Rough Budget : For Malaysians who want to travel to Europe

I've been asked this question multiple times from friends and families back home : "How much does it cost to travel to Europe".

Prior to this question, I've decided to do a rough budget for those who have this theme in their bucket list. As Malaysians, we often have the idea of travelling as a luxury and only those with real hard cash could afford, and the rest would just never go out of the country. Fret not, this post might give you a clear insight of how much does it actually costs you to travel!

This post is dedicated to students and young working adults with lots of energy and hunger for adventure. Like stated, this is a budget guide. Please do not expect five star furnished hotel rooms and fancy dinners.

1. A two way ticket to Europe

This may be the biggest challenge. Tickts from Malaysia to London, Paris or Frankfurt do cost quite a bomb. And it generally would be the biggest bill in your travel budget. Flights to main cities are cheaper. A two way ticket would roughly cost you 600€ during off season and up to 900€ for off season. Travelling during off season is much better ain't it? If you really want to travel cheap, do visit MATTA Fairs all over the country. You might get a chance to score tickets below RM2000.

2. Travel duration

This might be easier for students compared to yound working adults. Maybe you have just started work, maybe you have finished up your yearly leaves. Holidays in Malaysia are hard to get because we work 6 Days a week and only have 2 weeks of annual leave. So count them up!
So how many days do you plan to spend your Europe Trip? I'll roughly calculate for two weeks.

Prague

3. Destinations

Where would you like to go? The common places a Malaysian would visit would be London and Paris. Let's see other options that we can have. Why not visit Spain and Portugal? Or Italy and Germany? Czech republic maybe? The places you choose also determines your spending. Touristic places are far more expensive than small cities or towns. 14 Days is roughly enough for you to visit two countries. One country if you'd like to see all of its sights.

4. Group Travel

My ideal group size would be 4 people. 5 would be maximum. You know why? Some countries like Germany have group train passes for 5 people. If you were to rent a car, 4 people would fit nicely. If you were to take an overnight train, a cabin of 4 is the most comfortable. Most hostels gladly have room for 4. If you were to book a hotel room, you can book 2 double rooms (hotels in Europe charges per head, not per room). You can save money by travelling in this small group of yours (and borrow money if you've just been pick pocketed)!

Backpacking in Switzerland in 2009

7. Transportation

Travelling in Europe is dead easy when it comes to transportation. You are spoil with choices. Flight? Maybe with a train? Bus? Car? Trams, Subways, bicycles? Sometimes the prices of flights are way cheaper than trains. You can get a flight for 30€ from Frankfurt to Barcelona. From Barcelona to Granada? Flight, bus or train? Overnight trains can save you both transport and accomodation money (Barcelona-Granada, ~90€). How about a night bus from Nuremburg to Amsterdam (~60€)? Obviously flying saves more time than taking a train or a bus. But you do have to be at the airport 2 hours before the flight, and you have to pay for check-in luggages. Liquids for hand luggage should'nt be more than 100ml.
Budget flights : Ryanair, Easyjet
Train Pass : Eurail

6. Accomodation

Hostels would be your best friend. Read this post. They are cheap and fun. And most hostels now do have wifi. So you can skype with your worried sick mum who always thinks everyone wants to kidnap and sell her child to black markets. The rates for hostels varies and rooms comes in different sizes. The more beds in the room, the cheaper they are. If you're not fond of sharing a room with 17 other strangers, then opt for a 6 or 4 bedded room. Some rooms have toilets in them, they are called ensuite rooms. So a group of you can have your own toilet. Makesure you read the reviews before booking.
Hostels : Hostelworld, Hostelbookers

Farmers Platter in Budapest

7. Food & Drinks 

Going to Italy means you must try their homemade pasta and pizzas. Visiting Germany without a bite of Bratwurst? Not having a Paella in Spain? Food is part of culture, and we as Malaysian sware upon that. So travelling budget should'nt mean that you should have a piece of bread a day. I just learned that if you follow your guidebooks religiously, it'll only take you to touristy restaurants. Why not ask your hostel which places the locals go to? It's way cheaper even though you might not know how to explain what you would like to order. But that's all in the experience isn't it?

8. Souvenirs

I dare you to travel without bringing any souvenirs back. I bet you your aunty will say you're an ungrateful niece/nephew. To save, you don't have to buy souvenirs for everyone. Only ones that are important. A keychain or a magnet maybe. If you'd like to buy chocolates for the little ones, do buy them in supermarkets and not in specialty shops. It'll save you some cash for your next meal.

I'll roughly draw out a travel plan + budget for 2 weeks to London and Spain.

4 days 3 nights in London 

Flights : 

KLIA - London Heathrow, 2 ways (620€)

Accomodation :

3 nights in London (35€ x 3 = 105€)

8 days 7 nights in Spain 

Flights :

London - Malaga (70€, no check-in luggage)

Barcelona - London (70€)

Busses and Trains :

Malaga - Granada, approx 2 hours (10€)

Granada - Barcelona, overnight train in a 4 bed cabin (92€)

Accomodation : 

1 night in Malaga (20€)

2 nights in Granada (20€ x 2 = 40€)

3 nights in Barcelona (30€ x 3 = 90€)

Sum : 1217€ ~ RM4965

(not including personal expenses, subway/city tickets, food and entertainment)

Maybe you could add 600€ for your expenses. Should be cheaper than this actually. I usually spend a maximum of 250€ in a country.
All in all : RM7400

Have you started saving up for your trip to Europe?

First three months

So how was your first three months of the year? How has it been? Are you still holding on to your resolutions or are they already gone with the wind?

Ending January was a hectic pile. With all the exam preps and finishing my practical (which I really miss now) and moving. It was all over the place! Thank God everything went smoothly and I had so much fun myself. The we had our winter holidays which was for 4 weeks and ended last week. So I'm back to class (6th Sem yeay!!) for this whole semester. Feels kind of awkward after a whole semester sitting in an office. Nows the real deal. Final year.

For the holidays I promised myself I would do these two things. Even if nobody wanted to do it with me, I have to do it kind of spirit. And I did it!

First, it was attending a Faschings Karneval. After all these years, I have never been to a Faschings Karneval so I made sure I did it this year.

Faschings Karneval is something grand in Germany. It's like the Brazillian Mardi Gras and the Venetian Masquarade. In Europe these festivals mark the end of winter and the start of spring. People would dress up in all sorts of costumes and a parade with a heartful of candy will run the streets of cities and towns.

Where I stay, the Faschings Karnevals are not as grand. The biggest Karneval is the one in Köln. Budget wise and time wise, I did'nt have enough to go up till Köln because I was saving for my Morocco trip. So I went to join the Faschings Karneval in Frankfurt, and it was a blast. People on floats throwing candies at you, the candy fighting part was even better! Children are the most adorable! They would dress up and excitedly collect candies.

Kids across the street

Mr Racecar driver

Although the weather wasn't that amazing, we still had a great time. I did'nt bring my camera because I was just so lazy to take it with me. I just took photos with my handphone. I went as little red riding hood with my own self made cape out of a fleece blanket. Then we used it to catch falling candies from the sky.

Candies we collected

Second, is to do a winter sport. Again, after all these years, I have never went skiing or snowboarding. So I made sure I did it before all the snow melts and I won't have time to do it the next winter.

It all started after I went to Friedberg after the Faschings Karneval. My friends just got back from a snowboarding trip the day before and we were enjoying ourselves watching the videos. Whats worst is that they make snowboarding look as easy as frying a keropok! So, for my first winter sport ever, I tried snowboarding.

So a few weeks later, I went snowboarding at the borders of Germany and Czech Republic. And like everything else, starting is the hardest! Even the kids were professionals. Parents send their kids for skiing and snowboarding lessons as young as the age of 4. When I saw these kids slide down the hills, I was super amazed! It was hard to even balance on those equipments (or maybe I was just unfit and fat).

I fell so many times I could'nt count. But it was a good thing. I didn't stop at falling. I got up and fell, till my jeans were soaked. I didn't have ski pants and they don't rent out ski clothes (some places do). My friends were fast learners. After a few falls, they got the hang of it and started doing twist and turns coming down from the slopes. When it comes to sports, I am a very slow learner. Even though I still don't know how to snowboard, I had a good time and won't say no to a next time. Maybe I should enroll in a snowboarding class.

After a tiring day

So what about you?

Dresden : A valley near the Elbe

I went to visit Dresden last year in August. Right after a day of moving into my new place at that time. I never managed to post up pics of it because I was very busy at that time. Now with the spare time I have, I'm trying to put up as much as I can.

Dresden is a city on the east part of Germany. It used to be under the DDR before east and west Germany became the country that it is now. I've never actually thought of visiting the eastern side of Germany particularly that area, because I've heard that people there are not that fond of foreigneers.

My visit to Dresden came up because my good friends brothers family was there for a few months for work before they moved to New York. So I took the chance to go and visit them at the same time.

Frauenkirche

Dresden is much like Regensburg. Not too big, neither is it small. It has an upgrade version of basic necessities. It has tram connections, a bigger new town and quite a grand shopping mall compared to other cities in Germany. It used to be a great kingdom with its lines of Saxon kings and princes'.

Dresden has its own handfull of local icons. The Frauenkirche was once destroyed during the WWII and was reconstructed as a symbol of reconcillation with its former enemies.

It also has the worlds largest porcelain artwork mounted on its street. The Fürstenzug shows a procession of the rulers of Saxony, whice was done in 1871. Even after the war, it's stil there as beautiful as it is.

Fürstenzug

Once upon a time, there was a king who had a daughter. He was a great king who also ruled Poland.  His daughter was to be married to the electoral prince of that time. Specially for his daughters wedding, he ordered a baroque style palace cum garden to be built specially for the occasion. That place is the Zwinger.

The place was not finished in time for the wedding and even after his death, construction works are still not completed. I'm not sure where the wedding was eventually done. 

In the evening, it's nice to take a walk along the Elbe especially on its terrace. There will be many locals enjoying the sun on summer and people playing music and doing art. 

Besides these, Dresden also has a Volkwagen Factory that is out of glass (transparent factory). So you can see the process of building a Phaeton in it. 

Marrakech : Night life in the bussiest square in the world

Djemaa El Fna is a vary important square to the Marrakech people. It has been there for a very long time. It's not the square that is special, it's the people who are in it that makes it special. This square is home to street performers of every kind from acrobats, snakes charmers, dancers, to fortune tellers alike.

secure your ring on top of a bottle and you get to win something

This square is where you'll get the best orange juice that your buds will ever taste, scrumptious dried fruits at its best (with best price) and really cheap food at night. Known to most people visiting Marrakech, the sunset view from cafes beside this particular square is one you can never miss. Because of its hustle and bustle with both locals and tourists alike, last year in April 2011, a cafe became victim the Marrakech bombing. 

At sunset, food stalls will begin setting up for the night. Here is where you can get really good food at low prices. So far none of us got food poisoning. Maybe because we're very typical Malaysians with warungs crafted on our hearts. So we didn't have any problems eating at the stalls. 

This is our personal favourite stall because no one comes to invite you in and the locals flock it. It's located at the last row of the food stalls, towards the open square. The name of the stall is Hassan. We had a really great time laughing at the aunty who was a frequent customer calling the names of the workers. She just randomly calls out Hassan and Mohammed. Then she ordered bread with sausages, turns away and took out a few sausages from her bread and tells the workers that there's not enough sausages in her bread. Then she got a refill for her bread. It was really funny because I even got my ass bumped by her.

A plate of grilled sausages, 15 Dirhams

A plate of  Brochette (grilled skewered beef/chicken aka satay) 20 Dirhams

All meals served with bread and a tomato (salsa like) sauce

Our dinner the next day we had it in a stall number 117. I remember it so well because when the promoter was promoting his stall, he kept saying "Stall no 117, taxi to heaven". The food was not great, expensive compared to the others and had really poor service. No wonder there were only tourists here. The workers were just standing out fooling around, carrying someones baby to the kitchen, calling him Harry Potter (I don't know why) and they did'nt quite understand our order. Getiing their attention was also a problem. We had to call out many times just to get drinks. Was pretty annoyed actually. But well. For supper two hours after that, we went back to Hassans stall.

Mixed Grill for 60 Dirhams

After dinner, we would stand around the orange stalls to have fresh orange juice which was the best. And it only costed us 4 Dirhams! Pretty amazing. There are lots of orange juice stalls, and people inviting you to go over, so we choose a stall which did'nt have much competition because all those shouting promotions really just made us not want to go. This stall is no 45 and is alongside other dried fruits stalls.

Never miss out having a fresh orange juice in Morocco

After seeing the many stalls selling snails, I went on to try them. These snails are white and grey in color, round and cooked in big pans on the stands. A small bowl costs 5 Dirhams and a big bowl costs 10 Dirhams. These snails look more like garden snails compared to the river snails we eat back home which had a cover that closes it up. These even have tentacles on! 

My 5 Dirham bowl of snails

if you look close enough, you can see tentacles on the snail, far left in the picture

They provide you with a toothpick for you to pick out the meat and you can throw the snail shells in the containers in front of you. They even have chilli powder and pepper for you to add to your bowl of snails. The lady next to me was even slurping the soup! 

To me, they didn't taste very good because they smell quite a bit. But I was glad I tried it. 

What about 2012?

In Female Malaysias January issue, I was asked about my resolution for this year. I'm not much of a resolution kind of person, but maybe I could help those who want to travel for their years resolution.

I wrote that I'd love to travel to another new continent this year, and I gladly made it to Africa.

Would you rather spend and be out in the hottest club weekly or save and experience clubs in other parts of the world? It's your choice.

Your wish just might come true if you put your heart into it and believe a little bit more. 

Marrakech : A walk in the Souks

The first thing that comes to mind when people talk about Morocco would be Marrakech. And I never knew how chaotic Marrakech is, especially in its square. There will be people dancing, holding monkeys, doing arcrobatic shows, drawing henna tattoos, gambing and so on. When you stand by and watch, or if their monkey touches you, you'll have to give some money for the show.

Authentic Moroccan Mint Tea served everytime we arrive back to the Riad

Riad Marrakech Rose

Upon arriving Marrakech, we took a bus from the airport to the Djemaa el Fna square. And it all started. With our backpacks and luggages, faux guides starting following us and offering help or an accomodation and showing us ways. It was pretty annoying. Beware to those who will be visiting Marrakech. Especially if you're not Caucasian. It seems like they only target asian tourists. European people could just roam around without the horror. A lady in my flight told me that they have undercover cops that would arrest locals would harras foreigners. Maybe that'll only be for Europeans or Americans. I don't know.

Well our horror story was that there was a man named Abdul Rahman. Who kept repeating that he's genuine in helping us and that he did'nt want money. Then he showed us to the wrong hostel. Yeah, which alley, I don't know. We could have been sold at the black market. So when we arrived our hostel, the manager greeted us, and this guy asked for money. Tolong tak penah nak ikhlas. So we gave him a few coins. And he gave them back and asked for 20 Dirhams! We were already quite pissed. So we went in to take a break because we were both pissed and tired (we slept at the airport the night before). We were served mint tea which was over-the-moon.

My choice of Tagine Lamb (60 Dirhams)

Because we did'nt speak neither French nor Arabic, we decided to follow the Lonely Planet guide. Had lunch in a very touristy place, and walked the alleys of the Souks. We were quite tired in the afternoon so we went back to take a nap and headed back out for dinner.

 The Souk alleys of Marrakech

An unattended stall of dried fruits

Iguanas for Sale :: Tapestry for Sale

It was really fun to walk throgh the Souks, but we didn't dare look for too long before a salesman comes out to get us to buy something. Watching was really fun. They were many kinds of people there. From pursuasive salesman, to elderly women who stand along the sides trying to sell thier homemade cakes. One thing that caught me by surprise was the people riding on motorbikes. With a narrow street crammed with human beings, at the same place, there will be dozens of bikes and mopeds trying to get through, not forgetiing horses that are parked along the alleys. I fear that my leg would might just get torched by the exhaust of those bikes. And they ride them really fast in those alleys. And you just might be in luck if you could photograph without people screaming at you, asking for photographing fees or calling you crazy. Because I got called crazy!

Fez : Within the ancient walls of Fez

Fez is the first ever city built in Morocco in the 8th century, sits nearby Meknes, another historic city and Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Like other cities founded in those days, Fez is one of the ancient walled cities where trading and economy runs within its walls.

In the streets of the Fez Medina in my newly bought Kaftan

With that, the Souk of Fez has the most complicated, jammed and narrow streets in Morocco. Read whichever guide they have, they'll tell you that you'll most likely get lost in the Medina without an official guide. There will be boys coming offering to show you the way out, but with a small amout of cash. We were lucky enough to have some Malaysian students help bring us around and bargain for us.

The streets of the Medina in which people set up stalls selling nuts.

Donkeys and horses which are used to carry goods would cram up between the streets. Its streets are only big enough to fit one donkey and a person. During prayer times, the stall owners would just cover up their stalls and go to the nearest Mosque to pray. If it were to be on Marrakech, those nuts would be going in a minute! It seems like mosques can be found of every main street and in between shops. It can only be recognize by its minarets, not the big ones we're used to see.

The leather shop where we bought our leather goods

Compared to Marrakech and Casablanca, it was Fez that took my heart. It's people are frindly, hospitable, polite and most of all, they don't scare you off as a foreigneer. Standing alone in the streets was not a problem. Entering shops was not a problem. It made shopping even better! Their boys have sweet smiles and soft voices that would take any girls breath away. Thanks to their Arabic lineage, they are really good looking.

One thing that is not to be missed in Fez would be its tannery. Ladies and gentlements, your leather goods must come from somewhere. And Fez is one of them. Still done traditionally and organically, the tanneries of Fez is where you can see leather being made from scratch and without any machinary.

Washed and soaked for weeks

This would be where the fresh skins of animals are washed and soaked for weeks. After the skin is washed and cleaned, the skin is colored in basins on the other side of the tannery. The smell is one thing that you could never forget. Leather is made out of fresh skin of slaughtered animals.

 Coloring and drying of leather

Making leather is not an easy job. It takes weeks and months before good leather can be produced. Leather goods in fez are relatively cheap compared to other places. A bag out of cow leather would probably cost you 200 Dirhams (20€). Those made of Camel leather would cost much more. A leather jacket would be around 400 Dirhams (40€). But one problem would be the stench of the leather. Because the process isn't done with chemicals and some aren't dried properly, the smell of the leather stays and some are just so strong that I've read online that some could not use their bags out.

Besides the tannery, shopping in Fez is way peaceful than in Marrakech. Things are also cheaper here and the salesmen are far friendlier.

Handmade leather bags :: Moroccan Shoes, Babouche

Moroccan Djellaba, a clothing for men fitted with a hood.

Makes you very Jedi like.

Right before the sun sets, we rode in a van up to the ruins to watch the view of the old city of Fez.

Hiking up would take around 20 minutes, a van ride for the 7 of us costs us arond 30 Dirhams. Owh, the pleasure of have guides who speak Arabic! It was just a tiny van with 3 of them sitting at the back like assylum seekrs. It was quite funny. After watching the sunset, we went to do some more shopping. Unfortunately, the shops closes very early. And when the shops are about to close, they don't bargain much anymore. So we continued our shopping the next day. Instead, we went to take a look at the Royal Palace of Fez, Djellaba.

We're not allowed inside though. We just got to take a few pics of the gate. Then we went to have dinner which costs us less than 4€ (and I had a plate of fried seafood!) and called it a night. The cab ride back to the hostel was only 16 Dirhams. We found out that after all this while, we wasted all our cash on taxi rides, especially in Casablanca.