Finance and money forum

Budget for India and South East Asia

michaelharw-
ood

newbie
Posts: 2

Hi everyone!

Me and my partner have recently decided to save for a long trip around India and South East Asia (approximately 10-12 months), and wandered if anyone had some advice on how much we will need for each place.

We are currently planning;

India - 3 months
Bangladesh - 1 month
Laos - 3 weeks
Vietnam - 1 month
Cambodia - 3 weeks
Thailand - 2 months
Malaysia - 1 month
Indonesia - 2 months
Singapore - 1 week

We were also thinking about maybe hoping over to AUS for 6-12 months for some travelling and working, anyone got ideas on this at all? What we are most worried about is finding work, I work in advertising and my partner works in retail management!!

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated

#1 Posted: 20/1/2011 - 20:49
stevejames00

tourist
Posts: 53
bpg_plc

I can only help with the SE Asia bit but my partner and I did pretty much the same trip as your planning there and we lived quite comfortably on £40 a day for the both of us. We stayed in backpacker places (but not the cheapest, we usually still had our own bathroom) and we didn't hold back on anything we wanted to do.

#2 Posted: 21/1/2011 - 00:50

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Competitive Dialogue
eastwest

som tam seller
Posts: 699
Private message

All countries listed are cheap (with exception of Singapore and Malaysia).

I agree with steve that 40 pounds or roughly $60 should enable you to do all things you want to do. That excludes your main flights and insurance though.
That $60-80 range gives you far more freedom to do things. There will be plenty of days where you can get by on far less and that saved money you can spend on a splurge weekend by the beach or so. You also should keep in mind visa costs and local transport but that can be easily covered with a budget like that.

Personally I wouldn't go much lower than that because then everything will start to revolve around saving money and it might distract from the things you really came for.
If you haven't saved enough I'd go for a shorter trip and stick to the budget rather than stretching the money.

#3 Posted: 21/1/2011 - 14:29
michaelharw-
ood

newbie
Posts: 2

Thanks for the help, it has put our minds at rest

We were thinking of saving at least £20,000 for everything between us over the next 2 years leaving Dec 2012, inc. flights, insurance etc... so hopefully this will cover all of our costs, and obviously will be taking a credit card as back up!!

If there were countries not to bother with on our list, or to shorten/lengthen, where would people suggest??

Thanks again!!

#4 Posted: 21/1/2011 - 17:27
eastwest

som tam seller
Posts: 699
Private message

It's hard to tell. I've been to all countries bar Bangladesh but it mostly depends on your own interest.

In general as a rough outline it looks fine. Since you have still 2 years to go I wouldn't worry about it now. A lot can happen in between. Stay flexible, even while travelling

I hated India so I won't comment on that. Personally I would do less Laos (1 week less), less Malaysia (2 weeks), less Cambodia (1 week), less Singapore (reduce to 2 days)
You can still see the highlights without rushing it and then you have time to visit Myanmar (1 month).

Coming from India and Bangladesh you will see the slow transition in cultures if you visit Myanmar as well. Besides being a gorgeous country it will give you a more complete impression of the whole region.

#5 Posted: 22/1/2011 - 13:16
voyagerbd

newbie
Posts: 2

Hi I am shaif from Bangladesh. I am working in tourism industry based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. If you need any kind of service during your stay or before that feel free to contact with us at (shaif@voyagerbangladesh.com). We provide almost every kind of service for the backpackers to the special one. So if you feel interested let me know.

#6 Posted: 31/7/2011 - 17:37