On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 07:11:09 GMT, James Blanford wrote:
>In article ,
> ese002@news9.exile.org (Eric Edwards) writes:
>> This probably only works well in countries with similar economies. For
>> an example of where this fails, and badly, compare Kenya, South Africa,
>> and Malaysia: By per capita income, you might think that Kenya would be
>> dirt cheap compared to South Africa. Malaysia would be slightly
>> cheaper than South Africa.
>>
>> Actually, Kenya, with barely more than 10% of South Africa's per capita
>> income, is the most expensive. Malaysia is a substantially cheaper than
>> South Africa, despite similar income levels.
>>
>That fits with my vague impressions based on reading and discussions,
>but where did you (does one) get such information?
These are places that I have personally visited within the last 2 years.
Before you travel, guide books are probably your best reference. Leaf
through the book at a library or bookstore and check the prices for
accomodation, transport, and special activities. Even a book a couple
of years old will usually be accurate enough for a ball park estimate.
Guide books often list prices for restaurants as well. However, I've
never seen any detailed or accurate enough to be of any use toward
estimating food costs.
Some guides are better than others for estimating costs. Bradt and
Rough Guides are pretty worthless. They have their strengths, but
estimating costs is not one of them. Lonely Planet and Let's Go do
well.
Sometimes you can find information online. The hostel I stayed at in
Pretoria has a web site. I used that to refresh my memory of
accommodation costs in South Africa.
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