August 22, 2004

The price of a bus ticket

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

I'm often asked how much I earn in Australia. I usually lie a little but to someone earning maybe $50 a month anything I say will seem like a huge sum.

I try to put this in perspective by explaining that costs are much higher in Australia also. A good example is bus fares. Here a local bus costs a phenomenally low 500 manat. That's about two cents. Compared to that the US$2.50 (about 60000 manat) I used to pay for the bus in Sydney seems ludicrously high.

I'm paying less than that at my hotel, a pleasantly decrepit establishment. 53000 manat a night actually. They initially wanted to charge me $30 for a dirt-encrusted coffin but I held out and now have a dirt-encrusted four-bed dorm all to myself for a princely $2. Although I won't be showering in the shared bathroom anytime soon. The locals pay just $1. All of which makes the Sydney bus look pretty expensive.

Posted by David at August 22, 2004 10:50 PM