Lonely Planet expert Tom Hall offers advice on travelling on an ultra-thin shoestring, passage by freight ship, and those pesky volcanoes in Iceland
My boyfriend and I would like to do a trip of between six weeks and three months this autumn but have very little money. We want to explore a new part of the world but aren't sure where to go. We want something that offers culture and adventure, but also the possibility for relaxation. Can you recommend any destinations for travel on an ultra-thin shoestring?
Nina
I'm getting an increasing number of questions in along these lines, where travellers are looking to stretch out their budget for as long as possible. The good news is that there are still plenty of places where you can manage on �15 or less a day once you're in the country. These include south-west China, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia and, arguably fitting best with what you're after, India. You'll meet lots of travellers getting by on even less than this. The catch is that the initial outlay on a plane ticket is substantial. For India, this means bagging a cheap flight for around �450, probably changing planes in one of the large Arabian hubs on the way.
So how do you manage on such a low daily budget? You may be surprised to hear that it's not dependent on bargaining down to the last paise. That's no fun for you or the people you're haggling with. The trick is consistently sticking to your budget for accommodation and transport. In many of the places listed above, extremely cheap food is easy to come by. The inconvenient truth ? and what blows many budgets out of the water ? is that too many beers and frugal travel don't really go together. You don't need to be teetotal; just consume in moderation. Any guided activity, such as a trek, for which you require porters will also need to be budgeted for, as it will usually blow your daily budget.
I don't mean to paint too serious a picture about budgeting. After all, this is only really a means to stay on the road for an extended period. If anyone has tips for keeping costs low on the road, I'd welcome them.
I want to travel by freight ship from Africa to South America, but am stuck. I know you have written on this subject before, but I am having trouble finding where to look into this topic. Could you point me in the right direction?
Sarah Hosmer
Passenger-carrying freighters still criss-cross the globe, and they remain an unusual, relaxing way to travel huge distances. Even the largest freighters tend to have room for no more than eight to 12 passengers who pay somewhere in the region of �80 to �100 per day at sea. Abandon all notion of working your passage ? only paying passengers get a berth.
Once on board you're left to your own devices, usually eat with the crew ? meals are included ? and have access to limited facilities, perhaps a gym and a library. Stop-offs tend to be in large container ports, and although you are usually allowed to disembark, itineraries are not geared around shore excursions. This type of travel does hark back to an earlier era and many who travel this way catch the bug and seek out different passages.
The best-known agent for this kind of travel is Strand Voyages (020-7921 4340, strandtravel.co.uk), which can arrange most available itineraries. It advises booking as far in advance as possible ? for example, it has no availability on voyages to Australia for the remainder of 2011. Berths on ships to Asia are easier to come by, however, and space can be arranged with a month's notice.
As bad luck would have it, the journey you would like to take is one of the most logistically complicated. Grimaldi Lines (grimaldi.co.uk) runs a transatlantic service that begins at Tilbury, eventually calls at Dakar and several other west African ports before crossing to South America and visiting Rio, Santos (near S�o Paulo, Montevideo, Z�rate (Argentina) and Buenos Aires. However, most passengers on this trip do the whole journey to South America from Europe, and Grimaldi is keen to have the berths filled for as long as possible. The only way passengers can embark in Africa and get off in South America, and vice versa, is by booking no earlier than 15 days in advance, once Grimaldi is sure that it won't get someone for the whole journey. It also doesn't allow disembarkation in South America before Buenos Aires: this makes for a 19-day journey, at a cost of about �915. Sailings are every nine to 10 days.
This may well not fit with your plans and leave too much uncertainty, but if you can be flexible, Strand can help with booking.
I am 17, and a friend and I were planning to travel in July or August to the Baltic states ? doing Lithuania and Kaliningrad, then Latvia and Estonia , and on to Finland by ferry. Is it safe to travel here at 17, and can I rent a car at 17 in these countries? How much money do I need?
Henry Jackson
I went InterRailing around Europe at 16 and 17 and had a fantastic time. You have picked some interesting places to go to that are, on the whole, extremely safe. You can easily fill a month travelling around this region and you should budget for �20-�25 a day in the Baltic states. Finland is more expensive, but not prohibitively so. Here you should allow for �40 a day if self-catering and camping ? with your biggest expense being transport ? and �50 if you're hostelling, staying in towns and cities, and buying food at markets. I'm afraid you can't hire a car in any of these countries until you are at least 18. The individual countries' tourist board websites, such as (visitfinland.com), lithuaniatourism.co.uk, latvia.travel, and visitestonia.com are useful when you're planning your trip. Skyscanner (skyscanner.net) can help with arranging an open-jaw flight into one city and out of another ? Helsinki and Vilnius are the most logical geographically.
A friend of mine says another volcano is about to erupt in Iceland. Is this true? I had a flight to a family wedding in Canada cancelled last year and don't want to go through the palaver again of getting my money back and changing plans at short notice. What advice can you give?
Joseph Reynolds
There's no need to change your plans in this case. Indeed, unless we have a very unusual set of circumstances, volcano-related disruption should be much less in the future than we saw last year.
Last week's coverage appears to have stemmed from comments made on Icelandic radio which were interpreted as saying there was a risk of B�rdarbunga volcano erupting. The Iceland Meteorological Office has subsequently issued a statement saying there are, in fact, no signs of an imminent eruption. They would, they say, issue an alert if they believed an eruption was imminent.
There may indeed be the threat of a volcano erupting in Iceland ? that's because it has many volcanoes, some of which erupt frequently. These eruptions are usually small and localised, and do not result in activity of the strength of Eyjafjallaj�kull, nor a repeat of the scenes of last year.
One of the knock-on effects of last year's shut-down of European airspace has been an improvement in aviation authorities' ability to safely manage disruption caused by ash. In other words, the risks are better understood, and even in the event of an identical eruption to last year's there would be far fewer closures. In short, keep calm and carry on.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/blog/2011/feb/16/ask-tom-travel-advice-budget
rough guide places to see in europe traveler guide media travel his travel
No comments:
Post a Comment