What $1 buys around the world
Tips & articles
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet Writer
At Lonely Planet, we're big fans of the travel bargain. After all, the first guide we produced was Asia on the Cheap - and then Southeast Asia on a Shoestring. Just recently we've had articles about countries that can still be travelled on the cheap and how to cope in Copenhagen if you're down to your last krone.
Little surprise then that we loved Contemporary Nomad's blog post about what $1 can buy you in the Philippines. The answer? A lot. In fact, it's a little like the world is your $1 shop; by handing over a buck, you can get everything from a haircut to 45 kikiam (fried fish).
So we thought we'd ask Lonely Planet's Facebookers, what can you get for US$1 where you are? Here's just a taste of the possibilities:
Chester, England: US$1 (63 pence) gets me half a loaf of bread. As for Philippines, one of the best things you can get with $1 is a big bag of sweets to keep in your backpack, to hand out to kids. - James Vienna: a dollar would buy you a freshly baked Kornspitz (a kind of bread roll), but wouldn't be enough for a salty pickle from a street market or a short-distance public transport ticket. However, with the change from that Kornspitz, you can visit the museum of applied art ( MAK) on a Saturday since it's free of charge. - Dilyan Tenerife, Canary Islands: it will get you a good cup of coffee in the capital, Santa Cruz, but in the tourist areas of the South you will be lucky if it gets you half a cup. - Linda South India: it will give a unlimited servings of rice with rasam, sambhar, curd, papad, 1 piece sweet on a banana leaf. - Tarun Cebu, Philippines: $1 can get 30-45 minutes of a glorious foot massage - Dexter Nepal: you can get momo (ten units of dumpling) and a 250ml of coke. - Niraj Croatia: a big scoop of ice-cream. - Morana The UK: 60 pence buys you about 3/4 litre of milk, half a litre of petrol/diesel for your car, 2 cigarettes (that's two single ones, not a packet), 3 apples, 2 days supply of the Sun tabloid newspaper, a small portion of fries from Maccy D's or a can of coke from my office vending machine. - Alex Denmark: you can get a litre of milk, a ciabatta bun in the Godthaabsvej Bakery, a stamp for a postcard/letter with receiver in Denmark, a cucumber or maybe a chocolate bar. 1 dollar = 5,5 danish kroner - Sandra Budapest: 1 scoop of ice cream/4 small apples/1 plain hamburger at McDonald's/1 postcard/1 daily newspaper/30 minutes parking in the downtown area - Csaba Canada: Nothing! Haha. Blame it on Canadian taxes - Ashley Faroe Islands, a pack of chewing gum, 2 apples at the supermarket, some candy probably, hardly anything - Bjarki Vietnam: you can buy either 1 hat, 1 or 2 magazine(s), 1 DVD, 3 pairs of flip sandals, 5 instant noodle packages or snacks, 1 meal in some cheap food courts. ALOT, rite? - Lynn In middle Italy: a litre of cheap wine or 1kg Spaghetti or 6 bottles of mineral water and just about one tablet of Ibruprofen which you might need if you drank the cheap vino!!! - Robert Chiang Mai: The question is, what can't you get in Chiang Mai for US$1? Street food doesn't usually cost more than that. I even get a cooked to order vegetarian lunch delivered to my office everyday for that price. - Sheila Bogotá, Colombia: A cup of coffee and 2 fresh baked cookies. Or an arepa with some spicy home made aji salsa! - Andrew Seoul: one subway or bus ticket and a mask pack for your skin. - Yun
Egypt: you could buy a koshary plate which is an Egyptian dish which basically includes spaghetti, rice, lentil and fried onions on the top. Another choice would be about ten Fool (beans) sandwiches maybe even some falafel or in other parts of Cairo just a donut. - Aly India: ?1USD = around 50 Indian Rupees which can get you a hearty meal of boiled rice, dal, vegetables, pickles, chutney and papads in a Kolkata 'basa' ...and it's usually eat as much as you want! - Priyanka Costa Rica: you can buy one papaya, one watermelon, one pineapple... and perhaps a cup of coffee of decent quality. - Luis Los Angeles: one hour of street parking - Christina Paris: about 40% of an espresso at Starbucks. - Michael Dubai: a dollar will get you a 'Jabal Al Noor' shawarma. - Ineke Portugal: 1 espresso coffee. Except if you are in the airport :) - Nuno Australia: a scratchy (lottery ticket) with the chance of getting enough cash together for your next trip - Kin |
