have we got enough?! backpacking goa.....

ashndave2009

Hi all,

thanks for reading and hopefully giving us some advice!!!

me and my boyfriend are going to india on dec10th and getting a train straight from mumbai to goa.

we are plnning to spend most of our 3months in goa and i am now panicking over our finances!

we have budgeted £2000 for the whole time we are there, which works out to about £150 a week...£21 per day...now i was thinking between £5-£10 per night accommodation and the rest for food drinks etc... is this a realistic budget???

we are both fully prepared to stay in basic huts for the duration of the trip and if we want to travel will take trains/buses and 'save' whilst we are there for trips...

the only place we plan to travel to is prehaps Gokarna for the hindu festivities in feb?

any advice would be greatly appreciated...

thanks ash n dave!


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dillichaat

Many Goa specialists will give better advice but I think it'll be close. You've got the season working against you, prices skyrocket in december because everyone but me wants to be in Goa then. Also, it's a comparatively expensive state (that's what I think anyway). 2000 GBP for 3 months with 2 people in Karnataka or Tamil Nadu: no sweat. Goa: not sure at all.

800 Rs a day for 2 persons, food, drinks, transport....isn't much at all in Goa. You should be able to find lodging @800 Rs/night but don't expect luxury on the beach, certainly not that time of the year.

My advice (apart from the general consideration that I wouldn't want to spend 3 full months in Goa) would be to save up or shorten your stay. Better 2 months in heaven than 3 in hell imho. India without money is no fun at all.

But look at the upside: you won't get blind drunk often on that budget

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When the wise man points out the black hole, the fool looks at the finger.

My friend Goo

Outside the peak season you might get away with a budget like that, in decmber, not so much.

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Laurendo

Hi
I am spending three months in India from 25th November - peak time! I have a similar budget to ashndave - a little over £1000 for the whole thing - aim is approx. 800 Rs a day. I am starting in the north - Agra, Bandhavgarh or Rathambore and Udaipur. Then down to Goa for about 2 weeks, then onto Kerala. Am I being wildly optimistic to think that will last? I'm basically aiming for £300 a month for most things, allowing a little extra for touristy stuff (last I heard the taj mahal was 970Rs!) :S:S:S:S:S:S:S:S Oh gawd as it nears I am getting worried. I'm 19 and I'll be on my lonesome lol, am I going to get stranded??

Matthew Morris

You may wish to find a nice cheapish place to stay for a few weeks. It will save you money, and it's nice to stay in one place for a while so you get to know at least one place reasonably well.

But Goa and Kerala can be quite expensive, especially over the Christmas period. To be honest if you have that little money I wouldn't spend too long in Goa, it's not that much fun watching everyone drink beers and eat nice food when you can't afford it yourself.

I would also check to see if you can, and how much it is to bring your flight forward if you start running out of money.

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I have the wisdom of Buddha combined with the body of Peter Andre - oh...no..it's the other way round..

Brisso

21 pounds is far more than 800 rupees - I'm guessing 1500 ... heaps in my view if you have basic accom ...

dillichaat

Laurendo,

Nope, 800 Rs/day is too little if you need to pay for accommodation and reasonably ok transport on top of your food out of that. Especially in Goa at that time of the year you'll never make it on 800/day. That's just not realistic. Get more money or stay for a shorter time or at a different place, I don't understand people who purchase a relatively expensive plane ticket, then come here and have to go in survival-mode (sleeping in a dump, eating rice, dal and roti all day long...).

Brisso, I disagree about 1500 Rs/day being 'heaps' in Goa at that time of the year with 2 people. My idea is that they''l just get by....or not. You know what happens to even the most primitive accommodation prices there in december.

Brisso

Depends entirely on the room cost - if less than 600 rps (I pay well less in Arambol even at new year, but you need to know where to look)then a more than comfortable amount of money.

Laurendo

Do you think it'll be easier if I up my budget to 950Rs a day? I'm only going to Goa as my friend who is joining me for a fortnight wants to spend it there, so shouldn't be there for too long. Have spent time in Goa before and although it's nice I'm not hugely bothered about spending a lot of time there.

dillichaat

It'll be a bit less hard, that's for sure. If you've been to Goa you have an idea of the prices. The main thing is the accommodation, that'll swallow the bulk of your budget in Goa. If Brisso says he can get lodging at less than 600/night then I believe him but I couldn't point you in the right direction because I don't particularly like Goa and don't know it very well. Suppose you pay 600 (really low imho), that leaves 350 a day for food and transport. You'll get by but it will be a far cry from a luxurious holiday, that's for sure. Keep in mind what Matthew Morris said: not fun to see others drinking and munching when you don't have the money to do so. If your friend absolutely wants to spend time with you in Goa during peak season, have him/her pitch in is what I say.

Outside the cities and the state of Goa on 950 a day: perfectly doable.

Matthew Morris

You may have trouble in Kerala also with that kind of budget.

Actually, that brings up a discussion point. I've met so many young people in my time that have gone to India with not enough money and end up having to borrow money from other travelers. I have never gotten the money back from any of the travelers I've bailed out. Now it's not huge amounts, 50-100 GBP, but it's still a nothing to sniff at.

So I wouldn't do it now...I'd buy someone a meal if they were desperate, but won't lend/give them any money. They should tap their parents first, and then if that doesn't work, go home early.

dillichaat

I absolutely agree. Sometimes when I'm away on business and just walking around I get approached by western guys who try to squeeze me for money.

If there's a genuine emergency (like, passport and money stolen the day before) AND they can prove this, then I pay them a meal or give them 100 Rs so they can contact their family and get funds through western union.

To the obvious scammers/bums/parasites I just tell that they can save their tough luck stories for a book and that the first rule for not becoming a bum is not to throw money away. I'm not a bank and don't extend credit.

Usually by this time I'm so pissed off that I add that they should be ashamed of themselves to display parasitic behavior in a country like India, especially as westerners.

If you come here and can't arrange -one way or another- to get funds to bail you out in an emergency, or to take care of yourself you should've stayed home in the first place.

Laurendo

I agree too, I am prepared to go home early if it turns out the kind of experience I want is more expensive, I wouldn't want to borrow off people who probably also had to work hard to get the funds together. At the moment I think I don't mind not being massively luxurious, but who knows how that might change after a couple of epic sleepless train journeys!
I have just booked a room at the vanila guesthouse from the 3rd - 15th Dec (Rs. 300 a night each) which is pretty good value I feel, but we are there a bit longer so I will have to spend more somewhere else as vanila is booked up.
Have also borrowed a substantial-ish sum of money off my lovely boyfriend which should help. I am a horrible girlfriend

dillichaat

Don't worry, I'm sure he sees it as an investment

Enjoy your trip!