The year was 1998 and it was our fourth or fifth time in Bangkok. We were losing count, but we had been there enough that we knew multiple city bus routes well. Once again, we were pondering a side trip to Ankor Wat in Cambodia.
Every time, something had come up to keep it from happening. In the mid and late 1990s, coup attempts (and coup put-downs) were frequent, the violence was still legendary, and the highways had potholes the size of a car. It was going to cost us two visas and a plane ride to fit it into our schedule, adding another $450 or so to our backpacker budget for a trip of just a few days.
Again, with a sigh, we took a pass and moved on. Ankor Wat would have to wait.
Unfortunately, it’s still waiting for us. Back then, as I pointed out in this earlier post on Ankor Wat visitor numbers , the area used to be able to count its annual visitors in multiples of 5,000. This was before Tomb Raider came out and the U.S. State Department warning went away. Now millions of people tramp through the area and there are 120+ hotels sucking the aquifier dry. It seems like everyone but us has been there now. The days of having even the outer reaches of the place to yourself are mostly gone. We blew it.
There were probably budget travelers who visited Peru back then and didn’t make it to Machu Picchu . While cleaning up my office before putting all my things in storage last year, I found a newspaper article from 1997 complaining that Machu Picchu was “a caricature of its former glory” because all of 200,000 people had visited the site the year before and the author complained about the crowds. Now the numbers have doubled several times since then, to the point where you’ll be lucky to share the site with only 2,000 people in low season, despite the $45 entrance fee.
Keep this in mind when you get frustrated by vague answers to travel message board questions about “What should my daily budget be in ______?” This is why I have ranges instead of specifics in The World’s Cheapest Destinations book. Asking what your daily budget will be is like asking me which clothing store you should go to in New York City. It depends on a whole range of factors. If you go the super-shoestring route and don’t take part in anything that isn’t free, your budget will be very different than the person who sees all the sites and goes on adventure tours they may never get to experience again. (And stays in hotels with hot showers.)
Everyone has a budget, and I’m not saying to ignore it and rack up debt. But when it’s something really special, always ask yourself this: “Fifteen years from now, will I regret that I didn’t do this?”
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