USD worth in other places?

[bronto]

hi just a quick question; i am just wondering (without getting into conversion rates) how much value the $ would have in asian countries (don't worry about japan, i know they're expensive) as far as buying products, property, services would be. i'm kind of looking for examples that i could easily understand, like eating out, shoes, or a bottle of coke. china, india, nepal, korea, taiwan, thailand and anything else in that region. oh, south america and mexico would be nice as well  .

yes i know this site isn't the best place to do my travel research, but there are some really good researchers here

[Civrock]

If you'd have a Mac and 10.4 Tiger, you could simply use the Conversion Widget.

[bronto]

i'm not talking about conversion rates though, i want to know what the actual worth is. it doesn't do me any good knowing that 1$ is like 8 zillion yen then finding out that that 8 zillion yen gets me 1 pennie candy.

[BTs_FahQ2]

Well, mexico won't really get you much if you stay in the resort area's.  Most meals are still $5-$10 on average and hotel rates hover in the $150 region.  Flights are cheap though.  If you wander off into the slummy or poorer areas you can get great deals, but you better know some spanish or they know you are a noob for the taking.  Mexico is a haggling place about prices and knowing spanish is key.  Besides, if you look like a weiner tourist in some of those parts it will only get you robbed by vandals or the police.  If you go far enough south the rebels will also get you. Funny to think this place is a tourist destination.

South america is cool, like costa rica.  Great for surfing, cheap beer and cheap everything in a hot setting.  Flight will cost you more but you can get by with a great vacation for a week on $500. But, same warnings about the non touristy spots.

Taiwan is no cheaper then Japan in most respects, hong kong is cheaper and you can get a pretty good knock off anything for about $20 bucks.  They fake everything there.  Mainland china you can get a 5 star for $60 a night, but watch the food, can be cheap but can make you crap for 23 hours of everyday for the rest of your trip. Mainland in killer cheap.

[BFG]

Most meals are still $5-$10

When you say meal, are you talking regurgitated shit or some decent grub, because 5-10 dollars sounds bloody cheap!

[BTs_FahQ2]

hahaha, nah good food.  In mexico, big plate of tacos, beans, rice along with a alcoholic beverage.  Unless you go to the taco stands, could be horse, could be dog, could be a new spam mades from frogs.....dunno, that will run you $1 on average.  Just dunno what it really is.

[bronto]

sweet. i've been reading a lot about china and i think that's #1 destination on my list right now, from there i'm thinking india and thailand. the one thing i know about all these places is bring a water distilling pot lol.

[seth]

well, thats an easy answer. It's value decreases and decreases, to a point where some oil countries would like to see a barrel in euro... that'd be the beginning of the end.

[Abe 2.0]

Most developing countries are very inexpensive to travel in. I've only been to africa and in most places you can get a coke for 25 cents, hotel rooms for 5-10 bucks and meals for about a dollar. Go check out the lonely planet website. They have summaries where they tell you the approximate cost per day in categories like budget or luxury.

It should be obvious that it all depends on how much you are willing to put up with. If you're fine in staying in crappy hotels and eat local food, you spend as little as five or ten bucks a day, although in some places this is not a great idea. Same goes for transportation.

My buddy travelled around in SE Asia for a while (Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam) and said he was fine with 10 bucks a day for everything.

[cottonmouth]

My expences in South East Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Lao) for 4 months were as follows.

Room or Guesthouse for one night, 3-10 dollars
3 Meals a day averaged $10 (total).
1 beer =$1-2
1/8 Thai Herb $5
Can of Coke 30cents
1/8 Shrooms $8
Pair of rip off addidas sneakers, $6

The funny thing is, you may take a taxi that costs 10 dollars to take you to your 3 room which is costing 3 dollars.
I spent about $2,500 maybe a little more for 4 months. (this includes long distance bus and train rides)Prices vary from country to country, but the entire 4 month journey averaged $20 a day (do not expect any kind of standards that we find here in the US at those prices)

[bronto]

thanks all (wish this forum had the K+ feature like overgrow). cottonmouth, the taxi drivers are absolutely notorious for ripping off westerners, i was told that you have to request them to turn on the meter and/or threaten that you'll call the police. thanks very much for the info.

[cottonmouth]

wish this forum had the K+ feature like overgrow

I love that forum, the photo gallery rocks.

the taxi drivers are absolutely notorious for ripping off westerners

This is very true, but you will see that some taxi prices are fixed, I found it very interesting that sometimes the taxi ride will cost you more than your daily budget. Best way to avoid the taxi rip off is to negotiate the fare befor you get in the Taxi.

I strongly recomend traveling SE Asia, Cambodia is incredible, Angkor Watt will blow your mind.
Thailand... 'The Land Of Smiles'  .. you cant go wrong
Lao was extremely cheap, great food, amazing culture and landscape.
Never been to China, but I hear the language barrier is a major downfall to traveling China, and the people are all sick, smoke, and spit everywhere they go.

you can peep some of my travel photos here
homepage.mac.com/freedom1516

[c| Spetsnaz.]

awesome pics cotton, how much was airfare to SE Asia? Also, do you speak the native languages, how difficult was it to overcome the language barrier?

PS: Here's my OG photo gallery http://www.overgrow.com/edge/gallery.php?s=&action=folder&userid=30065&rt=1129745342

[bronto]

AWESOME machu picchu pics. se asia is something i wanted to do for a while so that's on my list before south america. some funny party pics...one question though: is a thai lady boy just a woman with a penis?

[cottonmouth]

is a thai lady boy just a woman with a penis

Well... it was once a man, gender surgery is common and cheap in Thailand.... it's one of those things I can not explain about the Thai culture, you need to go there to understand it.  One of Thailands most celebrated champion Kickboxer had the surgery done.  Lots of crazy bizzare sex stuff going on out there.

awesome pics cotton, how much was airfare to SE Asia? Also, do you speak the native languages, how difficult was it to overcome the language barrier?

I paid about $800 round trip, but it can cost up to $1,200(from NY) 
Not much of a language barrier in SE Asia, most locals try to speak as much english as possible, they are well aware they can make some extra coin being able to communicate with tourists. The language barrier is all part of the adventure, sometimes it is fun, and sometimes it can be frustrating.  Learning a few words of the local language can go a long way, any effort to speak the local language is extremely appreciated. I usually buy a phrase book and try to learn some basic words before i adventure out. Knowing how to say hello, goodbye and thank you can make a huge difference.

[DarK.]

Ok, language help for anyone going to Swahili speaking countries (africa)

Asante - Thank you
Asante Sana - Thank you very much
Jambo - Hello
Jambo Sana -Hello to you too
MIzouri (Pronounced like Missouri) - Doing well
Habari - How are you doing?
Mizungu - White Person
Mizungu Wazimu - Crazy White Person

[BFG]

Just don't walk up to a Police officer in Johannesburg and say "Jambo Mizungu Wazimu"

[bronto]

MIzouri (Pronounced like Missouri) - Doing well

doing well in africa sounds like misery in america...the irony

[DarK.]

dunno if they speak swahili in South Africa... but they might, its mainly an eastern african trading language (Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi...ect)

Bronto that is quite hillarious

[cottonmouth]

awesome pics cotton, how much was airfare to SE Asia? Also, do you speak the native languages, how difficult was it to overcome the language barrier?

PS: Here's my OG photo gallery http://www.overgrow.com/edge/gallery.php?s=&action=folder&userid=30065&rt=1129745342

A relevant post for an old thread. I thought I remember talking about overgrow.com somewhere on here. Overgrow and several other growers web sites have been shut down and the servers seized.
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4638.html