slowly

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...

jesus4jets

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.

Kagehitokiri

in general >
1. asia
2. south america

ClimbGuy

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.

Nikkos

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

ramfunes

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

wanaflyforless

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.
Exactly!
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.
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).

wanaflyforless

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.

wanaflyforless

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?

potfish

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

HCA

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)

budgetsyria

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

remphish1

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

laurajoyce

I'm going to go with Myanmar and Laos.

seoulmanjr

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~