Look at the plates, this is only 1980 yen for two! Good deal! Japan is no more most expensive country to travel.
That is, including bed, breakfast, sometimes lunch (I mostly brought some snacks with me since my partner wanted to keep climbing while lunch time), a morning coffee everyday, Rassi drink sometimes, and a beer and a dinner, a few water refill, 2 times of a rope rent, and 2 T-Shirts for a souvenir) .
235 dollars divided into one day is, 23.5 dollars that is 2670 yen, that is pretty cheap for a travel, but I know I don't spend that much if I am staying at home... because I spend only for food.
I wonder if a traveller can stay in Japan with that much... Hummm...pretty difficult. You can find a place to sleep about 2000 yen (a capsule hotel or a guest house, an average tent fee is only 500 to 1000 yen here) and you can live on the food cost of 670 yen a day, it is tight but you can, only that you have to cook for yourself and definitely no beer!
So I am pretty amazed how cheap they were for what I have gotten, but considering the average wage in Lao is about equivalent of 5000 yen per month, the cost seems rather normal.
Because what I had paid will exceed what they earn in a month, in two days, of course I know it is not a profit, the cost is included but still there must be a enough profit they can make out of it.
Anyway, a Lao earns 1 eighths of a Thai, they say. An annual income for a Thai is 4,449 USD in statistics.
I know the number can deceive you and from what I have seen, 100,000 kip is equivalent of 1,000 yen, or 10 dollars in USD, and 400 TBH.
■ Japan
Now what I wanted to tell you is not that, cragging cost. From my place, to get to Ogawayama, where it is called Japanese yosemite, the biggest sport climbing crag in Japan, the cost would be;
car share 800 yen. it is 70 km away from my home takes about 2 hours to get there,
70km drive is 1L of gas cost here like 120 yen at most, so if your car drives 10km per litter, it becomes 70 X 120 = 840 yen one way.
parking 300 yen
tent in your own tent 700 yen
so overnight cost of Ogawayama crag is
840 X 2
1000 X 1
-------
= 1840 yen
plus food usually about 1000 yen to 2000 yen. So in the end, it is about 3000 yen to 4000 yen.
Some people stay more than 1 week there and the cost will be cheaper there. And if you get other people to share the cost, it goes to the cheaper side.
I suppose the best number of people is about 4. Not more than that.
If you spend one week there, the cost will be like
840 yen X 2 (round trip)
700 yen X 7 days X 4 people = 19,600 yen
food 20,000 yen for one week for 4
----------------------
divided by 4 people
=10,320 yen
That is pretty close to what I had paid in GCH. (2660 yen/d X 7day = 18200 yen)
So it is not too bad to crag in Japan, if you have a local friend.
■ Information
Mawarime Taira Camping Field HP is here.
http://w2.avis.ne.jp/~mawarime/charge.htm
Ogawa yama has over 700 problems(routes) and granite stone... well bolted. But a way more difficult than what I had experienced in Thakhek.
