As my friends know, I always think very think very financially. One the most asked questions is how much did this all cost…or how much was this country or that experience and I would never know if I didn’t track it so here goes. I do my best to track the money spent in each country and include any transport cost getting to a country in the country I visit.
1. Laos (Vientane, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang) -Total was $907 ($101 per day for 9 days). No flights within the country, all minivans and very reasonable.
Exchange Rate was $1 US = 8,000 KIP
- 1.5 liter of water = 5,000 KIP at market or 15,000 KIP at restaurant ($0.62 or $1.86)
- Large (650 ml) local beer = 9,000 KIP at market or 15,000 at bar ($1.11 or $1.86)
2. Bhutan (Thimphu, Punakha, Paro) – Total was $3,010 ($376 per day for 8 days). Almost all costs were pre-arranged before we arrived.
Exchange Rate was $1US = 60 BTN
- 1.5 liter of water = 20 BTN at market or 45 BTN at a restaurant ($0.33 or $0.75)
Large (650 ml) local beer = 100 BTN at market or 150 at restaurant ($1.67 or $2.51).
3. Thailand (Bangkok, Phuket, Ko Phangnan, Ko Tao) – Total was $1,738 ($109 per day for 16 days)…but my finances in Thailand were spent quite different this time. I was fortunate to get to stay at Vanessa’s and Chris for 6 nights, but with this I was willing to splurge and spent a more on accommodations in Ko Phangnan as this was a holiday for her (and the free nights at her house helped me balance that out). Plus I did 9 scuba dives during my time in Thailand (the scuba diving was about $300 of this or $33 a dive including all equipment – so really cheap per dive compared to anywhere else in the world). This trip included two internal flights (BKK to HKT and HKT to USM – $200 in total) plus 3 ferry rides between the islands ($50 in total). So huge thank you to Vanessa and Chris for hosting me for my time in Phuket as this really helped me balance the time in and money in Thailand.
Exchange Rate was $1 US = 32 THB
- 1.5 liter of water = 25 THB at market or 50 THB at restaurant ($0.78 or $1.57)
- Large (500 ml) local beer = 80 THB at market, 100 THB at Happy Hour and 130 THB at Bar ($2.50 or $3.15 or $4.10)
4. Malaysia (Penang) – Total was $364 ($184 for 2 days). This was partly a stop but also a stop on my way to get to a wedding in Bali as I needed to connect somewhere from Thailand. Normally I would have stayed in the city or country longer, but this stop was just a quick stopover.
Exchange Rate was $1 US = 3 RM
- 1.5 liter of water was 1.6 RM at market. I never got a large water out at a restaurant ($0.50)
- Large (500 ml) Tiger beer (imported beer from Singapore) was 13.6 RM at the Hawker stalls or 21 RM at the market – one of the few places it was more expensive at the market that out where I was eating. ($4.28 or $6.61)
5. Indonesia (Bali)