16 Jun 2007 /
Uncategorized
So, since I’m not drawing my fat tech job salary, I thought it would be a good idea to stay away from the euro during my summer ‘off’. (The euro has been lapping the dollar in a long-distance race ever since its creation.) So all the countries with the euro are way expensive for Americans; and all the countries east of the euro are (currently) very cheap for Americans. You hear stories about this or that spa treatment (okay, a twenty-minute massage for $4, enjoyed by a fellow traveler from Idaho, is something to crow about–or the guy from Boston who got change from his imported gelato, then used it to get him and his friends drunk on the way home). It applies to services, but what about stuff where the inputs are expensive for the seller? On the bus I was trying to do the math on this one: diesel costs $5 a gallon. Buses get, maybe, 10 miles per gallon of diesel. The trip is 100 miles. There are 30 seats on the bus, 20 of them vacant. How much do the tickets cost? Well, if the driver doesn’t get paid, and the bus is a magic gift from heaven, tickets have to cost at least $5, right? I paid $4.50.
And, as for as accomodations go, it seems that you pay less for more. For example, if you book a two- or three-star hotel for $50-75 a night, you can’t check in before 3 or 4 in the afternoon, no food is included, and there typically is no shared space with other visitors–when you arrive you’re expected to go into your room and be there by yourself. In a hostel, for $15-20, you can check in at 8 or 9am (for example, when your overnight train gets in) and have a morning nap (in case you didn’t sleep on the train); laundry is often a free service (I haven’t touched my laundry yet this trip, and haven’t paid to have it done either); breakfast is included; and the common space you share is great for hanging out and swapping stories with fellow travelers.
I’m gradually changing my tune on the whole theme of stories of what you can buy in Eastern Europe with dollars, though. More on that later…
Posted by borogoves @ 3:51 pm
