India and Nepal are inexpensive for what you get, but the need to (usually) hire drivers and guides probably moves them out of the cheapest of the cheap destinations. You generally can't self-drive rental cars in either location, and most visitors wouldn't want to if they could.

We did a non-technical trek when we were in Nepal...we had a great time and met a lot of interesting people along the way and felt like it was great value, even though we were sleeping in the most bare-bones teahouse bunks imaginable. I've been told that higher-altitude and more technical treks get a lot more expensive.

We did a Golden Triangle tour in India. I first approached it thinking we could do it without a guide...use trains and internal flights between the cities. But the timing and hassle factor of all of that led us right back to hiring a private driver, which worked out fine.

We also did 11 days in Egypt rather inexpensively in 2009, thanks to Hilton and Marriott awards in Luxor and Cairo. The only modestly expensive part was a daytrip out to Abu Simbel, which is a short flight from Aswan. We hired a driver to take us around Aswan and then back up to Luxor, stopping at a camel market and a couple temples along the way. Very much worth it...