Backpacking Expense Report March

Location: Thailand – Vietnam

March was our second month abroad… we spent the majority of March soaking up sun rays on deserted beaches in Koh Samui, Thailand… Partying the night away at Koh Pha Ngan’s full moon party, & Scuba Diving on the tropical island of Koh Tao…

Then we flew to Vietnam to travel around for a month or so with some friends.

Total Cost of Travel For March

2 persons backpacking for 31 Days in Thailand and Vietnam…

$3588

Average daily cost of backpacking for 2 people in Thailand 1st March – 15th March

$94.50

Average daily cost of backpacking for 2 people in Vietnam

$136.00

Our Travel Expenses Broken Down

You can see a broken down list of our expenses below… to give you a better idea of costs while backpacking around Asia.

It’s worth noting that although we’re backpacking, we didn’t stay in any dorm rooms in SE Asia, we always got a private hotel/guesthouse room and usually opted to pay a few dollars extra for an air con room rather than a fan room.

Flights

Bangkok Thailand – Hanoi Vietnam

We only caught the one flight in March… leaving our tropical paradise in Koh Samui & flying to Hanoi in Vietnam. We took a VIP overnight bus from Koh Samui to Bangkok, and flew Air Asia to Hanoi after 2 nights (as we missed our first flight… Ooops).

Total costs for Flights in March

$318.00

Noteworthy Expenses

Other major travel goings on in March included a failed attempt to spend 2 days cruising around the famous UNESCO World Heritage Listed Ha Long Bay in Vietnam… a few days of trekking in Sapa, a remote area north of Hanoi and a second (successful) attempt at cruising Ha Long Bay.

Accommodation

Our accommodation costs for March are broken down as follows…

Koh Samui, Thailand
Dates: 1 March – 12 March
Nights: 12 x nights

Average cost per night in Koh Samui $22.00 (10 nights in total as we slipped away to Koh Tao for 2 nights)

Koh Tao, Thailand
Dates: 5 March – 6 March
Nights: 2 x nights

Average cost per night in Koh Tao $52.00
(this was clearly a splurge – we stayed at a nice hotel with a few luxuries, like a big swimming pool)

Hanoi, Vietnam
Dates: 16 March – 17 March
Nights: 2 x nights

Average Cost Per Night in Hanoi $25

Sapa Vietnam
Dates: 18 March – 21 March
Nights: 4

Sapa cost $279 for a 2 night, 2 day tour including 2 x overnight trains to and from Hanoi – 2 people

Hue, Vietnam
Dates: 22 March – 24 March
Nights: 2 x nights

Average cost per night in Hue $18.50

Hoi Ann, Vietnam
Dates: 25 March – 28 March
Nights: 4 x nights

Average cost per night in Hoi Ann $23.00

Nha Trang, Vietnam
Dates: 29 March – 31 March
Nights 3 x nights

Average cost per night in Nha Trang $27.00

Total Accommodation Costs for March

$860

Food

We don’t splurge often on meals while traveling… in saying that, we don’t live on packet noodles & plain rice either, a typical daily diet for us while in SE Asia would look like this…

Breakfast – cereal with yoghurt in our hotel room
Lunch – stir fried noodles with chicken or a rice dish like a chicken curry
Dinner – stir fried noodles with chicken/tofu or another rice dish like a curry

Thailand
Average cost for food & drinks per day for 2 persons Koh Samui $27.00

Vietnam
Average cost for food & drinks per day for 2 persons Vietnam $28 (this number is a little distorted as a lot of meals were included in tours)

*We travelled with friends the entire time in Vietnam – which ultimately lead to more expensive meals & a few extra mid-afternoon beverages than normal

Total cost of delicious backpacking food devoured in March

$1073

Tours

We usually avoid guided tours… preferring to make our own way where we can, for 2 reasons…

1. It’s usually cheaper, you normally pay a premium for the services of a guide
2. It’s more interesting, we always seem to meet more locals and enjoy a better experience when we make our own way

In the month of March we did 2 guided tours…

1. Trekking in Sapa.
This tour was organised by the awesome team at the Red Dragon Hotel in Hanoi and included the overnight train to Sapa, 2 nights accommodation & a tour guide for 2 days.
$279

2. 2 day Ha Long Bay Cruise… again the Red Dragon Hotel organised this for us and it included travel to Ha Long Bay + meals on the boat.
$228.00

Total Cost For Tours In Feb $507

View February’s Travel Expense Report

If you’ve got any questions, or would like to see a more detailed breakdown of our travel expenses, let us know in the comment box below.