The World's Cheapest Destinations
So much to see, so little time. You won't ever see it all, so why not select your destination by how inexpensive it is, thus maximizing your journey? You can spend two weeks in Europe, or 6 months elsewhere. Your choice. Travellers who choose the latter have far more fun, learn more, and bring dollars where it can do the most good. Rock-bottom prices also transform budget travel in these areas into luxury travel. This thin guide is a good investment for this approach. It lists 21 of the world's cheapest countries for travelers with more time than money, with a brief idea of what to expect. Stick to these few and you'll still have a lifetime of adventures. Prices current as of 2003.
-- KK
Excerpts
Indonesia
Prices plunged to a ridiculous level in the midst of the Asian currency crisis -- when my wife and I needed five weeks of travel to spend $350, despite living it up.
*
India
We paid a dollar a night for a great room with bath in Jaisalmer, then found out the guys next to us had bargained the owner down to 65 cents!
*
Morocco
A cheapie room in a basic cold-water hotel starts at around $4 in the villages and averages $7-$10 in the cities. The worst hotel we stayed in was $8 and the best one we stayed in was $8. It just depends on where you are.
[The author's website has some interesting and helpful links for bottom-fed travel.}
The World's Cheapest Destinations
21 Countries Where Your Dollars Are Worth A Fortune
Tinm Leffel
2003, 113 pages
$13
Amazon
Favorite (15)
michell
I have bought, read, and traveled by this book. I chose Guatemala; I was really poor but had a bad need to travel. Also, Aldous Huxley wrote a poem about how this lake was the most beautiful in the world). Here were the best things I personally found: an example of budget for starters...in San Pedro la Laguna, across the lake from Panajachel) my 2 bed, in-room bathroom with shower, balcony, INCREDIBLE LAKE ATITLAN VIEW = $4 and change a day down to $3.11 by the time I left (I stayed for 17 days, though I had planned four. I was so BLOWN AWAY by the laid-back, kind, generous daily life of people I had never really thought much about before. WOW! The learning!!!)
Then there was THE BEACH (hotel El Delfin, in Monterrico, near Iztapa, on the Pacific coast): how about my hotel with restaurant, bar, TV in community room, book exchange, near EVERYTHING incl. a lil bodega/tienda that sold cigarettes and chocolate bars...ya-oh-yay-ohyay), a pool, and security at night, ON the beach, not near or close...ON = $6.25 per night!!! Right!?!?!?
I give this book a BIG OLD THUMBS UP!!!!!!