Week 13 on the road. This one includes the Ferry Fiasco (see my previous post if you want to see how that went down), and changing countries so there are a few more expenses than normal. Let’s go.
Transportation
On Friday, I took a bus from Χάνια (Chania/Hania) to Ηράκλειο (Heraklion): $18.72. And I took a local bus in Heraklion to get to my hostel/hotel: $3.09.
On Saturday, I missed the ferry to Ρόδος (Rhodes): $35.52. And took a ferry to Αθήνα (Athens): $56.79. Oh, and I took a bus from the hostel in Heraklion to the port: $2.10.
On Sunday, I took a ferry from Athens to Rhodes.
On Monday, I took a ‘local’ bus from the port in Rhodes to Ιαλυσός (Ialysos, where the hostel was).
On Thursday, I took a bus from the hostel to Rhodes city: $2.84. And took a ferry to Marmaris, Turkey: $49.56.
Accommodation
On Friday, I stayed at a hostel in Heraklion.
On Saturday, I missed my hostel in Rhodes so I was just out the deposit. I also spent the evening trying to sleep on a ferry which is no easy task.
Sunday through Wednesday, I stayed at a hostel in Ialysos. Wednesday’s was slightly cheaper as I extended and payed in cash. Online bookings are great, but they’re slightly more expensive than just walking up to a place and handing them some paper.
Thursday was my first night in Turkey. I’m not sure of the exact price as I haven’t officially payed yet, but it’s something like $10 per night.
Food
Saturday and Sunday were spent trying to find cheap food on ferries (hint: it doesn’t exist).
On Monday, I went grocery shopping so that reduced by food bill quite significantly on the following days.
The rest was random eating out. Nothing too exciting.
Other
Travel insurance: $3.07 per day.
On Saturday, I bought an e-book. The first in ‘the expanse’ series. I figure if it’s good enough for a Sci-Fi series, it’s good enough to buy and read. Plus, it came in useful on those long ferry rides.
On Tuesday, I did laundry…exciting, right?
On Thursday, I bought some data from GigSky since the European plan doesn’t work in Turkey: $25.00.
I also put the cost of my Turkish visa on Thursday: $20.55. I also noticed that Canadians get charged twice as much as most other countries for their Turkish visas. I don’t know what they did to piss off Turkey, but it’s enough to make me feel sorry for them.
Quick travel hack: if a country offers an e-visa, use it! The charge to buy a visa at the port was €25 ($30.89). So I saved over $10.
Summary
| Week 13 | ||||||||
| Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Total | |
| Travel | 21.81 | 94.41 | 78.4 | 2.72 | 0 | 0 | 52.4 | 249.74 |
| Lodging | 18.21 | 5.58 | 17.89 | 17.89 | 17.89 | 17.3 | 10 | 104.76 |
| Food | 11.11 | 11.11 | 13.46 | 17.15 | 3.83 | 0.62 | 8.54 | 65.82 |
| Other | 3.07 | 13.76 | 3.07 | 3.07 | 6.78 | 3.07 | 50.62 | 83.44 |
| Total | 54.2 | 124.86 | 112.82 | 40.83 | 28.5 | 20.99 | 121.56 | 503.76 |
So yeah, expensive. But, I’m in Turkey now so next week’s should be a lot cheaper. See you next week for another edition of Financial Friday. I think I’m the only one excited for it….
