Siem Reap
• $33 for a fancy afternoon tea at a 5 star hotel
• $1.25-$2 for a bowl of noodles at a local place

Sightseeing: Angkor will be your main sightseeing cost, and isn't cheap, but is well worth it. A three day pass will be sufficient for most people, and costs $62 USD. Add on to that the cost of a tuktuk or driver to get you to/from, and around the site. I was told the going rate was $12 a day, but I found the drivers typically asked for $15-20 (I agreed $15 each time, so may have overpaid a bit, but I figure a man should make a decent wage for his time). 

Other sightseeing costs: $8-15 each for the big museums and sites in Phnom Penh, $1 to $5 for small museums and art spaces outside of the capital, $13 plus tips for a pepper plantation tour (including hotel pickup), $20 for a snorkelling trip, $14 for a full-day bus trip up Bokor mountain, and $10 for a half-day cooking class.

Transport is also generally affordable, with a large number of coach companies plying routes between towns. I tended to use the more expensive coach companies (typically $8-15 per trip), with better reputations for reliability and quality of buses, but don't expect too much. Even the more expensive companies frequently break down, or arrive an hour or two late. I moved around a fair amount, and spend an average of $7.50 pd, including the cost of hiring tuktuks for the day to visit Angkor Wat, and a few tuktuk taxis to get across town.

So, that gives you a rough idea how much you might spend, assuming you travel as a solo flashpacker, and like your French pastries as much as I do.

2019 travel costs for Indonesia, including Java, Bali, Lombok and Komodo

Having spent August and September 2019 travelling around Indonesia, I thought it might be useful to give some ideas of costs, if your travel style is similar to mine (I travel solo, and I'm more flashpacker than backpacker. I like AC. I hate share bathrooms. I don't need anything "fancy" but I try and avoid staying anyplace that is decrepit, dirty, noisy, or has a rock-hard foam mattress). 

For convenience, I've broken my Indonesia travel costs into main areas: Central and East Java, Bali, Lombok, and Komodo.

Java: average costs per day = £27.35 (493,000 IDR)

Accommodation average £14.24 per night (256,700 IDR). The more touristy places are (as you'd expect) a bit more expensive. But the towns that see few foreign tourists have very good value hotels.

• Yogya – 275,000 IDR (£15.28)
• Borobudur – 385,000 IDR (£21.39) 
• Solo – 143,000 IDR (£8) 
• Semarang – 264,000 IDR (£14.67): I picked a hotel in the business district, so not a cheap tourist hotel
• Surabaya – 264,000 IDR (£14.67): very nice, midrange hotel

Food and drink: average £5.79 per day (104,300 IDR) – mostly cheap restaurants, but no alcohol. I ate very well in Java. Sample costs might be:

• 25,000 IDR (£1.40) for a plate of noodles and a fresh guava juice
• 28,000 IDR for a bubble tea in a shopping mall, or a coffee in a Western-style cafe.
• 58,000 IDR for a nice meal in a nice restaurant

Sightseeing is mixed, WRT costs. The big famous temple sites, like Borobudur and Prambanan, are all quite expensive (350,000 IDR pp), but all that wandering around is free. I spent an average £4.37 (79,000 IDR) per day.

Transport is also very affordable, and good quality: I used a mix of trains and buses to move between towns, with city buses or just my feet to get around in town. Intercity train bus or journeys varied from 8000 IDR (train from Yogya to Solo, about an hour away) to 105,000 IDR (train from Semarang to Surabaya), and city buses typically cost around 3500 IDR (£0.19) per ride. I typically spent an average of £2.50 (45,000 IDR) on transport per day.

Bali: average costs per day = £28.12 (506,992 IDR).

Accommodation average £15 per night (270,400 IDR)

• Pemuteran – 200,000 IDR (£11.11)
• Lovina – 350,000 IDR (£19.44) 
• Tulamben – 300,000 IDR (£16.67) 
• Amed – 400,000 IDR (£22.22)
• Sanur – 250,000 IDR (£13.89)
• Padang Padang Beach on Bukit Peninsula  – 240,000 IDR (£13.38)
• Kuta  – 219,000 IDR (£12.16): I'm not a big fan of Kuta, but I'll stay in the south part of town if I have a morning departure flight or an evening arrival flight, as I can simply walk to/from the airport and avoid the airport taxi mafia.

Food and drink: average £7.56 per day (136,000 IDR). Bali has a wide range of food available, from cheap "local" restaurants and hawker stalls, to swanky beach-front bars, high-end international restaurants, and fancy coffee shops selling salted caramel brownies. I tended to not bother with the swanky bars or the high-end restaurants, but I did indulge in a few nice deserts! Sample costs (excluding alcohol) might be:

• 60,000-125,000 IDR (£3.33-6.94) for a meal at a tourist-oriented restaurant off the beach.
• 100,000 IDR (£5.50) for coffee and cake at a tourist-oriented restaurant on the beach.
• 25,000-30,000 IDR (£1.39-1.69) for babi guling (roast suckling pig and fixin's on rice) at a small, local restaurant.
• 15,000-18,000 IDR (£0.83-£1) for a veggie nasi campur (rice with assorted dished, like curries, on top) from a hawker stall.
• 25,000-30,000 IDR (£1.39-1.69) for a bubble tea.
• 5000-7000 IDR for a large bottle of water, depending on where you get it.

Sightseeing: Scuba or snorkel trips add up quickly, but apart from that sightseeing is pretty darn cheap (in most places, the beach is free). I spent an average of £2.11 (38,000 IDR) a day, which worked out as one full day snorkelling tour (500,000 IDR), and few small donations at temples during the trip. On Bukit, the beaches may have entrance fees (about 15,000 IDR pp).

Transport infrastructure is quite poor on the island; the assumption seems to be that all locals will have either a motorbike or a car, so there are few public buses, and those that do exist often run dual pricing for tourists. Where there are no public buses / bemos, you're stuck with very expensive taxis (although the gojek type taxi apps have helped reduce the prices to something more reasonable), or a few tourist shuttle buses. I spent an average of £1.56 pd (28,200 IDR) on transport, with using local buses to get between the ferry from Java and Pemuteran, or between Pemuteran and Lovina (both 50,000 IDR), bemos from Lovina to Tulamben (via a change at Singaraja) for 100,000 (tourist price), and the Perama Shuttle from Amed to Sanur (175,000 - not cheap but these shuttles tend to be safe with helpful drivers, so I regularly use them in Bali), plus taxi apps to get to and from Bukit from Kuta (about 100,000 each way).

Lombok: average costs per day = £38.60 (695,790 IDR). Let's just get this out of the way: Lombok is considerably more expensive than Bali, and most of the time, you'll be paying more for worse quality. The Gilis have always been popular with the Bali crowd, but the rest of Lombok only got very popular a handful of years ago ("It's what Bali was like 20 years ago...."), which means a lot of tourists, but somewhat limited tourist infrastructure, and a developing industry trying to make as much money, as quickly as possible (and you can't blame them for that - if I lived in a relatively poor island, and all these rich tourists started flying in, I'd be trying to grab me a piece of that pie, too!).

Accommodation average £19.67 per night (354,667 IDR). The main Gilis (I stayed on 2 of the 3) have a mix of inexpensive bungalow joints (some more backpackery than others, normally off the beach), mid-range resorts, and expensive on-beach places. Mataram and Senggigi are big enough to have accommodation at all price points, with some good value places available. The "Secret Gilis" (and this also applies to some of the other places new to mass tourism) are still developing, and targeting a more upmarket tourist than their established northern cousins, so accommodation tends to be pricey there. Finally Senaru is still trying to recover from the earthquake, and is still fairly quiet, so hoteliers will be delighted to see you, and prices are low.

• Gili Gede (one of the "Secret Gilis") – 600,000 IDR (£33.33). Gili Gede is a very small island with a few fishing villages, obviously very poor, with a handful of not-cheap bungalow operators scattered around, and a fancy new resort and marina under construction on one side of the island. 
• Mataram – 300,000 IDR (£16.67) 
• Gili Air – 300,000 IDR (£16.67) - a decent bungalow joint with pool, just off the beach.
• Gili Meno – 250,000 IDR (£13.89) - your standard bungalow joint, just off the beach.
• Sire Peninsula – 400,000 IDR (£22.22) for an eco-lodge on the north coast.
• Senaru – 300,000 IDR (£16.67)
• Senggigi  – 210,000 IDR (£11.67)

Food and drink: average £8.90 per day (160,000 IDR). Outside of the Gilis (which has a variety of international foods), the dining scene isn't well established. I ended up eating in tourist-oriented restaurants (with identical menus) more often than I would have liked, but it was sometimes hard to find much else. I'm guessing, to be honest, that because the island has traditionally been quite poor, there often isn't much of a local restaurant scene, and I'm assuming most locals cook at home, with the exception of a few stalls selling grilled chicken and the like. So outside of the main cities, like Mataram, most restaurants and cafes you come across are predominantly for tourists. Sample costs might be:

• 40,000 IDR (£2.22) for a meal at a small local restaurant (in Mataram).
• 60,000-70,000 IDR (£3.33-£3.89) for a place of food and a non-alcoholic drink at a typical off-beach tourist restaurant.
• 85,000-125,000 IDR (£4.72-£7) for a plate of food and a a non-alcoholic drink at an on-beach tourist restaurant.
• 255,000 IDR (£14) for a three course meal (excluding alcohol) at a fancy on-beach restaurant.

Sightseeing: I spent an average of £2.07 (37,000 IDR) a day, which worked out as a cheap snorkelling tour (150,000 IDR), hiring a guide for a half-day's hiking to visit several waterfalls in the Senaru area (250,000 plus 100,000 tip) and a few small donations at temples.

Public transport is rare (there are theoretically bemos running a few routes between towns, but in reality they are quite infrequent, so you could end up standing at the side of the road for hours, trying to catch one), so expect you'll mostly be using taxis to get around. Between towns, your accommodation may be able to arrange a share taxi with other tourists. I spent an average of £5.38 pd (97,000 IDR) on transport. Sample costs include 350,000 IDR for a taxi from the airport to  Gili Gede (organised by my hotel), 24,000 IDR for an ojek trip across Mataram, 120,000 for a taxi from Mataram to the ferry port for the Gilis (booked using an app), 14,500 IDR for the ferry (including the small port fee), 210,000 IDR for a taxi from the Sire Peninsula to Senaru, and 250,000 IDR for a share taxi (shared with another tourist) from Senaru to Senggigi. From Senggigi, there is a bus to the airport (which goes through Mataram en-route) for 35,000 IDR.

Komodo: average costs per day = £51.63 (930,674 IDR) - woo-boy! 

I only spent a few days on Flores, visiting Komodo, so I only stayed at one place, right on the waterfront. It was very overpriced (£27 per night - 488,000 IDR) for a very average room, with peeling wallpaper and a damaged pipe that continually sprayed a fine mist of water all over the bathroom floor. Talking to other tourists, most of the other places in town didn't seem much better, although there were apparently some nicer places on the other side of the town (beyond the airport).

Food and drink: average £9.50 per day (171,000 IDR). The restaurants scene is very much designed for the wealthy international tourists - expect high-end Italian restaurants, coffee shops serving vegan sandwiches, and I even saw a Starbucks.

Sightseeing: The main boat tours seem to all be pretty similar in price. I paid 400,000 IDR, not including the park entry fees (which were another 350,000 IDR). I wouldn't worry too much about shopping around, or worry about where you should book, as very often (near as I can tell), everyone gets jumbled together into a handful of boats at the port. So take anything they tell you about the size of the boat, or the number of people per tour, with a massive handful of salt.

Transport: Apart from a taxi to the airport on the day I left (50,000 IDR), I didn't use any transport as Labuan Bajo is pretty small (I actually walked to my hotel from the airport on the day I arrived - I used a taxi on the way back, because the airport is on top of a big hill, and momma didn't raise no fool).

2019 travel costs for peninsular Malaysia

Back on my 2011 travels, I included a breakdown of travel costs for Malaysia. I thought it might be useful to update those costs for my 2019 trip, so here goes:

One caveat, my travel style has always been more flashpacker than backpacker, and is probably even more so, now I'm middle aged. I like AC. I hate share bathrooms.

Accommodation: one key thing to note is that the Malaysian government, in it's infinite wisdom, thought to themselves "We're already far less popular with tourists than neighbouring countries like Thailand and Indonesia, and seen as more expensive; why don't we make ourselves worse value for money?!" and added a 10RM per room, per night tourist tax. The touristy towns on the Western side also often add a 2RM per room per night local tourist tax (on top of the federal one).

Eastern side of the peninsula (Johor Bahru, Kuantan, Marang, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bahru): average costs per day = £29 (153RM). 

These areas are popular with domestic tourists, but don't see many Westerners, and that's a shame. The food is amazing, the people are friendly, and many of the towns are attractive and fun to explore.

Accom average £16.50 per night (87RM), including the tax.

• JB - 98RM (£18.50)
• Kuantan - 80RM (£15)
• Marang - 140RM (£26.50) way overpriced
• KT – 84RM (£16)
• KB – 73RM (£14)

Food and drink: average £5 per day (26RM) – a mix of meals at hawker centres and cheap restaurants, but no alcohol. Expect a meal of curry rice and iced tea, or fried fish (served with rice, fresh vegetables, and dip) in a small restaurant to cost around 8-10RM, and 4-6 RM for a typical hawker stall meal.

Western side of the peninsula (KL, Malacca, and Penang - which is technically an island, but large and has the feel of the mainland, not the islands): average costs per day = £39 (209RM). 

This is the touristy part of Malaysia, where most people go. 

Accom average £26 per night (136RM), including the tax.

• Penang - 170RM (£32). Penang has steadily become more and more popular over the past 10-15 years, and prices have risen accordingly. Now, the old shophouse guesthouses all call themselves "heritage hotels" and the city boasts many shiny new modern hotels with tiny rooms and pillow-top mattresses. The cheap-and-cheerful accommodation seems to be long-gone.
• KL - stayed a couple of nights in a cheap, backpacker oriented place (ensuite but windowless rooms) for 71RM (£13) and then a few nights in a midrange place for 135RM (£25.50)
• Malacca - 134RM (£25). It's another very popular place, and prices now reflect that.

Food and drink: average £7.20 per day (38RM) – these are all great eating cities, with tonnes of amazing and inexpensive food.

Island sites
(Tioman, Kapas, Lang Tengah, Langkawi): average costs per day £54.50 (288 RM)

Accom is more expensive on the islands, especially to get something offering flashpacker or midrange quality. 

Tioman seems to exist as a getaway for middle class KLers or Singaporeans, and charges accordingly. Beachfront resorts will charge typically £60 (300RM) for a pretty standard room. If you're willing to be off the beach, you might be able to find a place for half that.  

Kapas is small island, with a lot of backpacker accommodation, and a couple of mid-range options. If you don't mind a run-down A-frame with cold water bathroom and fan, or a newer room with shared bath, you'll be looking at £11-15 (60-80RM) a night. There's also camping for those on tighter budgets.

Lang Tengah only has a few places to stay, and they're all midrange and up. I paid £60 (300RM).

Langkawi is a large island with a wide range of accommodation, so you should be able to find something decent there for £23 (120-130RM).

Food and drink is also more tourist-focused, and slightly more expensive (but still pretty reasonable). Average £7 (37RM) per day. On most of the islands, expect to pay 10-15RM for a meal at a small standalone restaurant or cafe, and at least 2-3x that to eat in a resort or for Western food. Langkawi is the exception here, as they have hawker stalls and small restaurants charging mainland prices for local food, so you can eat very cheaply here. Although they also have some fantastic international restaurants, so you probably won't want to stick to cheap places!

All sites

Sightseeing is pretty cheap, as museum fees are generally fairly low, and all that wandering around is free. Average £0.75 (4RM) per day, not including any expensive day-trips or tours, like diving or snorkelling trips.

Transport is also affordable: add maybe £4 (20RM) for each intercity coach. Ferries may cost a bit more, depending on how popular and far the destination is. Kapas is close to the mainland, and only costs 15-20RM each way. Tioman is further out, but there is competition and high volumes, meaning prices are a very reasonable 35RM. Lang Tengah only sees small numbers, so the boatmen charge 60-80RM.

Between the ferries, the intercity coaches, and the local buses (and occasional taxi), I spent an average of £4 (20RM) per day on transport.

Myanmar money matters

Here's a quick run-down on organising your cash for a trip to Burma.

ATMS
Yep, there are now ATMs in Myanmar (Burma), as every traveller has undoubtedly heard. There are plenty of ATMs in big towns (Mandalay, Yangon) and the most touristy destinations (Bagan, Inle). But it's not smooth sailing yet.

Power cuts are still pretty common, so it would be unwise to completely rely on ATMs.

Because of international sanctions, some western banks refuse to allow transactions to go into or out of Burma. Which means that your bank card or credit card will be rejected by that shiny new ATM, as your home back or credit card issuer refuses the transaction.

In the UK, both Halifax and Santander take this position. I can't speak about other banks, but I wouldn't be at all surprised. They also might not remember to tell you: I called Santander (my main bank) a few days before I left for Burma to let them know I'd be abroad (so they didn't stop my card fearing fraud the first time I tried to use it out of the country) and they registered my trip on their system without saying a word. I only found out later that they blocked all transactions in Myanmar.

The lesson here is: call your bank and ask this question specifically before you go.

If your bank doesn't allow you to use ATMs, you'll need to carry with you enough cash for the entire trip, which leads me to:

US cash and changing money
That thing you've heard about US dollars being pristine? Yes and no. For large bills it's true. For smaller bills, not so much.

Money changers normally have 3 different rates posted: one for 50 and 100 dollar bills (the best rate), one for 20 dollar bills, and one for 1 and 5 bills (the worst rate). 10 seemed to mostly be lumped in with 20, but in a few places I saw it included in the lowest rate with 1 and 5.

I never tried to change anything below a 50, but believe me, they check those 50s very carefully to ensure they were pristine.

20 dollar bills also need to be kept in good condition (I had one creased 20 rejected by a hotelier).

Creased 1 or 5 dollar bills are fine - no one seems to care if they're not pristine.

Which currency?
For hotels, you can pay in kyat but the rate's not good (when I was there, the exchange rate was about 960-970 kyat per dollar, and hotels will except 1000 kyat in place of 1 US dollar) so pay in dollars where possible.

Try and keep a mix of bills of various denominations so you can pay in exact cash, or close to it (so try and avoid paying a 20 dollar hotel charge with a 50 bill), at least until the last few days of your trip. This is mostly because they will often try and give you creased dollars back in your change, and like I said above, if it's a 20 you'll have trouble using it in Burma. Once you leave the country, of course, it will be usable again, which is why I don't mind accepting damaged notes at the end of the trip.

For hotel extras (paying for mini bar, bike rental, bus tickets they booked for you, etc.), expect them to prefer payment in kyat, rather than dollars.

Government owned tourist fees (the entry fee to Bagan, Inle Lake, or the big Yangon pagodas) can be paid in either dollars or kyat, again at the poor exchange rate of 1000 kyat  = 1 US dollar.

For all your other day-to-day costs (taxis, buses, meals, drinks) you'll be paying in kyat. Most of the time they locals won't want to accept US dollars, nor will they necessarily have much change available, so ensure you've got a supply of small kyat notes on you. I found bigger shops and more touristy restaurants normally had a good amount of change available, so I'd use my 5000 or 10000 kyat notes (that I got from the money changers) there, and keep the 100-1000 kyat notes for paying at small shops and street vendors.

How expensive is Burma? Part 2 - food, travel and sightseeing

As covered in my last post, accommodation is overpriced in Burma (Myanmar), but what about the other travel costs?

Summary (detailed breakdowns below)

I spent an average of $39 per day in Burma in June 2014 ($25.61 accom, $5.41 food, $4 sightseeing, $4.79 transport, and $1 souvenirs). This is 30% more than the $30 per day I average in Thailand (as a flashpacker).

Accommodation is the largest cost - sharing a room will automatically shave about 40% off your accom costs. It's possible to pay less than half of what I spent by staying in cheap places (see my previous post). Expect hotel prices to rise by as much as 25% in peak season.

It's doable to visit Burma on $20 per day, but that will be rough.
For a solo traveller who likes decent accom and the old splurge, budget $40 per day, low season ($45 high).
If travelling as a couple, budget $30 pp per day ($33 high season).

Food and drink

Food is, quite simply, really cheap. Hotels nearly always provide breakfast (if you're lucky, they'll offer a local version; if you're unlucky, it will be sweet white toast (yuck!) with an egg).

For the rest of your meals, a basic veggie dish at a food stall (say fried noodles, or fried rice, or a big dosai) is about 500 kyat (about $0.50 US). A meat dish from a stall will cost around 1000 kyat. A curry house meal (you pick a curry of your choice, and it comes with as much rice, soup, and side dishes as you can eat) will cost around 1800-2000 kyat for a veggie option, 2500-3500 kyat for meat. Touristy or westernised restaurants (around Old Bagan, for example) will charge a bit more - expect to pay $5 for a meal in one of these places.

For cheap snacks, look for flatbreads served with a small bowl of potato curry for dipping, at about 100 kyat each. 2 would make a substantial snack. Wandering vendors also flog biscuits, greasy crisps, candied fruit, and hard boiled quail's eggs (often 500-1000 kyat). Fruit is widely available from markets, roadside stalls and wandering vendors: expect to pay 200 kyat for a small papaya, 500 kyat for a couple of tangerines, 1500-2500 kyat for a small durian, and 1000 kyat for a bunch of bananas.

1L of water will cost 150-220 kyat in a big grocery store, around 300 kyat in most mini-marts or cafes, and 400-500 kyat in most restaurants. If you're travelling in tail end of the hot-season like me, when temperatures hover in the mid-to-high 30s, expect to get through at least 3L of water a day.

Coffee or tea in a traditional tea shop is 200-300 kyats. A fancy coffee shop (catering to the rising middle classes, expats and tourists) with wifi and A/C will charge you more like 1500-2500 kyat a cup. Fresh fruit shakes cost around 1500 kyat. A soda will cost around 300 kyats for a local brand, 500-600 kyats for a coke, and about 800 kyats from your hotel minibar. A beer will set you back around 2000 kyat from a cheap local place or shop. Expect to pay several times these prices if drinking in upmarket hotel bars.

Overall, I spent an average of $5.41 per day on food and drink - a mix of street stalls and restaurant meals, with some fruit shakes and fancy iced coffees thrown in. It would have been possible to eat and drink for about $2 if I'd been careful and only eaten at stalls, but that would get quite boring after a while (you see the same handful of dishes turn up time and again).

The most expensive day was $10.44 (went to a "fancy" restaurant that day). The cheapest day was $1.14 (feeling a bit ill so I lived on bananas and rice porridge).

Sightseeing

A lot of sightseeing in Burma is free (wandering around temples, enjoying the scenery). That's balanced by the more expensive sights (there's a $15 government fee to enter Bagan, and $10 to enter the Inle Lake area. The Shwedagon paya in Yangon is $8 for foreigners).

On average is spent about $4 a day on sightseeing and touristy stuff.

I spent a further $20 on souvenirs (those lacquer bowls are mighty pretty).

Transportation

Taxis are very reasonable in Yangon ($2 for a ride in central, $4-5 to go across town), although I encountered the automatic overcharging of Westerners in Inle, Bagan and Mandalay (Central bus station to the town, a 5 minute journey, costs $10? Really?) so you'll need to bargan hard and be prepared to walk away. Bike rental runs about 1500 kyat per day.

Burma is a pretty big country, and many of the top destinations are quite spread out, so expect to do some long journeys. The trains are incredibly slow and uncomfortable (and government run), and internal flights are incredibly expensive, so I relied on the bus network for most of my moving about. Prices are reasonable: Yangon to Inle Lake on the VIP bus (12.5 hrs) was 17,800 kyat; the normal bus from Inle to Bagan (9 hrs) was 11,000. Share taxis are also a reasonable way to cover mid-length distances (say, from Mandalay to Pyin Oo Lwin, about 2 hours, costs $5 if you book direct, $7 if your hotel books it for you).

In total, I spent just over $100 on transport in a 3 week trip.


Like what you read here?
You can see my full coverage of Burma by clicking the country link at the top of this page, or jump into some of the more popular articles:
Myanmar money matters (do you really need to take pristine US dollars?)
Hsipaw, the North's trekking centre
Another view of Yangon

How expensive is Burma? Part 1 - accommodation

Having spent 3 weeks exploring Burma this summer (June 2014), I thought I'd share my experiences of costs. This first installment looks at accommodation prices; all costs are in US $.

Accommodation is by far your biggest cost, and the one where Burma suffers by comparison with other SE Asian destinations. Much of the accommodation is overpriced compared to Thailand (if you want a point of comparison, you can see costs for Thailand in this post from three years ago - they haven't changed that much).

Types of accommodation:

• I was staying decent places - mostly guesthouses that cater to the backpacker / budget traveller, but "nice" ones, and I always went for an ensuite, and normally A/C (temperatures averaged mid-30s when I was there). 
• If you're happy to share a bathroom and/or live with a fan-cooled room, expect to shave 30-50% of the rates I paid in the same sort of accommodation. 
• You can, of course, find cheaper if you're not too fussed about cleanliness, or don't mind windowless box rooms. But I like "nice".

Please note: I was there in low season; last high season some of the hoteliers raised their prices by 25%; many new hotels are currently being built, however there's still a shortage in some areas, so I wouldn't be surprised to see price increases again next winter.

Yangon - big city prices, so very hard to find anything cheap (without resorting to a hostal). Paid $30 for a large triple room (for single occupancy). Hostal rooms are available for about $15, according to other travellers I spoke to.

Inle Lake / Nyaungshwe - double ensuite rooms varied from $15-25, depending on the place. I heard of some single, share bathroom rooms going for as low as $7, but didn't check them out (and I'm guessing they were pretty small or run-down). Many places here don't have A/C, as it's not necessary that often (although it was pretty sticky when I was there).

Bagan / Nyaung U - double ensuite rooms for $20-25 ($15-20 for single occupancy)

Pyin Oo Lwin - same prices as Bagan for the nice places in the garden district $20-25 ($15-20 for single occupancy). Cheaper in the town centre. A/C isn't normally necessary or available.

Hsipaw - similar prices as Bagan or Pyin Oo Lwin for a "nice" place. Mr Charles advertises their cheapest single rooms at $7, but in most decent places you should expect to pay $15-20 for a large room with A/C and ensuite.

Mandalay - my last spot on the trip, and I felt like spoiling myself, so I stayed in a mid-range hotel for $40 (booked via Agoda, which seemed to offer good discounts on anything mid-range and up). I also considered a basic backpacker place that was quoting $18-25 a night.

In summary: 

• Expect to pay $30+ in Yangon/Mandalay and $20 elsewhere for "flashpacker" off-season rates. 
• Halve that for more basic accommodation. 
• Expect prices will go up 25% next high season (as they did last high season).

My next post examines the other costs of Burma - food, transport and sight-seeing. Happy travels!

Like what you read here?
You can see my full coverage of Burma by clicking the country link at the top of this page, or jump into some of the more popular articles:
Myanmar money matters (do you really need to take pristine US dollars?)
Hsipaw, the North's trekking centre
Another view of Yangon

Travel costs for Hong Kong

Here's a run-down of average travel costs for Hong Kong, the final (and most expensive) destination on my trip. You can see my travel style in this post on travel costs in Thailand, so you can calculate how your likely spending would match up to mine.

8 to 14 March (6 nights, 7 days) = £483 total
Average costs per night = £80.50

Accommodation
Here's the rub – Hong Kong has a huge selection of budget accommodation, most with a reputation for being really grotty. I wasn't prepared to stay in some squalid Chungking Mansions hole, so I spent some time researching better options.

Unfortunately I did this only a couple of days before I arrived, and discovered most of the less-dodgy budget accommodation was already fully booked, and what accommodation remained was rather expensive (even the YWCA was asking for 1400 HK$ a night).

I managed to secure a budget room for the first 2 nights, then moved to a mid-range hotel, which was offering a good mid-week deal.

Budget place = 605 HK$ a night (£50)
Mid-range place = 905 HK$ (£77)

Take my advice – this is one place where it pays to book ahead.

Transport and sightseeing
£4.26 average per day

It's easy to get around using local ferries, trams and the MTR, and excellent value for money.

Food and drink
£6.46 average per day, eating at small restaurants and hawker stalls.

Most expensive meal – £4.70 at a cheap Italian restaurant.
Cheapest meal – £0.50 for a stuffed bun.

Travel costs for Vietnam

So how much does it cost to travel in Vietnam? Here's a summary of my spending (you can see my travel style in this post on travel costs in Thailand, so you can calculate how your likely spending would match up to mine).

7 February to 7 March = total of £583 for a month
Average costs per day = £20

Accommodation
Average £10.44 a night

Saigon, Dalat, Hoi An, Danang and Hanoi were all about 400,000 dong a night (about $20 or £12).

Can Tho, Hue and Cat Ba were about half that.

Sightseeing and transport
Average £6.19 per day, including a couple of internal flights.

Travelling the length of Vietnam involves covering a lot of distance. The cheapest way to do this is probably overnight buses, but having seen how bad the driving was (vehicles overtaking into oncoming traffic and forcing each other off the road) I wasn't prepared to do this.

Food and drink
Average £3.12 per day, mostly eating at street kitchens and small restaurants.

Vietnamese food is amazing, and you can eat and drink well here for next to nothing.

Most expensive meal – £4.35 for tasting menu in a small restaurant in Hoi An.
Cheapest meal – £0.30 for a sandwich (bahn mi).
Cost of a plate of food at a street kitchen – £0.60 to £1.00
Cost of a 500ml bottle of water – £0.10 to £0.20

Other costs to consider when budgeting
A Vietnam visa isn't cheap – mine costs £62, including recorded delivery mail to and from the embassy.
I also spent about £10 during the month for laundry, a local sim card and air-time, and toiletries.

All in all, although costs have apparently gone up steadily the past few years, Vietnam remains an excellent value destination.

Travel costs for Singapore

Singapore is a fantastic destination, but cheap it ain't. So how much should you realistically expect to spend in Singapore?

Here's a summary of my spending (you can see my travel style in this post on travel costs in Thailand, so you can calculate how your likely spending would match up to mine).

30 January to 7 February = £550 in total for 8 nights
Average costs per day = £69

Accommodation
I only stayed in one place – Hangout at Mount Emily. It's classified as a budget hotel, but feels decidedly mid-range. SIN$117 (£57.50) got me a huge, ensuite room, with pillow-topped mattress and fluffy duvet. After 2 months of budget travel, it felt like absolute luxury.

You can find cheaper accommodation if you're willing to stay in a dorm or go a bit lower-rent, but even a bed in a dorm will cost you at least £10 to £12 a night (and for that price you'll probably be in a 10 or 15 bed dorm), and a private room will cost you at least £30.

Sightseeing and transport
£4.53 average per day.
Surprisingly reasonable for a city with a reputation as expensive.

Food and drink
£5.73 average per day.

Most expensive meal – £4.40 for lunch at the zoo (high prices because you're a captive audience).
Cost of a plate of food at a hawker centre – £1.50 to £2.00.
Cost of an iced coffee – £1.00 to £3.00.
Cost of a 500ml bottle of water – never bought any (tap water's drinkable in Singapore).

Singapore has lots of expensive restaurants and cocktail bars, but you can still eat reasonably if you're careful.

I made full use of the included breakfast and free tea and coffee in my hotel. Lunches tended to be either an iced coffee or fresh fruit shake, and perhaps some fruit or buns bought in the local grocery store. Dinner was at a hawker centre most nights.

If you like a drink or want to eat in "proper" restaurants every night, I'd budget three times what I spent (at least! If you're looking for rooftop cocktails and trendy restaurants, budget 10x what I spent).

In summary, accommodation costs ensures Singapore is several times more expensive than other SE Asia locations, but it doesn't have to break the bank if you're careful.

Travel costs for Malaysia

Last time, I calculated the costs of a month in Thailand. Today, I'll do the same for peninsular Malaysia.

So how much does it realistically cost to travel in Malaysia for a month? Here's a summary of my spending (you can see my travel style in the previous post on costs in Thailand, so you can calculate how your likely spending would match up to mine).

29 December to 30 January
Total spent in 32 days = £700
Average costs per day = £21.90

Accommodation
Average £12.08 per night

Langkawi – a resort island, so more expensive – 90RM (£18)
Penang – 65RM (£13)
Taiping – 60RM (£12)
Cameron Highland – 35RM (£7)
KL – 68RM (£13.60)
Melaka – 33RM (£6.60) for shared bathroom
Cherating – 40RM (£8)
Kuantan – 98RM (£20) for mid-range

Sightseeing and transport
Average £4.64 per day

Food and drink
Average £5 per day – a mix of meals at hawker centres and cheap restaurants, but no alcohol.

You can easily eat very well in Malaysia for very little money:

Most expensive meal – £8 for a pizza in an Italian restaurant on Langkawi.
Cheapest meal – £0.44 for a bowl of iced cendol (shaved ice covered in pandanus flavoured noodles, sweetened coconut milk, corn kernels, kidney beans, and ground rice).
Cost of a plate of food at a hawker centre – £0.60 to £1.40
Cost of a 500ml bottle of water – £0.20

Other
I also spent about £6 in the month on laundry and toiletries.

Travel costs for Thailand

On forums, one of the most-frequent recurring questions involves costs and budgeting for Asia. So how much does it really cost to backpack through Asia for a few months?

My travel style is more flash-packer than backpacker:
- I travel solo (in most of Asia, a room for one will cost the same or almost as a room for two)
- I won't stay in dorms (not that there are very many dorms in Asia anyway).
- I insist on clean and safe accommodation, mostly ensuite (although I will stay in a private room with shared bathroom if I can't find anything better, and in that case the bathrooms must be kept very clean).
- If I'm in a place that's very hot and humid, I'd prefer A/C (but I won't bother in places where it's not necessary, such as Northern Thailand or anywhere with a strong sea breeze).
- I don't care about in-room safes, tv and fridge.
- If the budget places I look at all seem a bit dodgy, I'll plump for a mid-range place.
- I won't stay in hovels, but I don't mind if the place needs a lick of paint and the furniture looks a bit battered, so long as it's clean.
- I also don't like to haggle, so probably don't do it enough.
Soooo.... decent budget options, not as fastidious as my mother, but certainly not teenaged-boy territory. Clear enough?

Cost breakdown for Thailand

2 to 29 December = I spent just under £500 for 4 weeks in country.
Average costs per day = £18.31

Accommodation
£8.50 average a night.

Chiang Mai – far enough North that no a/c was required during my visit – 250B a night (£5)
Lampang – ditto – 250B (£5)
Sukhothai – ditto – 250B (£5)
Pitsanulok – 350B (£7) with A/C
Lop Buri – 150B (£3) for shared bathroom single room (nothing better was available)
Ayutthaya – 500B (£10) for a mid-range hotel
Bangkok – 500B (£10) for a budget hotel (big city prices)
Petchaburi – 790B (£16) for a very nice mid-range hotel (the type with bathrobes in the room)
Prachup Khiri Khan – 550B (£11) for a sea-view room with large balcony
Satun – 500B (£10) for a mid-range hotel (arrived in town very late and fell into the first decent place I saw)

Sightseeing and transport
£5.88 average per day, although it varied tremendously.

Some days I chilled and spent nothing. Some days I spent three times the average on long-distance-transport and massages.

In general, I tend to take local buses/sorng taa ous, walk, or rent bicycles for getting around. I only took a few taxis and motorbike taxis during the month.

Food and drink
£3.75 average per day. A lot of my meals taken at hawker stalls and basic restaurants, and I didn't drink alcohol, but I treated myself to plenty of iced-coffees and fresh fruit shakes.

Most expensive meal – £4.20 at a beachfront restaurant.
Cheapest meal – £0.50 for a plate of noodles.
Cost of a plate of street food  – £0.50 to £1.00.
Cost of a 500ml bottle of water – £0.10 - £0.20.

Other costs
I also spent £17 in total for a local sim card and air-time, laundry, toiletries, and postage (sending a present home to my family).

Thailand remains excellent value for money for the independent traveller.

Future posts will look at Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong costs.