Hi guys,

Thought i would offer up some afvice on the middle east after coming to the end of my month and a half ride about. The main thing i think is important to note, is adjust your budgets because the mid east is getting PRICEY!

I budget around $30 a day when i am riding, including rough camping 60% of the time, campsites 10% and prehaps 30% in hostels in the cheapest available accomadation. I would suggest on a month and a half run around to budget around $60-70 per day, mainly due to a love of paperwork in these parts. The biggest killer is borders, which due to the size of the countries come up every week or so.

Lets take my example (JD calculations very rough):

$56 Syrian Visa (x3 nobody will sell a transit visa apart from Turkish border, which is useless for most overlanders, meaning a single entry visa three times to do the Jordan/Lebanon/Syria triangle) = $168ish
$9 Syrian Road tax (x3) = $27
$26 Syrian Road Insurance
10JD ($15?) Jordanian Visa
10JD ($15?) Jordanian Leaving Taxes and Costs
26JD ($37?) Jordanain Insurance
15JD ($21?) TIP (Even with Carnet de Passage!!!) in Jordan
$25 Lebanese Visa (Despite the fact LP says they are free, alot of travellers i met travelling overland were charged for their visas)
$50 Lebanese Road Insurance (For a year no less!)


TOTAL $384 for a month and a week of arsing around in the middle east on nothing but paperwork.
Add that to $1 a litre for gas, which is now the standard price everywhere (give or take $0.10) compared to 2 years ago, you are paying a fortune. Thats with a CDP, and not getting robbed anywhere, or having the wool pulled over my eyes in real terms.

Considering most bikes will churn 10 litres per day (maybe more on a long day...but lets say you ride 160/170km) $10

The Jordanians are excellent in ripping people off. Consider an entry to Petra at around $35. Entry to a national park with your vehicle $10.

LP has hotels in syria for $2-4 dollars a night including roof matresees and other baisc accomadation. All the places in Syria for example since the 2006 edition have at least doubled their prices. If you want a room on your own, look to pay ATLEAST 400 syrian pounds, which is around $10. For a roof mattress expect to pay 200-250 Syrian pounds or $5 at a genorous exchange rate.

Food is cheap, with the shwarma diet costing around $6 per day, but its gets pretty dull. A meal in a jordanian resturant is around 4JD ($6), in Syria after creative maths and various taxes expect to pay 200 SYP in a low/mid range resturant ($5/6)

Yes i could have crossed less borders, saved a couple of dollars by getting a syrian multiple entry visa from home, eaten only bread, rough camped all the time and not sent any postcards but as a breakdown, in real terms (and i AM a budget traveller, i really do try my best, i never stay in expensife hotels, eat in fancy places)


Daily budget (on a very lucky day)...Gas....$10
Paperwork...$11
Food....$6
(Hotel...$5)

Thats a MINIMUM MINIMUM realistic spend day of $27 ($32)
Unless you sit camped, with your engine off in the desert all day (hoping its not a national park in jordan) i find it hard to believe you can budget much less. I BELIVE THIS IS A PHENOMONA OF THE LAST YEAR/SIX MONTHS. All the lonely liar prices are usually atleast DOUBLE.

Lets take an mid range day...

Gas...$10
Paperwork...$11
Food... $6
National Park fee....$10
Couple of Postcards....$2
Souvenir Kaffir....$2
Hotel...$10
Bottle of Oil....$4

$55 OUCH OUCH OUCH!

Lets take a pricey day in the seat...

gas...$15
Paperwork....$11
Visit Petra...$35
Souvenir T-Shirt....$10
Food (Visit resturant in evening)...$8
Hotel...$12 (Big city, nowhere to camp, nowhere cheaper)

More than $80

Yes i could have driven slower, yes i could have crossed less borders. But unless you have weeks and weeks of time to kill, for no particular reason to flatten out your average expenses...all i can say is...don't go to the middle east with a motorbike, its a ****ing killer. Esepcailly with people like the Jordanians attitude to tourism.

I have enjoyed myself alot, but i must say it has KILLED by budget. I really hope i can make it up in iran/pakistan/india.

__________________
Thanks
Joe