Is 50 USD a day a reasonable budget for Kerala. I'm
incuding room and board.
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Without caring about costs, I think I spent at most $25US a
day in Kerala on lodgings, food, soda (for dehydration),
autorickshaw & sundries. My hotel balcony overlooked the
palm-lined beach just a few yards from the surf. It was
$12US and I'm sure I was being charged twice what locals
would pay. Meals at the beachside traps were $2 - $4 with
freshly squeezed juices and fresh fish. After-costs of
train travel and international phone-calls were extra, but
I still did not come close to your estimated budget. If you
can spend that without worrying you will stay in top places
and live large. I recommend a splurge in the right hotels
for a real rarefied experience. The service and
surroundings will be old world and you will feel like
gentry. Try to bargain with the first price, though,
because they see tourists coming and quote a ridiculous
opening price almost everywhere. Don't be afraid to walk.
There is always another hotel just a cheap autorickshaw
ride away (25-50 cents). Watch the rickshaws on gouging
also. Bring the 'Lonely Planet' "India" travelbook. It will
detail the lowdown on what's available and how to confront
it. I have no connection with L.P. except that I use it
faithfully and it has paid-off enormously. I could have
scrimped, if I had to, and spent $12 a day.
Jesus, you can get by on 50 US a day in Europe for God's
sake!
I would say its barely enough if you want to enjoy a good
meal and some bears...
I had a budget on 40$/day, there wasent anyway I could keep
it. So I had to leave copple of weeks earlier than planned.
Wich was really a shame because the place was really cool.
Erika
Good Bears? Frankly Erika I'm lost!!
I travelled around Kerala in Feb this year and have to say
you could easily survive on less than $50 a day. Even when
we stayed at the really touristy places like Kovalam you
could feast on fresh fish, vege curries and beers all
evening for about $5 each. In the cities like Cochin things
are also a bit more expensive but this balances out with the
little fishing villages where you find budget hotels and
meals for next to nothing. Try chatting to the locals and
fishermen on the beach - we found houses near the beach to
rent which cut down costs if there's a few of you staying
for a while.
er..yeh if your looking for 5 star. cheers gus
spend 50 buck a day, you don't see india, go to bangkok .
We were in India for a month last October.
We flew into Mumbai, travelled to Jiaselmer, on to Delhi,
accross country to Darjeeling and back to Delhi. We
weren't exactly skimping and we "got by" on รบ400 - roughly
$12 a day!! and that included travelling 3,655 miles. We
even travelled first class from Delhi to New Jaipalguri.
I wouldn't recommend first class train travel to anyone.
Second class three tier sleeper is much much better. much
morefun and you get in among Indians who are travelling -
they're great. I'm sure some travellers get robbed and
hassled but again I'm they are in the minority as, in
general, indian people will do all they can to look after
you.
Go and enjoy!
was the reason why I always sprang the extra $20+ US for
the 1st class air-con. It is 2, wide-tiered with much more
gadgets and clean space than 2nd. I found out just recently
that there was a record heat-wave while I was there and
many people died. I found this upper berth isolation where
I could curl up and read in cool air a real respite from
the culture-shock of my destinations. I am a rough traveler
and have slept in dirt in the rain etc., but that 1st class
berth was a godsend and the people in there were friendly
and Indian too. We discussed carpet rip-offs with an Indian
army person of high rank and argued supplementing a day
change on our ticket with a conductor. I mingled plenty
wherever else I went. Forgive me, but the 2nd class was
too 'black holeish' for my likes, thank you. A couple of
paychecks back home and I would never notice the bump in
the wallet for 1st.
I should have been more clear before. I'm trying to save
enough money to go to India. But thanks for all the
comments. They'll help get me started on a budget.Are there
any airlines you recommend that are nice but cheap?