Budget Travel - Cheapest country in the world?

After reading the previous thread I was wondering what would be the cheapest country in the world to travel and visit? India, Cambodia, Indonesia...or somewhere in Africa would be even cheaper?

http://www.economist.com/markets/indicators/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13055650

According to the Big mac Index, it would be Malaysia. When you think of it, Malaysia has Air Asia and cheap Hiltons.

According to that, Britain is cheaper than the United States, which is complete tosh for pretty much everything other than a Big Mac.

If you don't gamble, LV is the cheapest place on Earth.

The Big Mac Index is an interesting comparison tool...if used for the right comparisons. In this case, I don't think it is, since the price of a Big Mac in any given country doesn't always correspond to the actual cost of goods and services in that country.

In other words, a Big Mac in the U.S. costs about the same as a gallon of milk, 3 20-oz bottles of soda, maybe 1/2 of what a decent burger at a hamburger stand goes for or 15-20% of what a decent full meal at a regular restaurant goes for, 10% of a cheap motel in a small town in flyover country, 1-2% of a mid-range business hotel on a weekday, and 1/2 to 1/3 of what a haircut costs. A Big Mac in Thailand may sell for half of what one costs in the U.S., but it's incredibly expensive for food in Thailand: you can also get a filling meal from a street vendor for 40% of the cost of a Big Mac, and a Big Mac is maybe 20-30% of the cost to stay in a decent guest house (private room with twin beds and ensuite shower and toilet). That is, in the U.S., 10 Big Macs pays for a stay at the Galaxy Motel in Brigham City, UT, whereas a stay at the Rendezvous Guest House in Chiang Mai, Thailand, costs the same as 6 Big Macs, meaning that the Big Mac is a third more expensive relative to the cost of a night's stay in Thailand than it is in the U.S.

To simplify that a bit (sorry if I may not have been all that clear--I'm kinda tired and should be sleeping): a Big Mac is more of a "splurge" in Thailand relative to the cost of local goods and services than it is in the U.S. Factor in the average wage of a Thai, and the cost of a Big Mac is really the equivalent of a mid-range steakhouse (say, Lone Star or Outback) to an American (or maybe worse)--whereas a Big Mac represents about half of the current U.S. minimum wage, it probably represents several hours of work to a Thai person. The Economist's Big Mac Index really doesn't allow you to see that side of the equation.

FWIW, I found Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Hanoi, Vietnam to be far cheaper than anything in Malaysia. Then again, I didn't get a chance to spend time in Malaysia outside of KL and Langkawi, which aren't exactly cheap places.

A brief analysis and list of criticisms (and uses) of the Big Mac Index is available in the Wikipedia article on the subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index

...or somewhere in Africa would be even cheaper?

Haiti would most likely be the cheapest place to visit in the Americas, and many countries in Africa would be even cheaper than that.

The question would be, is this a country you would want to visit, and would you be safe there.

Or did you mean a country you would actually WANT to visit ;)

Haiti is supposed to be very lovely, but of course somewhat volatile.

EmailKid

After reading the previous thread I was wondering what would be the cheapest country in the world to travel and visit? India, Cambodia, Indonesia...or somewhere in Africa would be even cheaper?
Which "previous thread" are you talking about? "The previous thread" can change a few times a minute. Big Mac index is useful only for those who eat Big Mac. If you are going to eat Big MAc, why travel to other countries? As has been pointed out, there are cheaper and better meals to be had in many places besides Big Mac.

http://www.economist.com/markets/indicators/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13055650

According to the Big mac Index, it would be Malaysia. When you think of it, Malaysia has Air Asia and cheap Hiltons.

While Malaysia is fairly inexpensive compared to N. America and W. Europe, I have certainly been to places that were far cheaper. Granted, I did get a suite in the Le Meridien in KK for $85USD per night, and we stayed in a little motel near Mt. Kinabalu for $20 inclusing brekkie.

In my recent travels, I found Uruguay to be very inexpensive, and Argentina (Outside of BA, which is still fairly cheap for such a great city...) wasn't too far behind. A big fat steak and a bottle of good Malbec for $15 suits my tastes just fine.

Actually most of Africa is pretty expensive-wise.. west Africa is on the CFA which is tied to the Euro. However Ethiopia was very cheap. Two of us ate meals including water/beer and the most expensive came to $13 for two.

The cheapest places I have been are Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua) and the Caucasus countries.

I think you guys are missing the point of the Economist article. What I learned in economics was PPP (purchasing price parity) which held that something which did not spoil and was cheaply transportable (i.e. diamonds, gold) should cost the same everywhere. This is 100% true, and an ounce of gold bullion costs the same everywhere on earth. A hamburger doesn't really fit, but should roughly cost the same everywhere and it does. The Economist article looks to show that PPP doesn't really hold for hamburgers, which we already know. It has nothing to do with cost of living in an area as most locals do not eat Big Macs.

Now things like hotel rooms are not transportable. Nor is labor. While climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, we had porters carry our heavy gear up the mountain for $5 a day. Try getting someone to do that in California.

If one is truly interested in cheap countries, look at cost of lodging and local food. I would guess sub-Saharan Africa and Central America are pretty cheap - if you want to live like a local! One can get a hotel room in DAR for 24,000 TSH or about $20 US.

I think Laos and Indonesia are the cheapest places I've travelled, and well worth every dime.
dan

Many countries are inexpensive for locals, but as soon as they see a tourist, the prices skyrocket. Sometimes I really wonder what's going on in their heads, do they really think just because I'm from abroad I'm going to pay for car rental more than in JFK?

Of course I can play the haggling game and get the price closer to real levels but that's too tiring and just not worth my time. If they want me to spend the same as in US or Europe, then I'll better go to US or Europe, thankyouverymuch. I don't know how many tourists they lose due to these practices (sleazy people dominating honest ones), but I've certainly ruled out most of Asia for future leisure travel. I've had even high-end hotels there (Westin, Marriott) trying to subtly scam me.

To summarize, look for the countries where the prices are low AND they are easily available for foreigners, too.

Which "previous thread" are you talking about? "The previous thread" can change a few times a minute. Big Mac index is useful only for those who eat Big Mac. If you are going to eat Big MAc, why travel to other countries? As has been pointed out, there are cheaper and better meals to be had in many places besides Big Mac.

Sorry Yaatri. When I said the previous thread I was talking about the one that gooseman13 started: "Any recomendations for a cheap travel spot?"

I don't know how many tourists they lose due to these practices (sleazy people dominating honest ones), but I've certainly ruled out most of Asia for future leisure travel.

Whilst I share your frustration at being seen as a walking ATM, don't you think that's quite an overreaction? Make an effort to get off the beaten tourist path and the problem diminishes remarkably. "Most of Asia" easily fits in this category.

It's hard to say because there are places like Nepal or Vietnam (circa 10 years ago) or Laos where what you can buy is very limited at any price. Would imagine that parts of Africa also fall into this category. You can't do a Big Mac index because McD's still doesn't operate in most of those places.

Generally you need a range of choices at the level of an Indonesia or the Philippines before it starts getting interesting. The Philippines is one of very few places where McDonald's is NOT #1 in burgers, so they're in a bruising price war with Jollibee.

The time to have been traveling around was in late 1997 and early 1998, in the wake of the global currency crash. In a very short time the dollar doubled in purchasing power against the baht and tripled against the rupiah. There was a short period where everything at the high end was cheap, if you had dollars. Even airline tickets (if originating in those countries). A combination of currency appreciation and inflation has eroded away most of those gains by now.

Malaysia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia

It seems there are too many variables to produce a one-size-fits-all answer to the OP's question. The "cheapness" of any given destination is subjective and depends heavily upon the objectives of the individual traveller. If one's desire is to stay exclusively in luxury hotels, for example, then Malaysia may well be the cheapest place - or at least it was 5 years ago when I was travelling there and getting rooms at the Ritz-Carlton in KL for $89 per night (room-service breakfast included). I don't know anywhere else on the planet where such a thing would be possible.

If, however, one is content with budget accommodation and wishes simply to travel for as long as possible as cheaply as possible, then one would almost certainly do better in neighboring Thailand, and probably better still in Cambodia. It all depends on what you're looking to buy for your money.

Then there are places that may be cheap, by Western standards, for locals, but are expensive for visitors because the latter are a captive audience. Much of Africa is actually fantastically expensive for Westerners to travel in, because there is little or no local market for the sorts of services that foreign visitors expect (e.g. high-end hotels), and because local conditions make it more expensive to provide such things (e.g. if your Western-style hotel has to generate its own electricity because the local supply is not reliable, you're going to pay for that). If you look at the "global cost of living" surveys that come out every year - I believe the Economist does one, actually - Douala, Cameroon consistently comes out in the world's top-40. Why? Certainly not because the locals are shelling out big bucks for everyday items, but rather, because those surveys are based on Western expatriates consuming the goods and services that Western expatriates consume back home, and to recreate the Western experience in Cameroon is very, very expensive. Certainly, at least, looking at the prices people pay for safari packages in various African countries, makes one's wallet long to get back to good ol' Switzerland. :)

Then there are still other places where meaningful comparison is not possible because the market for visitors is artificially restricted. The consummate example would be Bhutan, where the daily price to visit the country is set by the government, and that's that. In places like that, the inherent "cheapness" of the destination isn't worth considering, because it doesn't matter. So... as with anything else, YMMV.

I sort of go by how expensive it is to buy a litre of bottled water. In which case, Thailand is about the cheapest I've been to (more so than Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar in the region). Far cheaper than anywhere in europe. Haven't been to anywhere in africa or south america so can't compare.

Last year I spent about $300 for 11 days in Myanmar, this included guesthouses, with hot water, private guides, meals, and a few beers daily. Add to that $150 for internal flights.

Out of 90+ countries i've visited that's been the cheapest overall based on average daily spending and maintaining relative comforts.

In Europe, I found Belarus cheapest

I've backpacked around the world and when I was in Egypt and India I spent about $1000/month while doing all touristy stuff (hostels, meals, site seeing, going out, etc).

Estonia

I have to second this - it's probably the cheapest country that I've been to in Europe, especially if you drink alcohol. It's often cheaper to buy vodka or beer than it is to buy water or soda. Food can be had for incredibly cheap - I remember my wife and I ate often outside of Tallinn for less than $15 for both of us. And these were 3-course meals.

I think the milk & honey days of cheap eats and drinks in Estonia are likely to end soon - whenever they start using the Euro (if they haven't already).

Highly recommended country to visit if anyone is in the neighbourhood.

The time to have been traveling around was in late 1997 and early 1998, in the wake of the global currency crash. In a very short time the dollar doubled in purchasing power against the baht and tripled against the rupiah. There was a short period where everything at the high end was cheap, if you had dollars. Even airline tickets (if originating in those countries). A combination of currency appreciation and inflation has eroded away most of those gains by now.
Now what we need is a Budget Time Machine :D- DeLoreans are too expensive!

Of course I can play the haggling game and get the price closer to real levels but that's too tiring and just not worth my time. If they want me to spend the same as in US or Europe, then I'll better go to US or Europe, thankyouverymuch. I don't know how many tourists they lose due to these practices (sleazy people dominating honest ones), but I've certainly ruled out most of Asia for future leisure travel. I've had even high-end hotels there (Westin, Marriott) trying to subtly scam me.

Problem with some people is that when they travel to exotic places:
- they feel superior to the locals as they are from the western world, and expect special service
- due to this superiority they expect the first world services
- and at the same time they want to pay what the locals pay for these first world services.

I guess, such people should just stay or visit US/Europe. Nobody is forcing them to go to Asia anyways.

Well traveled and open minded people always know - What you pay is what you get!
Nothing is free in this world - if you want to be treated special, then you gotta pay for it!

What you pay is what you get!
Nothing is free in this world - if you want to be treated special, then you gotta pay for it!

Uber sophisticated travelers know how to get spiffs without paying for them.

YMMV.

Food in Malaysia is very very tasty and very cheap. It's also relatively safe country. I've never been to Langkawi, but my friends swear it has the best beaches in the region. Try all the fruits too especially the king of all fruits - durian.

Malaysia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia

Riga was quite expensive when I visited last year !

I have to second this - it's probably the cheapest country that I've been to in Europe, especially if you drink alcohol.

As long as you avoid eating/drinking in the Old Town, prices in Tallinn are fairly good, but in general it's more expensive here than in Latvia or Lithuania. The Balkans are quite a bit cheaper too, on average.

However, in terms of the ratio between cost and quality of life, Estonia is hard to beat, within Europe anyway.

If anyone's ever passing through, feel free to drop me a line and I'll buy you a beer and tell you all about how great it is here :)

As pointed out by previous poster Factotum, there is no universal answer.

That said, in my experience the cheapest countries are those with "artificial" economies, i.e., price levels set by the government and unrelated to world or market prices. That is why Venezuela has gasoline for 6¢/gallon (depending on the exchange rate) and other countries subsidize bread to sell for pennies a loaf.

My nominations are Iran and Burma where a traveler can be perfectly comfortable for a few dollars a day. Taxi rides are under a dollar, restaurant meals a couple of dollars, and a decent (air-con, decent plumbing, etc.) hotel room $10-20. If you want to be cheap, you can ride the bus and eat street food for a few cents. A less-isolated but slightly more expensive country is Syria.

If you want to stay in international-class hotels, be prepared to pay commensurate prices, for which the Big Mac index is a pretty reliable indicator.

Now what we need is a Budget Time Machine :D- DeLoreans are too expensive!

I was just speaking with someone this past weekend and feeling nostalgic for my trips to eastern Europe (especially Romania) in the mid-1990s. Hotels that were posh by Romanian standards of the time (and quite acceptable for me) were very inexpensive and food was cheap (but sometimes limited to pork). However, I especially remember the price of Romanian (and even Hungarian) wine to be quite remarkable. These days, those bargains are gone, but I am happy that I spent as much time in those countries as I did when they were travel bargains.

Iran was very cheap indeed as was Sri Lanka (I paid $6 for a double, but no hot water). D.R. Congo was cheap too (but not very safe).

Problem with some people is that when they travel to exotic places:
- they feel superior to the locals as they are from the western world, and expect special service
- due to this superiority they expect the first world services
- and at the same time they want to pay what the locals pay for these first world services.

I guess, such people should just stay or visit US/Europe. Nobody is forcing them to go to Asia anyways.

Well traveled and open minded people always know - What you pay is what you get!
Nothing is free in this world - if you want to be treated special, then you gotta pay for it!

While this might be mostly true, I don't see why you quoted my post before that. Unless you consider renting an ordinary car "a first world service" worth $80 per day. The same about buying a coconut from a stall in the local market, apparently that's "being treated special" for a mere $10... :rolleyes:

I've been studying in Africa and China for the last 5 years for stays of 2-3 months each. Africa is so much more expensive than china and for some travelers the US & Europe. I try to stay in a guesthouse type accommodation that at least has intermittent water and electricity. In rural kenya, this was generally around $10 including 2 meals. How much was it worth if it was in the US or Canada? Definitely less than $10. Its not that the cultural and social experience isn't great overall - its just that it terms of facilities and security it wouldn't be worth $10. When I have friends or family visiting - the equivalent costs come to light: if you need something halfway decent in Nairobi or Kampala you pay upwards of $70 - and all in all this is still significantly lower quality than a motel 6. When traveling around on leisure I thought south africa was less expensive if sticking to a basic standard of quality.

Rural China is the cheapest place I've ever encountered - cheaper than laos, thailand, malaysia or india. A guesthouse with actual running water and electricity is around 75 cents - add three filling meals and you are at $1.75 all-inclusive. There are showers, refrigeration, well-stocked markets, and if not A/C at least big fans to keep cool. Beers are about 15 cents, transportation less than 5 US cents/km on decent roads or non-express trains. Its not that your average joe would want to go to rural china, but if someone was forced to live off of $1000 for a year I think rural china is where it could be done while maintaining the best standard of living.

This is just my experience - if someone has encountered somewhere cheaper, I'm interested in reading about it.

in general >
1. asia
2. south america

I am going to take one issue with this, when I was in Egypt everything had a local price and a western price. If I tried to buy a sandwich or bottle of water from a local shop the price would always start 3 to 5 times what a local could walk in and buy it at.

I am not taking about 5 star restaurants just local street vendors. After a few minutes of haggling many of them would drop the price to the local market price. Others would simply turn down the sale.

I wasn't asking for anything special, I wanted the same sandwich the Egyptians were buying.

Problem with some people is that when they travel to exotic places:
- they feel superior to the locals as they are from the western world, and expect special service
- due to this superiority they expect the first world services
- and at the same time they want to pay what the locals pay for these first world services.

I guess, such people should just stay or visit US/Europe. Nobody is forcing them to go to Asia anyways.

Well traveled and open minded people always know - What you pay is what you get!
Nothing is free in this world - if you want to be treated special, then you gotta pay for it!

According to my travelling experience it is Bulgaria, good for summer vacation and really cheap.

I've been studying in Africa and China for the last 5 years for stays of 2-3 months each. Africa is so much more expensive than china and for some travelers the US & Europe. I try to stay in a guesthouse type accommodation that at least has intermittent water and electricity. In rural kenya, this was generally around $10 including 2 meals. How much was it worth if it was in the US or Canada? Definitely less than $10. Its not that the cultural and social experience isn't great overall - its just that it terms of facilities and security it wouldn't be worth $10. When I have friends or family visiting - the equivalent costs come to light: if you need something halfway decent in Nairobi or Kampala you pay upwards of $70 - and all in all this is still significantly lower quality than a motel 6. When traveling around on leisure I thought south africa was less expensive if sticking to a basic standard of quality.

Rural China is the cheapest place I've ever encountered - cheaper than laos, thailand, malaysia or india. A guesthouse with actual running water and electricity is around 75 cents - add three filling meals and you are at $1.75 all-inclusive. There are showers, refrigeration, well-stocked markets, and if not A/C at least big fans to keep cool. Beers are about 15 cents, transportation less than 5 US cents/km on decent roads or non-express trains. Its not that your average joe would want to go to rural china, but if someone was forced to live off of $1000 for a year I think rural china is where it could be done while maintaining the best standard of living.

This is just my experience - if someone has encountered somewhere cheaper, I'm interested in reading about it.

$1.75 all-inclusive! Beers 15 cents! Can't beat that!
^

Actually most of Africa is pretty expensive-wise.. west Africa is on the CFA which is tied to the Euro. However Ethiopia was very cheap. Two of us ate meals including water/beer and the most expensive came to $13 for two.
It all depends what you want and what you know (local knowledge).
As an American who grew up in Cameroon, I can take you to a local food restaurant in Yaounde (the capital city) where most of the food costs about 1000 CFA (= $2 USD) per person. I have taken many expatriates here and no one has gotten sick from the food. Bottled drinks cost 500 CFA at this place (=$1). A large beer is 700 CFA ($1.40). The street price in Yaounde for a 1.5 litter bottle of water is 400 CFA ($.80)
Now, the vast majority of expatriates would spend $10-$30 per meal in Yaounde, especially if they want to eat western food in a western restaurant environment.
In the small village in rural Cameroon where I grew up, you can get a decent local meal for 300 CFA ($.60) Now this is very far off the beaten track...tourists almost never come that way. The village is on a dirt road and does not have electricity or running water, among other things. Not a place you can live like a westerner.
It seems there are too many variables to produce a one-size-fits-all answer to the OP's question.
Exactly!
If you look at the "global cost of living" surveys that come out every year - I believe the Economist does one, actually - Douala, Cameroon consistently comes out in the world's top-40. Why? Certainly not because the locals are shelling out big bucks for everyday items, but rather, because those surveys are based on Western expatriates consuming the goods and services that Western expatriates consume back home, and to recreate the Western experience in Cameroon is very, very expensive.
Interesting - I never knew Douala was rated so expensive. When in Douala I would stay at a mission guest house for 12,000 CFA per night ($24). Small clean rooms, free use of swimming pool. They will make you breakfast there for 1,500 CFA ($3) or you can go on the street and buy bread and eggs for about 400 CFA ($.80)
But yes, Douala would be a very expensive place to live if you wanted to feel like you were still living in the western world/do things the European/American way.
Much of Africa is actually fantastically expensive for Westerners to travel in,
This is true for those westerners who want to maintain the things they are used to in Africa. IMO, Africa is one of the least expensive places to travel in. My Africa experience apart from the country I grew up in includes Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and South Africa. (FYI - Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa are VERY different from Cameroon and from each other) My approach is to mingle and learn the local ways of doing things, eat what they eat, sleep where they would sleep, etc. I have found the cost of doing that to be similar in Africa as it is in Malaysia, Thailand, and China (other low cost places I really like to visit).

While this might be mostly true, I don't see why you quoted my post before that. Unless you consider renting an ordinary car "a first world service" worth $80 per day. The same about buying a coconut from a stall in the local market, apparently that's "being treated special" for a mere $10... :rolleyes:

Bargaining is the accepted market mechanism to control pricing in some economies. Take a step back and don't assume our way is better.

The bargaining system assumes that those who are most able to pay should pay significantly more than those who are unable to pay much. As those who are most able to pay generally place a much higher value on their time than those who are not able to pay, requiring more time to pay less is a very effective way of getting those who can pay more to pay more.

It is your prerogative to not want to give your business in places where the above system is the norm. However it is not our place to try and change the system - it is a different system, not a wrong one.

Rural China is the cheapest place I've ever encountered - cheaper than laos, thailand, malaysia or india. A guesthouse with actual running water and electricity is around 75 cents - add three filling meals and you are at $1.75 all-inclusive.
Are there places like this in China where one can get by with English? I am not asking if they would speak English well but woud they know a few words to make the basics work?

I found Shanghai, Bejing, and Shengen similar in price to say Bangkok. I have never been to rural China yet - dare I go without learning Mandarin first?

Are there places like this in China where one can get by with English? I am not asking if they would speak English well but woud they know a few words to make the basics work?

I found Shanghai, Bejing, and Shengen similar in price to say Bangkok. I have never been to rural China yet - dare I go without learning Mandarin first?

In my experience, once you get away from anywhere foreigners go regularly for business or tourism, pretty much nobody speaks any English whatsoever.

In my experience, once you get away from anywhere foreigners go regularly for business or tourism, pretty much nobody speaks any English whatsoever.

Same as what I heard. Although I have not yet visit rural China. I really want to go visit some beautiful places before they get destoried. (I do speak Mandarin)

Well, something really good about syria is that you can have launch with as much as half dollar or you can have an expensive launch that will cost you more than $300 box, and there is something you can be sure about which is that you will never suffer of hunger in there :)




As pointed out by previous poster Factotum, there is no universal answer.

That said, in my experience the cheapest countries are those with "artificial" economies, i.e., price levels set by the government and unrelated to world or market prices. That is why Venezuela has gasoline for 6¢/gallon (depending on the exchange rate) and other countries subsidize bread to sell for pennies a loaf.

My nominations are Iran and Burma where a traveler can be perfectly comfortable for a few dollars a day. Taxi rides are under a dollar, restaurant meals a couple of dollars, and a decent (air-con, decent plumbing, etc.) hotel room $10-20. If you want to be cheap, you can ride the bus and eat street food for a few cents. A less-isolated but slightly more expensive country is Syria.

If you want to stay in international-class hotels, be prepared to pay commensurate prices, for which the Big Mac index is a pretty reliable indicator.

Chile was really really cheap when I was there in 2004! ^

I'm going to go with Myanmar and Laos.

Bangladesh, hands down. I stayed at a hotel that was well known but spartan in a room with an en suite shower and sit down toilet for under $2 per night for a double (Hotel Al Razzaque in Old Dhaka). Most full meals at restaurants in the city will cost you about Tk50 (about $0.75) per person, but if you go to upscale Gulshan or Banani you can get really nice menus for $4.50-$6.00 per person. Rickshaws/auto rickshaws are so ridiculously cheap as to be not worth adding up, even if you end up paying triple the going rate as a foreigner.

Unless you plan a lot of shopping or going to private clubs and staying at posh hotels like the Shonargaon or the Sheraton in Dhaka, you'd be hard pressed to spend more than $20 a day. Even when we sprung for a really nice place on UN road for the last night of our trip, I think it cost us $25 for the night.

Admissions to the museums and tourist sights that there are are ridiculously cheap (I'm talking like a couple US cents here).

Lovely country with lovely people and just crazy cheap to travel in.

peace,
~Ben~

In Europe, I found Belarus cheapest

Thus illustrating that cheapness doesn't always translate into value! ;)

Malaysia scores highly on the value scale imho/imhe.

Admissions to the museums and tourist sights that there are are ridiculously cheap (I'm talking like a couple US cents here)

No higher rates for Westerners? Interesting. That's always the Achilles heel for cheap countries. In places like Sri Lanka the local admission may be free or pennies but the Westerner price is $10 or $25.

I'd rate India and Sri Lanka as the cheapest total package because of Indian Railways and the multitude of cheap travel within the country that allows.

Indonesia and Laos are also cheap; navigating the transport system at local prices is a bit more difficult I've found.

Indonesia is certainly pretty inexpensive for a relatively developed country. last year, I typically paid $60-70 per night for hotels that would legitimately be considered to be 4-4.5 star resorts (such as the Sheraton Sengigi in Lombok), and around $50 for a couple of pretty luxurious boutique places. And other than Siem Reap, Cambodia is also quite inexpensive.

And other than hotels, Argentina is quite cheap - once I determined to rent Apartments for $330 a week in nice neighborhoods, rather than spend $200 a night for hotel rooms in the same neighborhoods, my trip cost me a pittance - and I enjoyed several delicious steak dinners for $12-15. Public transit in Buenos Aires typically costs around 30 cents for anywhere you are going in the city.

No higher rates for Westerners? Interesting. That's always the Achilles heel for cheap countries. In places like Sri Lanka the local admission may be free or pennies but the Westerner price is $10 or $25.

I'd rate India and Sri Lanka as the cheapest total package because of Indian Railways and the multitude of cheap travel within the country that allows.

Indonesia and Laos are also cheap; navigating the transport system at local prices is a bit more difficult I've found.

Not in my experience. And I'm certainly unmistakable as a Westerner. I think that this is because Bangladesh simply gets an incredibly small number of tourists. You'll of course be asked for more than the going rate sometimes, but there is nothing institutionalized in that regard like in India.

peace,
~Ben~

Places that see very few tourists do not usually think to raise prices for westerners.

Well, something really good about syria is that you can have launch with as much as half dollar or you can have an expensive launch that will cost you more than $300 box, and there is something you can be sure about which is that you will never suffer of hunger in there :)

Is this a boat launch or a rocket launch?

I think Idonesia is the cheapest one

Thailand.

I think it's possible to get by very cheaply in Laos or Cambodia, but somehow I always come away spending less in Thailand. Not necessarily Bangkok or the beaches, but up north. More competition in the basic tourist categories of lodging, food and transportation. A wider range of options, too.

Vietnam may get cheaper as the tourist infrastructure builds up, but for now, although it's a good value, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia are less expensive. Malaysia seemed to be about the same as VN, but with Air Asia as a transportation option it's super cheap to travel around in, or out of. Both Malaysia and Vietnam have really good food at great prices.

Just like finding the absolute cheapest airfare doesn't have much attraction for me, finding the absolute cheapest possible country doesn't appeal either. I am all about great value, and everything considered, I will take Thailand, specifically Maehongson Province.

Most countries in SE Asia will be good value for money.If you stay away from bigger cities then it will be very inexpansive to stay,eat or travel.Thailand Indonesia Malyasia Cambodia Laos Vietnam all have good value for money.

Thus illustrating that cheapness doesn't always translate into value! ;)

Malaysia scores highly on the value scale imho/imhe.

I think Indonesia is cheaper. Food is definitely cheaper, a bowl of noodle soup is about $0.50, I believe you'd pay more in Malaysia.

Transport is cheap because of the fuel subsidies. Air Asia is now pretty established as well as domestic competitors.

Hotels, well the brand new JW Marriott in Medan, which is a very nice 5* property, the best in the city, is priced at only $50/night, including breakfast, on marriott.com.

The JW Marriott in Shenzen, China, is $150/night, no breakfast.

In fact, I searched by cheapest price, to find the world's cheapest Marriotts

1. Medan, Indonesia $50
2. Surabaya, Indonesia $72.30
3. New Orleans, USA $94
4. Dubai $108
5. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia $114

The food is cheap, the transport is cheap, travellers necessities are cheap, there is little 'tourist pricing', outside Bali, and it's generally speaking safe and civilised.

I think Indonesia is cheaper.
It's certainly cheaper, just not better value imho ;).

It's certainly cheaper, just not better value imho ;).

How do you measure value?

I assume you are essentially talking about infrastructure (roads, mainly, but also perhaps air con, etc.), which generally comes 'free' wherever you go?

Certainly Indonesia can be grueling, but I'm not sure that it's poor 'value', as much as 'not quite as developed'. Some people like it, some don't.

OK, I wrote this book, so I'm biased, but this really is the definitive guide to where you will get the most bang for your buck:

The World's Cheapest Destinations - 3rd Edition (http://www.worldscheapestdestinations.com/id1.html)

Covers the best deals in Asia, Europe, Indian sub-continent, Middle East, and the Americas.

Whilst I share your frustration at being seen as a walking ATM, don't you think that's quite an overreaction? Make an effort to get off the beaten tourist path and the problem diminishes remarkably. "Most of Asia" easily fits in this category.

That's absolutely true. It's the "tourist trap" locations that really try to gouge the non-locals. If you are willing to trek to areas not normally visited by tourists, the likelihood of being gouged goes down tremendously.

Many countries are inexpensive for locals, but as soon as they see a tourist, the prices skyrocket. Sometimes I really wonder what's going on in their heads, do they really think just because I'm from abroad I'm going to pay for car rental more than in JFK?

Well, part of every negotiation is determining what the other party might be willing to pay. This not only happens in foreign countries where tourists are charged more than locals because of the perception that tourists have more money and are less price sensitve, it also happens in the US when various contractors charge more to people living in more upscale neighborhoods. For example, I live in an upper middle class neighborhood, and a plumber will charge $75 just to stop by to diagnose a problem, whereas the same plumber would charge much less for the same work for someone in a working class neighborhood.

Many years ago, a friend wanted to finish her basement. Her friend (who lived in a working class neighborhood) had recently finished her basement and the contractor charged her about $10,000. My friend was impressed by the quality of the work and the cost, which was low compared to the quotes she had gotten from other contractors. So she called the contractor who had finished her friend's basement and asked for a quote for her basement. Of course, my friend lived in a much more up-scale neighborhood, and the contractor sensed an opportunity to make a bigger profit, and gave her a quote of $25,000. My friend was outraged and pointed out that that the contractor had done the same job for her friend (on a comparablly sized space) and charged less than half of his quote. His response was that he would do a much better job on her basement, which justified the higher cost. She replied, tongue firmly in cheek, "No, I want you to do the same sh*tty job that you did for Mrs. [blank]." :p

From all my travels I have found Ecuador in late 90's to be the cheapest and really expensive at the same time. Quito and continental Ecuador were really dirty cheap. I remember we have paid something like USD 2.00 for quite a nice hotel in the Historic Center next to Iglesia de Santo Domingo. This has probably changed now as their currency (worth nothing) has been replaced by USD couple years back.
But even in late 90's our trip to Galapagos Islands was really expensive and certenly overpriced (but a MUST TO SEE).

If you don't gamble, LV is the cheapest place on Earth.I understand the no gamble aspect but other than that,noway. :confused:

I guess I'm just too poor or too cheap, but most of the places mentioned I consider expensive. Sri Lanka, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Indonesia...

Cheap, in my experience would be more like Sudan, Somalia (putting ransoms expense aside), rural Eritrea and Ethiopia, Niger, Burkina Faso, Southern Mali (Bamako, not Timbuktu), Yemen, and some of the 'Stans (Kyrgystan, Tajikistan...) No, they aren't captured in the Big Mac index: no McDonalds.

I remember taking my wife to Romania in about 1987. We converted US$20 for a truckload of lei, spent two weeks, lived and ate lavishly, and had the equivalent of $6 left. (This includes private lodging expense.)

Indonesia...

Cheap, in my experience would be more like Sudan, Somalia (putting ransoms expense aside), rural Eritrea and Ethiopia, Niger, Burkina Faso, Southern Mali (Bamako, not Timbuktu), Yemen, and some of the 'Stans (Kyrgystan, Tajikistan...) No, they aren't captured in the Big Mac index: no McDonalds

Can you expand on why that list of destinations is cheaper than rural Indonesia? You can get a meal for $.10 there. :confused:

Can you expand on why that list of destinations is cheaper than rural Indonesia? You can get a meal for $.10 there. :confused:

To be honest, most of my Indonesia time has been in cities, so I can't speak to the rural areas...meaning you are probably absolutely correct.

In many of the places I've visited and cited as "cheap" there aren't restaurants or prepared meals, other than, sometimes, a street cart or sold-out-of-the-front-of-my-house grub. And that tends to be on the 10 cent scale.

A few comments
Just got back from Malaysia and while not the cheapest place, was a good "value" - however that is defined - and a great place to visit.

Thought Laos was a much better "deal" - again, however that is defined. Hello Falang!
Cambodia was be a good "deal" too.

Thailand wasn't such a good "deal" - Cheap hotels relative to elsewhere (e.g., Hilton NY v Hilton Bangkok: <~1/3 the price for a much nicer hotel) but the different prices for locals v foreigners was a bit absurd. It was not a bargaining issue, it was an issue of bring ripped off. For example: $$$ for tickets to Muay Thai for us (we didn't buy them) v. pocket change for locals. Trust me, we bargained and bargained and bargained - no deal for foreigners.

While Thailand was cheap, it really wasn't a "deal" in the sense that I felt that every price was jacked up as soon as I approached. Does that happen elsewhere - probably. Was it so out in the open elsewhere - not that I saw and not that I noticed in my wallet afterward ("noticed" is relative). Is that a better or a worse system? Worse I think because folks like me will now only stop for the night in BKK before traveling onwards to places that have better "deals." (a bunch of which deals I've found on this thread and will be added to my ITA search list)

Cheers

I have been living in Peru for the past year, living in a semi rural town, eating in, at about $80/month. You can travel here, stay in hotels/trek/eat at good restaurants for about $1000/month.

Near me in Cusco, the nice restaurants run about $10/entree, but we are talking places that could compete in Manhattan or London, the food in Cusco is really worth it.

Check out the Mileage Run forum for cheap flights out of LAX/WAS-Lima for around $340 ai RT, and book through the Peruvian version of Lan (look into changing your internet settings to fool their website into thinking you are in Peru, it is often done) for Lima-Cusco ai RT around $120. Come see the magic of the Andes!

How do you measure value?

I assume you are essentially talking about infrastructure (roads, mainly, but also perhaps air con, etc.), which generally comes 'free' wherever you go?
Absolutely not! I mean utterly subjectively whether it was worth the expense. It might be 80% cheaper to spend a week in Kansas City, MO than Miami Beach but it's still not better value imo. Get me? :)

you can also get a filling meal from a street vendor for 40% of the cost of a Big Mac, and a Big Mac is maybe 20-30% of the cost to stay in a decent guest house (private room with twin beds and ensuite shower and toilet). That is, in the U.S., 10 Big Macs pays for a stay at the Galaxy Motel in Brigham City

Grancasa- I just looked up flights on Lan Peru, but only Peruvian residents with proper documentation can buy those flights and they have a serious-sounding warning on their website. Do you know otherwise? Thanks!

While I cant really say what the cheapest place in the world is, since thats not something we can judge on our incomes/budgets.

However, cheapest places I have traveled:
Europe: Belarus, Albania.
Asia: Myanmar
South America: Bolivia
Africa: Malawi, Zambia

Bolivia

That is, in the U.S., 10 Big Macs pays for a stay at the Galaxy Motel in Brigham City

Hey! I've been there! (Although it's actually spelled Galaxie.)

Straight outta 1960. :D (It is clean, though...)

Edit: Oops, haha, no wonder that sounded so familiar--it was a ripoff of my post #5! :p But I guess I only have myself to blame for misspelling Galaxie... :D

I'm from Vietnam, studying in US and have been to Singapore, Malaisia.
So far Malaisia is cheaper than US
Singapore is cheaper than Malaisia (most of you will disagree but it's actually true)
Vietnam is cheaper than Singapore.

So Vietnam is the best place to visit, just contact me beforehand for some tips on how NOT to be ripped off :D

Hmm--not sure I trust that Big Mac index after reading this.

I believe that the cheapest place I've been would have to be Cambodia (which was mentioned by the OP). It's certainly cheaper than Malaysia, Kenya, or India (all of which are nonetheless fairly cheap). I haven't been to Laos or Myanmar, though, which I would assume are both also quite inexpensive.

I can only assume that places like Somalia, Zimbabwe, and DRCongo might be cheaper, but the tourist scenes in those places (with the possible exception of Zimbabwe) are probably limited, to say the least.

As some of you have mentioned, getting out of the major cities and tourist areas makes a huge difference.

I can only assume that places like Somalia, Zimbabwe, and DRCongo might be cheaper, but the tourist scenes in those places (with the possible exception of Zimbabwe) are probably limited, to say the least.

Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti, Congo, Tajikistan...weak tourist scenes, indeed. But for travelers...!

Riga was quite expensive when I visited last year !

I did Riga a few years ago, their currency was the same as the pound at that time. So it was $2 for 1 lat. Very expensive!. They have a great restaurant i like there, Vincents.

Laos is quiet inexpensive

Hi..

Malaysia, Indonesia were good places to spend valuable money with hope and safely..

Last October we stayed in Turkey. The room cost £2 per night including breakfast for 2.
Lovely location too, right on the promenade @ Marmaris

If we had wanted to stay further away, maybe 0.5 KM from the beach we could easily book an apartment (sleeping 4) in a complex with swimming pool etc for as little as £1 per apartment per night.

I have been living in Peru for the past year, living in a semi rural town, eating in, at about $80/month. You can travel here, stay in hotels/trek/eat at good restaurants for about $1000/month.

Near me in Cusco, the nice restaurants run about $10/entree, but we are talking places that could compete in Manhattan or London, the food in Cusco is really worth it.

Check out the Mileage Run forum for cheap flights out of LAX/WAS-Lima for around $340 ai RT, and book through the Peruvian version of Lan (look into changing your internet settings to fool their website into thinking you are in Peru, it is often done) for Lima-Cusco ai RT around $120. Come see the magic of the Andes!

Thanks for the info and welcome to FT.

Laos is inexpensive, also I believe that Budget travel magazine listed Panama as one also. Never been there. Cambodia, out beyond the tourist areas are also very cheap.
As a note, the most expensive place we visited was Switzerland.

Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti, Congo, Tajikistan...weak tourist scenes, indeed. But for travelers...!

A traveler being someone who sits around and is bored?

Having recently comeback from Kyrgystan I don't see rural Kyrgystan as any cheaper than the destinations mentioned earlier if you are paying for things out of your own pocket.

Yeah I found that most places are inexpensive as long as you're not in the major cities or tourist areas and if you're fortunate enough to get a guide/friend that speaks the language you should have no problem finding a great deal.