Hostels

Chitwan, Nepal, 24 March 2017

Why staying in a hostel? 

I believe there are two main reasons for that: price and atmosphere. And I believe that one leads to the other: when you travel alone, everything will be more expensive so sharing rooms in hostels is a way of saving money, therefore, there's a bigger chance in hostels to meet other travelers that are traveling alone. The other way around it also works for me: my main reason to choose a hostel over a guesthouse or hotel is if I want to be surrounded by travelers, not bad if that way I also can save some euros. So up to here we have 2 of the pros of sleeping in hostels. If you are travelling alone as a backpacker there it will be easier for you to get information oriented to the kind of traveler you are: cheep restaurants, transports, trips...not only from the staff at the hostel but also from your fellow travellers, and you will also have great chances of making groups for day trips and also for longer periods. I will say without a doubt that staying in hostels is the best way to meet people, being others, transports, restaurants, trekks, day trips...

Trip organized by Paglaom Hostel in Siargao, Philippines

There are all kinds of hostels, depending on the countries or the cities/towns. Some places are known for having really fancy hostels, like I would say Penang, while in the same country it does not happen everywhere. Other counties do not have such an extended net of hostels, like Myanmar or Sri Lanka, or the quality of them needs a bit of improvement, like here in Nepal. There are also hostels that offer free excursions and free food, or a great range of activities to make it easier to the traveler to meet others. I always have a throughout search and read many reviews before choosing a hostel ( and normally compare between 2 or 3 search engines: Hostelworld, Booking.com and Agoda) and is good to go also for hostels with good common areas!

Dorm at Captain Coconuts , Gili Air

When you travel alone for a while, at least in my case, there is a moment when you start looking for your own private room, and a good combination would be one in a hostel where there'are both dorms and private rooms. This would lead me to what for me are the main cons of being in a hostel (of course after the already mentioned ' having your own space'): security and cleanliness. I have come across of lots of lack of those lately! Security is the most important, and sometimes we don't pay it the attention we should: please always have your documentation, cards and money secured in a locker! If there are no lockers ask reception to have your things locked somewhere, do not leave them in your backpack in the room ( we are talking about shared dorms). You cannot trust the people you don't know that is staying at the hostel and also, sometimes doors are not locked with a key and people from outside can also enter ( just happened in the last hostel I stayed 2 days ago). The same goes for locker rooms when you leave your backpack if you're leaving late but have to vacant your bed earlier in the day: do ask the reception if they can keep your important stuff in a safe locker under their control. Well, this sounds as common sense, but we don't do it always, and is better to be safe than sorry.

The other main con, cleanliness, or the lack of it is also really common and normally goes accompanied or is lead by untidiness. You will find that there are places where everyone respects the others and everything is on its place, I would say that happens in hostels where people does not spend a lot of nights, or where there is a wide space assignated for everyone's belongings. Then there are hostels where people loves to spread out leaving the floor and other surfaces as if they were a war zone. Other hostels are dirty cause they are, and do not need of travelers for that. They even will tell you to take your shoes to enter when in their lives have they cleaned the place!

Floor at Ubud hostel

This mostly happens when oposite to what I've just said: there is not space assigned, or when people is living in a hostel for long periods of time, therefore using the dorm as if it was their room at home. I have recently been to Western Australia, and it is so common there. Added to this last bit, this hostels tend to have common kitchen areas for people to cook, which is good to save money. But also, in this kind of hostels, as weird as it might look, is not as easy to meet people, as people living in there have their jobs and no time to travel around.

I also believe that the atmosphere depends on the moment: I have been to horrible hostels where it was so easy to meet fantastic people, and to great hostels with cool common areas where at that moment everyone was just doing their stuff and not mixing with others: so, all this said, it is also on you to get closer and say "Hi", we are all travellers, that is not weird although you might think it is! Who knows who you might meet ;)

Reality vs reality

Labuan Bajo, Flores, Indonesia. 25Feb2017

Yesterday talking to some people at some point I mentioned 'well, I look totally different when I'm traveling' and the answer was 'everybody does'.

I didn't mean that I behave different , I do not have two different personalities, but the thing is that traveling around, you do things that you wouldn't even imagine back home.

I travel for hours in buses, I have done it even sitting on the floor. At first you couldn't even imagine that, 'people standing up? No way that's not safe', then you get so used to it that you really like it (but you get tired sometimes). 

I travel for hours in boats, spend hours waiting for flights connections and don't complain much when there are 5 hours delays.

You sometimes eat with your hands, most of the times you don't have a knife, just a spoon and a fork.

Toilet is mostly a hole in the ground, in guest houses and hostels the shower is in the middle of the bathroom )so everything around gets wet, no courtins here), sometimes your shower is a bucket.

You (almost) don't scream when you see a cockroach or a rat, sometimes even next to the place you're eating in. You get used to cockroaches in some bathrooms, rats in markets. It's normal.

You lose all sense of intimacy, boys see me in underware 5 minutes after meeting in hostel's dorms! ahaha (you get tired of covering up all time to change clothes when you share bedrooms).

You wear the same clothes for 2 or three days in a row, wear always flip flops shorts and bikini. You use only the clothes that are on top of your backpack, having packed too much even packing light (that is my case). You buy  2 euros t.shirts.

At home I go out for diner every weekend and during the week, and never mind about it, here you become gready with money, spending more than 3 euros for a meal seams a lot! Ahaha. You find yourself arguing for a discount on prices of 0.5 euros! But hey, the less you spend the longer yo get to travel.

You make friends with almost everyone who crosses your path and go out for beers or join them on your trip just after one short conversation (one of the best things of traveling solo).

You make even more selfies than when you're back home! Ahahaha.

You see more sunsets and sunrises than ever. 

You wake up early and you don't really mind. 

Some people say that 'real' life is the one you have at home,  that this is just a 'holiday', I have catched myself saying that too, but this is also real, so real that I love every minute of it, I crave for it when I'm home and gives me goose bumps when I am traveling.

Decisions

One and a half years ago I made the decision of requesting a leave from my job and in October 2015 I started my 5 months leave through Southeast Asia. What I wanted back then was to have the opportunity of traveling longer, not to feel the rush of a holiday and therefore be able to enjoy every place as much as possible, with the possibility of extending or shorten my stay as I wanted, mostly depending on the places' vibes, the people I met and the way I felt in every moment. I seldom felt lonely, I am a person that feels right with my own company, but it is true that I was alone in rare occasions. I met beautiful people and heard great stories about their lives and travels.

It felt so good that I wanted to stay longer but it was not possible as in my job they were waiting for me. At the end of those 5 months I was waiting for that feeling to come, where I started missing my family and friends and my life back home, but it never came and I went back to Madrid feeling so miserable.

I think it took me more than 2 months to accept my life back at home, it started to be a bit better when the good weather arrived :).

At the end of summer I decided to go on holiday for 3 weeks, again on my own, to Sri Lanka. I felt, somehow, that it was the continuation of my trip, the extension that I wasn't greanted back then.

In that trip I didn't feel the same way as before. It was such a weird sensation, so new to me, and at the end I was really eager to go back home. I though that maybe, that was it for me, that I have completed the cycle and finally started missing my life in Madrid. That I had enough of traveling solo. It was also a sad feeling.

But life moves in misterious ways. Here I am again. I quit my job, packed my bag and took a one way ticket flight again to southeast Asia. This time, there wasn't the same things that moved me into take the decision. I already had had the experience of a long time travelling solo, this time I needed a break and a brand new start. I wanted to change things and I needed to feel at home away from home to understand all my reasons.

Here is a trip into my thoughts, a new version of this blog, used before as a tip guide for fellow travellers. I will keep on giving advice if you're happy to take it, but I would also try to open up a little bit and let you know what goes on in my head and, I believe, in many of the heads of you travellers.

Sri Lanka: surf en Arugam Bay

Y con esta entrada acabo mi viaje por Sri Lanka. He tardado mucho en escribirlo pero ya llegan tiempos de nuevas aventuras y de ir cerrando esta, por lo tanto. 

Mi último destino (casi) seria Arugam Bay, una tranquila bahia al este de la isla. Es conocida por el Surf y a ella acude gente de todas partes, pero respira un ambiente amigable y relajado, como casi todos los lugares de surf. Habia pensado ir a mitad de mi viaje, para cuadrar mejor el transporte, pero decidi dejarlo para el final y descansar asi en la playa. 

Me aloje en unos bungalows de una familia musulmana (mayoría en la zona) y conoci a unas cuantas parejas alli (en Sri Lanka todo parecen ser parejas viajeras), con una de ellas fui a conocer Whiskey Point, uno de los puntos de surf mas famosos. 

La propia Arugam Bay es una larga playa con una rompiente al fondo siempre abarrotada y el pueblo recorre la carretera principal, se atraviesa tranquilamente en unos 25 minutos.

La dificultad que le encontré fue el transporte, principalmente para ir de ahi a la capital, Colombo. Hay como unas 12 horas en bus local, y no es recomendable ir en buses nocturnos, con lo que se hace complicado. Al menos en la época que yo estuve no habia buses turísticos, y no encontré gente para compartir un taxi (que saldría a unos 50 dólares por persona), por lo que me diriji hacia el sur para pasar una noche y visitar Hikkaduwa. Para llegar se coge un bus local hasta Mirissa (7h) que sale a las 5 de la mañana y otro desde Mirissa a Hikkaduwa (otra hora o asi). Cuando llegue estaba agotada y me di un paseo por la playa. Es otra zona de surf pero en temporada baja usando fui, con lo que no habia nadie. 

De ahi a Colombo, que visite con dos chicas, una griega y otra Australiana. Fuimos a comprar sarees y a recorrer la ciudad, y sin saber muy bien, porque, me senti en un viaje en el que ya estaba deseando volver a casa....

And this is the last entry for Sri Lanka. it has taken me some time to finish this but as new adventures are coming, it is time to close it.

My last call (nearly) would be Arugam Bay, a quiet bay to the east of the island. It is well known for the surfing, surfers from all over the world go there, but it is still a friendly and relaxing town, as most of the surf places I have been to. I finally decided to leave the visit to Abay to the end of my trip so i would finish at the beach. 

I stayed in some bungalows where I met many couples (it seams that in Srilanka all are couples travelling), one of them really nice, and I visited with them Whiskey Point, one of the favorite surfing spots.

Arugam bay is a long beach with a surf break at the end, always crowded, and the town is extended at both sites of the main road. You can easily walk it in 5 minutes.

It is difficult to go from Abay to Colombo, at that time there were no tourist buses and the local ones are not recomended at night and the journey is about 12 hours taking. Different buses. Si i decided to travel down south in the local bus during the day and I went to Hikkaduwa (bus leaving at 5am to Mirissa, 7 hours, and them from there to Hikkaduwa). I got there so tired that only went for a walk at the beach. On the next day I took a local bus to Colombo where I spent the day with  girls, one from Greece and one from Australia, visiting the market and temples....and I don't know why, but for the first time in my travels, i felt the need to go back Home....

Tips:

Bus from Trincomalee to Kalmunai around 7 hours. 300 ruppies. There they try to trick you telling you that there are no buses to Potuvil but there are. and from there just a tuc tuc to Abay.

Surf and Sand Bungalows: around 20 dolars the double room. The owner organices diners and the breakfast (included) is amazing. 

Hideaway: it is a hotel with little lux villas and a restaurant that serves fantastic food as well as a day and night bar, a greeat place to relax and meet other fellow travellers.

Drift BnB Colombo: really nice hostel in Colombo, close to bus stops to the center and really nice vibe (14 euros shared room).

Visit the market and temples form different religions, for me the nicest was the Jami UL-Alfar Mosque.

I do not have the pics with me now as i'm travelling again, but you can see them in my IG: Bioluck

Sri Lanka: playas del este, Trincomalee

Ya iba necesitando playa, asi que tras mi cansada visita a Anuradhpura, cogi un bus a Trincomalee, una ciudad costera, de mayoría musulmana al noreste de Sri Lanka. Para quedarme elegí la playa de Uppuveli. Fueron unos dias muy tranquilos, solo hay una callecita paralela al mar con algunos alojamientos y restaurantes, y alguno mas en la misma playa, y en esta época estaba todo muy tranquilo. 

Me quede 4 noches y 3 de ellas coincidí con Nicole. Nos quedamos en un sitio muy chulo y la última noche nos cambiaron a otro porque estaban llenos (las 3 Habitaciones, jajaja). Nos pasamos los dias en la playa, y visitando Trincomalee, su mercado y sus templos. Es una época de mucho calor (Septiembre) y solo se podía estar en la playa hasta las 10 u 11 y luego volver hacia las 4, y quedarse a ver los pescadores sacar sus redes al final de la tarde, con la pesca del dia. Era muy bonito observar a estos hombres curtidos por el sol y el mar, cubiertos para protegerse del sol (alguno parecia muy mayor, pero son más jóvenes de lo que aparentan, hable con uno que me dijo que tenia 56 años y parecia que tenia 10 mas) rodeados de cuervos que sobrevuelan a ver si pueden sacar cacho, y a algunas horas de turistas embelesados con sus maniobras con las largas redes, muchos echando una mano....

Como digo, los dias transcurrieron tranquilos en Uppuveli y me lleve una bonita sensación de esa costa abrasador, pero muy relajante.

I was already on the need of some beach time and I headed to Tincomalee, a town in the northeast of Sri Lanka. I decided to stay in Uppuveli Beach, a quiet beach by this time of the year. They were very quiet days, there is only one street along the back of the beach with some accomodation and small restaurantes, as well as some on the beach itself. 

I stayed there for 4 nights and 3 of them I shared a room with Nicole, that happened to come at the same time. We stayed in a very nice place and we had to change last night as it was fully booked, but the new one was los cool. We spent the days at the beach and wandering the streets of Trincomalee visiting the market and temples. In September the heat was amazing therefore you could only stay at the beach until 10-11am and back around 4pm, then we would stay to see the fishermen collect their capture for the day. It was a really nice view to see those men working hard under the sun, with the colorfull nets, the crows hovering around and the tourist trying to help.

As I said, those were relaxing days, and I remember that place as a beautiful although hot aas hell paradise.

Tips:

Bus from Anuradhpura: around 3.5 hours

Alas Garden Homestay, they have 3 rooms, 2 of them with AA. The guy who owns, Prashanth, is really nice and will try to help you with everything. He arranged for us the last night in another place closer to the beach, new and cheeper!

We had dinner twice in a kind of buffet place that was tiny and always crowded, is in the road in Uppuveli, but I can't remember the name of the place. 

Also in the beach there was this place where everybody went for drinks at night, it was nice also in the afternoon as you could use their sunbeds, but do not order food!