Maybe the total sum of the trip sounds high, but if we take into account the length of the route and time spent in travel, it is not so bad. These are the overall cost of living, including food, transport and accommodation. In addition to this, the sum include use of the Internet, Skype calls, beers and souvenirs, fixing the equipment, the purchase of 
sweets, sites entry fees (I called them “extras”) - all costs when travelling. If we count these "little costs of daily common life" during 4 months, it will accumulate quite a large amount. For food, transport and accommodation I spent an average 206 € per month (living in Poland I would spent just a little less). Unfortunately visas cost was very high (670 €), I was willing to spend much more on great attractions and tours (74 €). “Extras” cost me 91 €, which is around 5 € per week.
I used the cheapest possible local transport and sometimes I hitchhiked. Similarly with the accommodations - the cheapest as possible, and thanks to tent, three quarters of the nights were for free. So it is hard to minimize the costs at this point. However, we shouldn't save on food, we have the only one health. “Extras” depend on personal needs and possibilities, these costs can be stimulated in both sides. The cost calculation during the trip includes the visas purchased before home departure.
Below I present the travel costs, prices are in Euro. I described in detail the situation in each country, exactly as it was in 2009. Of course the prices and some data could already changed. Although I've bargained a lot, I wasn't always well orientated, so in some cases things can be done better, cheaper or just in different way.
a) The expenses before departure (in Poland) per one person: : 360 € (without visas)
medical kit, vitamins, water purification tablets – 25 €;
health insurance – 90 €;
Lonely Planet guide "Central Asia" (we had some Iran photocopies, and Mongolia book we got as a gift on the way) - 22 €/ 2 per;
Bezdroza guide “Caucasus” – 10 €/ 2 per;
transport and courier to the embassies in Warsaw – 25 €/ per;
bus Zory - Krakow 3 €;
charter flight (taxes included) Krakow (Poland) - Dalaman (Turkey) 131 €;
hitchhiking and minibus Dalaman - Antalya 2 €;
bus Antalya – Batumi (Georgia) 39 €;
visa to Turkey (I included that one here, as Turkey was treated as transit only) - 14 €;
other costs 15 €;
b) The expenses during the travel: 1660 € (including visas purchased in Poland)
No |
Country |
Days |
visas, commisions |
Accommodation |
Transport |
Food |
admissions, fees, tours |
Extras |
Total |
1 |
Georgia |
6 |
- |
€17 (4) |
€35 |
€22 |
€3 |
€3 |
€80 |
2 |
Armenia |
2 |
€25 |
- |
€9 |
€6 |
€3 |
€1 |
€44 |
3 |
Azerbaijan |
2 |
€16 |
- |
€48 |
€10 |
€3 |
€1 |
€78 |
4 |
Iran |
7 |
€61 |
€4 (1) |
€23 |
€25 |
€23 |
€4 |
€140 |
5 |
Turkmenistan |
2 |
€85 |
- |
€12 |
€6 |
€1 |
€3 |
€107 |
6 |
Uzbekistan |
6 |
€130 |
€9 (2) |
€15 |
€13 |
€6 |
€6 |
€179 |
7 |
Tajikistan |
12 |
€72 |
€3 (1) |
€55 |
€23 |
€1 |
€3 |
€157 |
8 |
Afghanistan |
1 |
€31 |
€3 (1) |
€2 |
€1 |
- |
- |
€37 |
9 |
Kyrgyzstan |
11 |
€77 |
€9 (3) |
€20 |
€43 |
€4 |
€16 |
€169 |
10 |
Kazakhstan |
12 |
€20 |
€19 (4) |
€47 |
€51 |
- |
€19 |
€156 |
11 |
Russia |
3 |
€71 |
€3 (1) |
€31 |
€7 |
- |
€1 |
€113 |
12 |
Mongolia |
56 |
€82 |
€37 (19) |
€61 |
€156 |
€30 |
€34 |
€400 |
Total |
120 |
€670 |
€104 (36) |
€358 |
€363 |
€74 |
€91 |
€1660 |
c) The additional expenses: 30 €
All charges and fees for banking transactions (mostly ATM) – 25 €/ per.
Skype calls – 5 €
After the trip we flu to China. Tickets have been refunded by college, so had no expenses at this point.
The total expenses of this 4-month journey (including expenses before and after the trip) across Central Asia were 2,050 €, what is about 118 € per week. From Batumi to Ulaan Baatar the average cost of living was almost 7 € per day (828 € for food, accommodation and transport).
The food expenses were 363 € in 120 days = 3 € per day
The transport expenses were 358 €, or 2 € per 100 km, or otherwise 3 € per day. We didn't use free hitchhiking too often (3% of the trip, 607 km). We covered average daily distance of 148 km. On trekking (city walks are not included) we walked a total of 383 km. We travelled in 12 countries in 120 days, through a total of 17,730 km.
The accommodation expenses were 104 € - an average of 0.9 € per night, but thanks to the fact that I paid for 30% of all nights only (36 from 120). If I include the only paid accommodation, it would be the average cost of 3 € per night. I spent in total 15 nights in hostels, 5 times I was sleeping in a tent at the campgrounds, 16 times in the privet flat in Ulaan Baatar. We spent 10 nights free of charge in transport, 37 nights in the wild and 37 in hospitality (including 28 times in Mongolia).
Average
It's to estimate the costs of travelling. I try to give the most relevant data reflecting the current situation of budget travel:
average per 1 night accommodation – Average cost of 1 night accommodation - gives the average amount I paid for the accommodation which I used (not included the free nights).
average per 100 km ride– average price which I paid for public transport per 100 km. It's apply to buses or trains only (that is without minibuses, taxis, or water transport) to the non-touristic places. In the calculation I included the long distances only - in bigger countries more than 100 km and in smaller one more then 50 km.
| country | average per 1 night accommodation | average per 100 km ride |
Georgia |
6.5 € | 2.8 € |
Armenia |
- | 1.9 € |
Azerbaijan |
- | 1.9 € |
Iran |
4.3 € | 0.3 € |
Turkmenistan |
10.5 € | 1.0 € |
Uzbekistan |
4.5 € | 0.8 € |
Tajikistan |
7.0 € | 3.1 € |
Kyrgyzstan |
3.7 € | 1.2 € |
Kazakhstan |
4.7 € | 1.5 € |
Russia |
- | 3.8 € |
Mongolia |
3.9 € | 2.0 € |