10 Travel Adventures That Won t Break The Bank

D reaming of taking a Big          westerners.) Backpacker beds are   Trip in 2007? Finances a        exceptionally cheap, but decent    bit tight? Well, take a         hotels often cost less than $40.   look at the following                 A filling bowl of pho bo beef      destinations.                         noodle soup or six seafood spring                                        rolls is less than a dollar. In    Magic, thrills and adventure,         local hangouts, Saigon Export      yes. But for the budget-conscious     beer costs 40 cents a bottle.      globe-trotter, what’s equally                                            important is that these are           For the ultimate traffic tale to   places where your dollars will        tell the folks back home, head     stretch a long, long way. As a        for Hanoi’s old quarter. Any       travel writer, I’m lucky enough       attempt to cross the road turns    to have experienced all 10--but       into a heart-racing adventure.     I’d love to revisit every single      Not only are you contending with   one as a vacationer.                  psycho-cyclos (rickshaw                                                  bicycles), there are thousands of  Vietnam                               motorbikes and scooters whose                                            riders regard a red traffic        Vietnam packs a lot into its          signal as a suggestion rather      borders. Highlights include misty     than an instruction. Best place    Halong Bay with its fairytale         to experience the utter chaos is   seascapes of limestone outcrops       from within a cyclo rickshaw.      and islands; the Mekong delta                                            with its floating markets; the        Lithuania, Eastern Europe          old Vietcong tunnels at Cu-Chi                                           near Saigon--now officially known     The southernmost of the Baltic     as Ho Chi Minh City. (Don’t worry     States, visitors usually couple    about getting stuck: one tunnel       Lithuania together with Latvia     has been specially widened for        and Estonia. However, you can      easily spend a week in Lithuania                                         alone. Quirky cities like Vilnius     From the laid-back colonial city   and Kaunas are steeped in art,        of Granada, you can do a lot in a  music and historical                  week in Nicaragua: tackle          curiosities...mushroom-scented        volcanoes...take Spanish           woods and farmers riding on           lessons...visit Masaya craft       haycarts...mysterious sites           market and also the villages       steeped in pagan traditions…the       where rocking chairs, hammocks,    windswept sands of the Curonian       and pottery are made...explore     Spit where you can beach-comb for     the Selva Negra’s cloud forests    amber.                                and coffee plantations...chat                                            with expats in the beach surfing   Mid-June would be a great time to     town of San Juan del Sur...go to   go. A national holiday in             colonial Leon, where you might     Lithuania, the old pagan festival     get to meet indigenous Indians.    of Rasos marks the summer             Settling into a rocking chair      solstice. It’s an all-night           with a cold Victoria beer is a     affair with singing, dancing,         pleasure that generally costs      bonfire-leaping, hunting for          under $1 and spending more than    "magic" ferns, and floating           $7 on a meal is difficult. The     garlands down rivers. Despite         Alhambra Hotel on Granada’s main   some serious alcoholic partying,      square costs a mere $30 a night.   most people manage to stay awake                                         to greet the sunrise. As for          Goa, Southern India                prices, how about $2.54 for three                                        potato pancakes with smoked           India is beyond fascinating,       salmon and sour cream and $1 for      beyond anything you’ll ever        a glass of Svyturnys beer?            experience elsewhere. The easiest                                        introduction to this teeming       Granada, Nicaragua                    country is the seaside state of    Goa. Baking below a tropical          cod (bacalhau) hang outside        canopy of banana, coconut and         grocery stores with original art   mango trees, this drowsy world of     nouveau tiled facades; the church  Arabian Sea beaches, backwaters,      of Sao Francisco has a gold leaf   and spice-laden breezes is            interior that would make King      stamped with more than a few          Midas salivate. Don’t miss the     reminders of Old Portugal. You’ll     Bolhau food market or the Torre    find sunrise yoga on the beach,       dos Clerigos, Portugal’s highest   full massages for $8, dolphin         belfry tower. From the top,        trips for about $6, and colorful      you’ll get great views over the    hippie markets.                       jumbled cityscape of churches,                                           bridges and red-roofed houses.     Including four beers, two people                                         can eat in a beach shack for          By EU standards, the price of      under $10. And if you want to cut     dining, accommodation, and public  your expenses to the bone,            transport throughout the region    there’s accommodation in simple       is astounding. Trains and buses    beach chalets for as little as $8     are an affordable way to make      a night.                              exploratory day-trips along the                                          coast and into the interior of     Porto and Northern Portugal           terraced vineyards and green                                             river valleys. Don’t miss Braga    Famed for its port wine lodges        and the thousand-stepped stairway  (yes, they do offer free              of Bom Jesus church. On holy       samples), Porto is Portugal’s         days, some pilgrims tackle these   second city. An historic Atlantic     steps on their knees.              trading port, its warren of                                              laundry-hung alleys plunges down      Montenegro                         to a waterfront of boats, nets                                           and fish restaurants. Sheets of       After its split from Serbia,       Montenegro is Europe’s latest                                            holiday hot spot--and also the        The Alps? There’s no denying that  world’s newest independent            Switzerland is one of the most     nation. Along with three-course       scenically gorgeous countries on   meals for $7 and rooms in private     earth. But unless you’re armed     houses for $10, you’ll find a         with an expense account, I can     land of craggy mountains with a       promise you that exploring its     switch-backed Adriatic coastline      mountains, lakes and medieval      of bays, beaches and villages of      towns will wreak havoc on your     pale gray stone. The sea sparkles     finances.                          like blue topaz and medieval                                             walled towns with crumbling           Winter or summer, neighboring      fortresses and palaces are often      Austria has just as much of the    emblazoned with the winged lion       alpine wow factor...plus the city  emblem of the Venetian Republic.      splendors of Vienna and Salzburg.                                        And it’s a lot less expensive      Now paint in monasteries slotted      than you may think. For example,   into mountain crevices and            in the Tyrolean village of         fishing villages of red-tiled         Fendels, you could rent a          roofs and deep-green shutters.        furnished apartment for two in a   Roman mosaics...olive                 chalet next spring for as little   groves...water-lilied                 as 175 euro ($230) per week.       lakes...deep canyons and the          Surrounded by hiking trails,       mighty Boka Kotorska, Europe’s        Fendels village makes an           southernmost fjord...the border       excellent base--the Tyrolean       town of Ulcinj with its minarets      Oberland is close to the borders   and tales of pirate                   of Switzerland and Italy. (Go to   slave-trading.                        the Austrian Tourist Board’s web                                         site at http://www.tiscover.at     Austria                               and you’ll find plenty more        self-catering accommodation at        Clan Quay jetties.                 similar prices.)                                                                                               Chania, Crete                      Penang, Malaysia                                                                                               On the Greek island of Crete,      A melting-pot of Malay, Chinese       Chania is one town that it would   and Indian culture, Malaysia          be criminal to miss. Crete’s       offers up powder white beaches        former capital, its history goes   and virgin rainforest teeming         back 5,000 years. In the Old       with wildlife; the bustling           Town’s skinny alleyways you’ll     capital of Kuala Lumpur and the       find icon workshops...lyres        historic port city of Malacca;        hanging in dusty musical           inexpensive seafood and               instrument repair-shops...bursts   inexpensive spa pampering;            of white jasmine cascading from    sailing, snorkeling, diving,          archways...cats snoozing on        fishing, golf and island-hopping.     balconies...the unlikely sights                                          of a pencil-thin minaret above     With a distinct Chinese flavor,       church towers and a mosque         one of Malaysia’s star turns is       squatting on the waterfront.       Georgetown, capital of Penang                                            island. You come across snake         Strung with garlands of colored    temples, arcaded shophouses and       light-bulbs, Chania’s old          tiny workshops specializing in        Venetian harbor at dusk truly is   mahjong tiles and dice; kong-teik     the stuff of romance. The water    craftsmen who make funerary paper     shimmers in waves of crimson,      artifacts; fish getting dried         sapphire and emerald, the          like laundry in the open air. On      Venetian lighthouse sends out its  the Weld Quay waterfront, around      beady wink, and stalls do a        2,000 fishing families live in        steady trade in pistachio nuts.    rickety wooden dwellings on the       Alleys that were afternoon-silent  become thronged with locals           suburb of Kutna Hora has a chapel  taking the volta--the evening         entirely decorated with human      stroll. Even in July and August,      bones, right down to its           you’ll find studio apartments         chandelier.                        here for under $40 a night...plus                                        you can eat well for $10.             Many towns have stoupas...lofty                                          "plague pillars" adorned with      Bohemia, the Czech Republic           chained devils. They commemorate                                         deliverance from the plagues,      Prague teems with tourists but        which swept Europe during the      few people realize what the rest      Middle Ages. Then there’s Karlovy  of the Czech Republic offers. One     Vary, the oldest of Bohemia’s      of its regions is Bohemia,            grand spa towns. With spa water    blessed with a spellbinding           bubbling up all over town which    mosaic of castles, frescoed           visitors can collect for free,     houses and Rapunzel-style turrets     it’s a gorgeous place of baroque   straight from a sword-and-sorcery     buildings in sugar-plum colors,    tale. At Cesky Krumlov you can        flowery parks, and shops           peer into a medieval bear pit         glittering with Bohemian crystal.  complete with bears. Sedlec, a         About the Author: Steenie Harvey is a roving travel reporter for International Living. This article first appeared in International Living. Get a free subscription to the IL e-letter here. Read more articles by: Steenie Harvey Article Source: www.iSnare.com