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[Jambo]

In terms of budgeting, does anyone have info on how much various things cost in different countries? For example, a night in a hostel varies a lot between, say, India and England and one needs to factor this in when budgeting.

Items I'd be interesting in comparing costs for would include:

* A night in a youth hostel
* An hour at an internet cafe
* A loaf of bread
* A meal at a cheap restaurant
* A foreign newspaper (e.g. The Daily Mail [England])
* An in-city trip on a public bus
* A Big Mac (not that I'd eat McD's while travelling, but good for comparative purposes)
* A movie ticket
* Anything else relevant . . .

[Sunny Sean]

Hi rough estimates is $100 a day for western nations & $50 a day for South America,SE Asia Russia and Africa.
a good book to read is The Rough Guides Around The World For The First Time.

As for specfics I have seen the Daily Mail on sale in Quito in an English Language bookshop for $3.75, a meal of chips, 2 pork chops & a sprite in budget low price cafe was $3.00.

[Jambo]

a good book to read is The Rough Guides Around The World For The First Time.

Yeah, got that one. It is quite good.

I find that there is a lot of variation in costs within 'western' and 'developing' countries. For example, Spain and Norway are both 'western' countries, but costs are very different in those two countries.

[whereshegoes]

OK. I can give u the prices in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada...All prices CAD

*A night in a youth hostel $15-25
* An hour at an internet cafe $1-3
* A loaf of bread $0.79
* A meal at a cheap restaurant $5-8 (cheaper if you go fast food)
* A foreign newspaper (e.g. The Daily Mail [England]) - $3
* An in-city trip on a public bus $2
* A Big Mac (not that I'd eat McD's while travelling, but good for comparative purposes) dunno but ice cream cone is 1.30 or something like that...or is that a sundae?
* A movie ticket $9-13 or if you go to the cheap movie theatres (after main theatres but before video release) can be $2-3.50
*A special coffee from anywhere except Starbucks $2-4
*A chocolate bar $0.85
*A slurpee $1.49 for a big one
*4 litres of milk $3.50

Interaction with some of the most friendly ppl in the world in a city that rocks $Priceless

[zzz_Emma]

London
*A night in a youth hostel – anything from £10-£20
* An hour at an internet café £1-£2
* A loaf of bread Standard white bread, nothing fancy is around 50p
* A meal at a cheap restaurant Indian restaurant or a noodle bar you could easily do for less than £10. There are dodgy burger/chicken outlets where you can get a meal for £3,
* A foreign newspaper (e.g. The Daily Mail [England]) The Daily Mail is something like 70p
* An in-city trip on a public bus A one off ticket is £1, an off peak day pass (tube + bus) is £5
* A Big Mac (not that I'd eat McD's while travelling, but good for comparative purposes)
Im not sure, but I have seen adds for something called a pound saver where you can get I think it’s a cheeseburger or fries for £1
* A movie ticket Adult is around £8

[Katherine]

Thailand
*A night in a youth hostel – There aren't many, guesthouses range from 100B to 350B
* An hour at an internet café 40B
* Meals 20-50B if you're careful and shop at local markets. McD's is about 100B
* A foreign newspaper - no idea
* Travel on Tuk-Tuk's and Sawnthaews is about 20-50B depending on distance, driver and time. Long distance bus/trains is between 100B and 400B for aircon, but not VIP. Bangkok to Phuket is about 380B

Malaysia
*Youth Hostel - 7RM, Guesthouse 15 - 20 RM
*Internet - 3RM+ per hour
*Travel - Bus / Train long distance around 40RM, Ferry's 10-30RM one way. No discounts for return trips. Short distances, I don't know

Hong Kong
*Youth Hostel - $120+ per night, Guesthouse $200+
*Internet - $30 per hour
*Travel - Buy an Octopus Card (about $150) and keep adding value as required. You won't need too much - maybe 300 for whole trip. 1 stop on train is about $4, buses run to about $10 depending on when you get on.

Hope you have a great trip!

[zzz_sunshine]

Romania and, very close, any other East-European country:

Bed and breakfast 1 night: between $2 and $5/night (and they treat you like a family member)
Internet cafe: $0.75/1 hour
A loaf of bread: $0.30
A meal at a cheap restaurant: $10 (cheap but very good, you don't wanna go to those really cheap)
A bus ticket: $0.5
A BigMac: $2
A movie ticket:$5
One month rent for an apartment in Bucharest: $100

[uncle_davros]

In Iran, no MacD's, no YHA so a little hard to compare. Currently on our RWT, we have budgeted for US60 a day. We blew it in Eastern Europe, but it is coming down fast. I expect to have broken even in Pakistan, then I will save all through India and SEA. Hopefully enough for our North to South America trip

[uncle_davros]

I have just read Sunshines post.

Bed and breakfast 1 night: between $2 and $5/night (and they treat you like a family member)

I never saw a B and B for this price in Romania. We were doing homestays and we never saw this. In fact, Hungry may as well be Western European now for their prices. Bulgaria is ok, we were managing on just under US60 a day. Romania is more expensive than Bulgaria, whilst Macedonia and Albania are more expensive than Bulgaria

[JeninBeijing]

I can give you prices in Beijing:

Bed and breakfast 1 night: They have Youth Hostels that are between 48-60 for dorm 120-160 for a double RMB per night
Internet cafe: 3RMB/1 hour
A loaf of bread: Chinese bread 2 RMB Almost Western Bread 3.5 RMB
A meal at a cheap restaurant: Hole in the wall restraunt 25RMb for two, Upscale 80 RMB for two
A bus ticket: 1-2RMB
A BigMac Combo: 28RMB
A movie ticket:expensive!
One month rent for an apartment in Beijing: 1300- 6000 RMB