Budget for Asia: 9 - 12 months

by Chris
(UK)

Hi,

I'm planning on travelling when I've finished university. I want to see as much as I can before I have to do the boring things in life, like getting a job.

I was wondering what sort of budget you would recommend for up to a year. I saw that you recommended about $1200 per month on another thread? I don't really care about accommodation so am willing to stay almost anywhere. I was thinking about £9000? Any help would be really appreciated.

Also will you be able to give me a basic breakdown of what sort of transport you took? Did you walk a lot? Do you get boats from island to island? What sort of prices?

My basic travel plan is to start in India and then go to, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Borneo, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea (if we're not at war with them) and finally get the train back across Russia.

Any thoughts on that plan?

Thanks

Chris :)



Answer: Hey, Chris! Will try answering your questions as best as possible! :-)

"I was thinking about £9000? Any help would be really appreciated."

Have you checked out my budget tutorial?
Tutorial Budget (opens in a new window). It covers Southeast Asia and India.

Your budget is £9000 divided on 12 months = £750 per month.

In the tutorial, I've made a budget for low-cost backpackers that include basic costs (accommodation, transportation, food, water etc).

According to what I've written in the tutorial (in the 'budget backpacker' section, you'd be well within the limits each month :-) PS: Activities, visas and flights are not included in the basic costs.

"Also will you be able to give me a basic breakdown of what sort of transport you took? Did you walk a lot? Do you get boats from island to island? What sort of prices?"

In Southeast Asia, bus and train are the main means of transportation - I took the bus many times. Prices depend on distance and standard of traveling. If you go for some of the cheapest buses in Thailand - that would cost between 100-300B per person, per ride.

For trains, you should check out this site Seat 61. Prices for train rides in Thailand vary from 230B to over 1000B.

Ferries or speed boats are common transportation between islands/from mainland to island in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. I used the ferries the whole time when I traveled between islands in Thailand. A ticket usually cost 400-500B in Thailand per person, per ride. For ferries in the Philippines, check out this page Ferries in Philippines - just plot in from/to destination, and dates and you're good to go! :-)

For boats in Indonesia, the prices vary a lot. For instance from Bali to Lombok, the slow ferry cost 200,000 IDR = about £14. Read this page Gili Divers

Train in India is the main transportation. The prices are very cheap, especially on sleeper class. Find out here Cleartrip Trains.

Bangladesh is at the same price level as India, probably even cheaper since it's non-touristy. Vietnam is at the same price level as Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Malaysia and Singapore is a bit expensive, especially Singapore, but I reckon you won't stay that long anyways since it's a very small country, so a budget of £750 per month is still realistic.

Japan, Taiwan and South Korea have some budget places, but these are still more expensive than those in Southeast Asia. Street food in these countries is cheap, so dig in :-)

My sister lives in South Korea now, and she stayed at a backpacker hostel in Seoul the first week. She stayed at Seouli Guesthouse Seoul accommodation - a dorm there cost 17.000 won = £9-10 per night. That is some of the cheapest in Seoul.

"My basic travel plan is to start in India and then go to, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Borneo, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea (if we're not at war with them) and finally get the train back across Russia. Any thoughts on that plan?"

Hmmm, if you're thinking about time, then I'd say it's doable. If you're out for a year 365 days divided on 17/18 countries = 21/20 days in each country. India is a big country, so I would travel to the most important places for at least 1 month.

I hope you're aware of the Indian 2-month rule - you can read more about it here Thorn Tree forum.

I don't know how you're planning on getting to Myanmar (Burma) from south Asia since crossing directly from India to Myanmar is not possible - this is according to latest posts on travel forums. So, you have to fly :-S

In your itinerary, I would probably start as south as possible and work my way to the north since you're planning on taking the train across Russia. This is so you avoid back-tracking. See if there are any cheap flights to Jakarta from South Asia.

Start in Indonesia --> border cross to Malaysian Borneo --> Brunei --> --> border cross back to Malaysian Borneo --> Singapore (there are no direct flights from Brunei to Singapore, but there are direct flights between Miri in Sarawak to Singapore) --> Singapore --> border cross to Peninsula Malaysia --> continue by land to Thailand --> then border cross to north Laos --> border cross from south Laos to northeast Cambodia --> border cross to south Vietnam --> fly to the Philippines --> fly to Taiwan --> fly to Japan (there are no ferries between Taiwan and Japan anymore. Star Cruises is one option, but they're not cheap) --> ferry from Japan to South Korea.

From South/North Korea, you have to make your way to Beijing, where the Trans-Siberian route starts and the trails ends in Moscow. And from there to UK :-)

From the reports and news I've been reading regarding border crossing Thailand-Myanmar, things don't look good (yet). There's been a political tension between these two countries for so long, so border crossings have been closed/opened at random times. Your bet is to fly in/out of Myanmar from Bangkok or other places.

Hope this helps!

Amanda

Posted on: Feb 11, 2012

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