I'm planning an overland trip across Asia for 2007. I hope to travel by rail and bus when necessary from Shanghai, through to Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey.

I'm curious how long I could make this trip last. I'm planning on saving about ten thousand American USD. Extra savings will make the budget flexible... going over on't be too much of a problem.

How long will that sort of money last in Asia? I'd really like to spend a month or more in each of those nations. Or generally... make the trip last as long as it can until the money runs out.

Any ideas?

hi clockwise... sounds like a fascinating trip that i hope to do one day... i'm only planning to do part of china come march... starting in hong kong... kunming... chengdu... shanghai (maybe depending on how i'm going)... Xian... Beijing. I'll be interested to read as to what people think how long $10000 will last...

i think it's a great idea to go travelling with a set amount and travel till it runs out... even though i've got a set budget, i've also set myself to a maximum 1 year...

$10,000 is about £5,800...

...I think you'll be fine with that for a while. I'm going RTW next year, and I'm taking a couple of £k more than that for 6/7 months (working in Oz as well).

From what I hear Asia/SEA is cheap. And if you've got more to fall back on then you could probably go for quite some time.

wshane: I hope you stick around the forum after your trip to provide some China pointers. I spent some time in Shanghai... you'll dig it, I think. I stayed at a hotel of sorts on the campus of the Shanghai University of Science and Technology that cost about eight bucks a day. Hang out in the suburbs and Shanghai is dirt cheap.

Lancashirehotpot: Thanks for the tips. If I could go for six or seven months, I'd be more than overjoyed. But from my cash I need to pay for my transportation also. Trains are cheaper than planes, I think... but they still add up.

$10,000 should easily last you 6 to 7 months from what I can gather...especially if you're not flying. I've looked in to some of SE Asia and buses and trains are efficient, reasonably comfortable and dirt cheap.
As for accomodation you'll probably pay no more than £15 a night at most if you go to hostels...maybe cheaper than that if you do some research.
Food is also really cheap, especially if you pick up food from the street vendors and don't tend to eat out that much.

I wouldn't be surprised if you could make this last longer if you desire.