Hostels…nothing like the movie

It seems like when I talk to many I know back home about my travels they always have a negative opinion about the usual things.  The one of the biggest ones are why we enjoy staying in a hostels.  I wonder if this having to stay in one is sometimes what intimidates people from getting out there and traveling to unfamiliar places. In many cases, a hostel may be the best or only option.

I can understand that some travelers can do without the adventure and prefer to book a room at the hotel who is backed up by the chain brand like a Holiday Inn.  They are supposed to uphold a standard.  If something goes wrong it’s nice to know that you can call customer service to help.  There are also the travelers who will not anything below a 3 star hotel.  This is also fine since each trip and traveler is unique and has different levels of comfort zones and some vacations are just a time to relax and get taken care of.  Hostels are not all equal but many are very comfortable and add so much more to a trip then just the a UNESCO site or other major attraction that brought you there in the first place.

There are some really interesting towns and villages not found in a Frommer’s Guide that don’t have a need or market for such a hotel.  In some cases the town itself is protecting itself from the outside.  Not every town or city wants a foreign-owned conglomerate taking over and no directly contributing money back to the community.  There are also many instances where these 4-5 star hotel/resorts have taken over a once pristine village and turned it into a full-blown tourist trap.   Examples of this are the Golf Resorts of China Beach, sewage problems seen in Boracay, and Palawan soon could be the next paradise turned toxic wasteland.

Hostels

Hostels have come along nicely in the past decade.  American travelers in the 80’s who used to spend spring break remember them as being more like flophouse.  The stereotypical hostel has restricted hours (closed during the day), they imposed curfews and sometimes ask backpackers to help maintain the hostel in exchange for a cheap bed.  They had a more communal hippy way about them.  They tended to lend themselves to the stereotype of being of the grimy sort and full of travelers who were young and ready to party until all hours.  For those looking to stay up all night and hook up with other travelers the word gets around pretty fast on where to go.  Let the debauchery begin. These are still around but some of them have also grown up.

The internet has made it easy for travelers to find out where to stay according to what kind of crowd they would like to hang out with amongst many other things.  The field has opened up for those who want the character of a hostel and all the social aspects of it but without the fraternity atmosphere.  There are now a vast selection of hostels to choose from in most towns and villages on the tourist trail.  There are the original form and the ones who like to get a good nights sleep and are willing to pay for their own room sometimes with a private bath go to another.

I was at the New York Times Travel Show the other weekend and one of the audience members asked the panel who he can find a hostel and know that it’s not going to be full of 18-year-old partying drunks?  I’m glad that one of them, Michelle Higgins from the Times, defended hostels and said they are much more sophisticated than that these days.  Another audience member helped out and mentioned that the best thing to do is going to a site called http://www.hostelworld.com and use it to research what kind of crowd goes to which hostel.   If it’s a party hostel it will most likely say it in the reviews and the reviewer is required to put in their age.  So, if all the reviews are 18-24 then there’s their target market.

This is still the case in some instances but the field has grown exponentially in the past decade or so.   Social media and the reviews that are  written on online travel guides and booking sites have changed things.   They are written by those who have been there recently and have nothing to gain (also for the most part) by putting a good or bad review.  I have found most travelers are eager to give others words of advice, but remember it’s best to take them all with pinch of salt.  Not everyday is a good day at a hostel.

I’m in my 30’s and my husband and I usually travel together.  We enjoy meeting people along the way but prefer a private room and if there is a private bath attached it’s an added bonus.   It’s more expensive but having our own space is well worth the money since we like our sleep but like the option of being able to hang out with a nice group of people all night as well.

It’s interesting on how what looks like a Business Hotel or in Japans case the Love Hotel are now considered hostel according to booking sites.  Travelers beware.  All these places need to do is add-on a few dorm rooms, put in a common area in a spare closet, dust off the computer they found on the side of the road, put out some guide books travelers tossed and then well- la. You can’t blame them.  Hostels are encroaching on their space and taking away customers.  This isn’t good when a traveler is looking an actual hostel not a hotel that was intentionally built to serve business men in transit and looking for a cheap no-frills room.

This is when it’s important to research before the bus gets to town.  Know exactly what you are booking beforehand. It may be that it’s the only place in town sometimes, but it’s better to know what you are getting into before showing up.  For me, it’s sometimes may just come down to having a clean bed with a safe place to spend the night before moving on the next day if there’s nothing else available.  And yes, maybe you may end up at that party hostel full of 18-year-old’s on spring break if that’s what available.  All I can say is earplugs and a plan to get on the first bus and on to the next town.

Here are some great examples of places I have stayed in that were listed as hostels  but ended up being a very wonderful places.  We even stayed longer then we originally planned because when you get a chance to be totally comfortable after a long stretch of not being so then you take it.

Seventh Heaven Hotel

Pushkar, India

We happened to get to this part of India during Rajasthan’s famous Pushkar Camel Fair.  We were lucky to get a room for the night since it’s Pushkar’s only real draw besides being Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace was this event.  The Seventh Heaven is a hotel with 3-star accommodation but also provides less expensive annex rooms that were not air-conditioned and very basic.  This was fine since we had a device in the room that plugged into the wall.  Once plugged in it seemed like the mosquitoes were being exterminated in mid-flight.  I still am not sure how it did and what it did to us but I didn’t get stung once.

The camel fair is in November this year, so book now.

Backpax Hostel

Xi’an, China

I can’t say enough good things about this sanctuary that appeared on hostelworld.com in the middle of my short month-long stay in China.

My husband and I were both recovering from being sick and just needed a place to relax, get better and catch up on some travel planning.  This place had comfortable beds, hot water, laundry, wi-fi and a great place to lounge and meet other travelers.  The owner, Mark, was also from New Jersey so it was nice hanging out with him and while enjoying a cup of real coffee and great food from there cafe.

Mark had just opened the place about 6 months before we arrived and was still working it out.  The space had some interesting history.  Let’s just say it used to be a high-end spa but some bad business decisions had made it go under.  Mark scooped up the place immediately and transformed it into a hostel.  I took this picture from their Facebook page since I forgot to take any pics when I was there.  I hope they don’t mind.

The place was kind of tricky to find but if you get the first train in the morning into Xi’an there is usually a person waiting for the arrival of weary travelers looking for a bed.  Just look for a nice looking person holding a big sign saying “Backpax Hostel” and they will assist you in finding the place.

So, check them out if you are heading into town to see the Terracotta Warriors.  Make sure you go to the Shaanxi History Museum in town before you get the bus out to the site.  It’s very informative and above all free.  Just get there early because there’s always a line.

A trip to plan: will it be Stoic Russian or Festive Mexico?

The trip in May came down to two locations.  Mexico or Russia?  My husband and I had our usual debate.  We breakdown each place and do the pros and cons, look to see what the weather is like when we can travel, find out if there are any holidays that could get in the way of travel, and write down the initial costs of going.

We decided on Russia.  The weather is nice, the end of May will allow us to travel without the hassles of May Day and Victory Day that fall at the beginning of the month (parades would have been a sight but maybe another time) and we could use our miles with Capital One.  The free flight helps when we think about how the costs of hotels, restaurants and all the other chiselers Russian we will meet along the way.   At least we expect it.

So the plane tickets we decided upon are with Finnair.  This way we won’t be flying through Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle, have a chance of getting a decent vegetarian meal and we get One World sky miles.  The half hour turnaround in Helsinki is going to be a challenge.  A carry-on in this case is required.

We will only be staying for 11 nights so booking hotels or hostels beforehand is necessary.    There isn’t much room for a side trips on this one.  Moscow and St. Petersburg are both known to be very expensive cities.  It was tricky finding a budget price that’s within a reasonable walking distance to Red Square.  There were plenty of hostels that were very close and have good prices but for the most part were bunk style accommodation and reviewers on the particular booking site seemed to be mostly 18-24 in age.  They may have been an option 10 years ago.

Another option was renting a flat.   This is nice because they usually have a kitchen (good if you are looking to save money and have diet restrictions), and have privacy.   These are usually best if you are on an extended holiday that runs at least a month.  The rates looked reasonable on a site called http://www.getorussia.com but if you read the fine print the quoted rates are based on a month or more.  A few days stay goes up at least 30%.  So that wasn’t an option.

With a little more  research on Thorn tree and basic google searches I found a place called the Petrovka Loft. This place looks good through pictures they and travelers on http://www.tripadvisor.com had posted.  There gets to a point where I have to just believe the reviewers.   I found that they are listed on http://www.hostelworld.com.  I like using this site or http://www.hostelbookers over others like Expedia and Orbitz because a reservation only requires a 10% down-payment.  The remainder is paid when you arrive.  If you don’t like it for some reason you don’t lose too much money if you keep on walking.  It’s also a trust issue between yourself and the hotel.  I have had the times when I show up at a hostel and they haven’t a record of my reservation.  It’s always safe to make contact ahead if possible so they know you are coming.  This may just prod them to check their bookings from outside agencies and update yours and other reservations.

The fun has momentarily ended.  It’s time to gather documents for putting together the Visa application.  Each country that requires a visa has their own system.  Some are easy at the border stamps (they just really want cash) and others require filling out questionnaires and forking over large sums of cash.  Russia is stuck in the pre-Pesrestroika days. The questions are pretty much aimed at figuring out if you are a Jason Bourne character whom they are trying to prevent from entering the country or just an innocent tourist wanting to take pictures and spend money.  The questions are like an employment application.  I wonder if they ever call up your previous employees and ask them questions about your character and if you legit?   I had visions of the person on the other line not having a clue that I worked there since it’s been so long.  Let’s just hope they believe I have written only the truth.

The Russian Federation is very thorough with each applicant.  Visitors are required to get an invitation from a hotel, travel agency or person living in Russia.  Basically, someone who will be responsible for you  while in Russia.  These days it’s just another money-making tool but you have to do it.  The hotel you have booked can either vouch for you or they can recommend a travel company to process the paper work.  We just paid the $30 used http://www.getorussia.com.  It took less than 5 minutes on the internet.

Now, my  (1) valid passport with at least  two clear visa places available (2) a 1″ 3/8 X 1″ 3/4 photo of myself not smiling and showing my shoulders up (3) questionnaire is filled out, I have a copy of (4) my invitation, and  now all I need to do is get (5) a  $131 USD money order from the bank.  I hope I don’t forget anything when I head to the Russian Consulates office in the morning.  I’m fortunate to have a Russian Consulates office in town so I don’t have to mail off my passport and nervously await for it to come back to me via U.S. Mail or Fed-ex.

The process takes anywhere from 4-20 business days.  I’ve got some time but these things seem to end up taking more than you think.  Now, I have to go look for more trip information including what our hotel options will be in St. Petersburg, train schedules to St. Petersburg and what there is to do and see in each city.  After that, a good nights sleep because who knows how long it’s going to take me to get through the consulates office tomorrow.

Maybe I should have gone with the room facing the Caribbean and the days of sipping margaritas on the beach…naahh

Click here for more information on obtaining a Russian Visa

For a quick guide of St. Petersburg click here

For Moscow click here

The New York Times Travel Show was very …

The New York Times Travel Show was very informative today. Interesting to see who showed up and I wonder if this was a good sample of who travels in the United States? I sort of hope not. The exhibits weren’t made up of only Cruise Ship Companies and trips to Mexico 🙂 Got some good Malbec from Argentina and saw some penguins from Sea World. The tank didn’t have any sharks or dolphins. They tried to convince me to go in and try out the scuba equipment. Not thanks.

The only disappointment was my home states’ lack of presentation. There was nothing but a table, brochures and an empty chair. Way to go Massachusetts 😦

Squat Toilets…what’s all the flush?

The reward for the best Squat Toilet scene in a movie by no doubt goes to Slum Dog Millionaire.  It’s actually a very big smelly problem in countries like India.This is a great video from YouTube done by user rahulbrown that gives a good understanding of how valuable something most of us take advantage of everyday.

Toilets along the way

Yeah… it’s something everyone thinks about if you are on a crowded public bus or van in a foreign country.  “How long is this trip really going to take, will we stop for a toilet break and what kind of porcelain throne will be put before me?”  Being a women who occasionally gets sick (ok…let’s say I make sure I have a good amount of Cipro with me on each trip) it’s always on my mind for one reason or another.   There’s never a need to panic when it comes to using the least favorite option:  a swat toilet.  Just let it be clean.

It’s all in the technique

Just make sure you correctly use it, don’t flush anything down the toilet if it does flush (that’s what the bucket is for or is it for the flushing part or both?  Just do what you think others have done before you)  Travelers going off the beaten path will most likely encounter the squat toilet in some shape or form.  They can even be found in rural areas of Europe and Japan.  There not just South Asia.  Travelers need to just get over it when to these places.  It’s a good reason to get those inner thigh and glut muscles toned before the trip and get use of the face mask if it’s smelly. Just be sensitive to those who have no other options.

Here’s some supposed healthy reasons why you should use the squat position.  The best thing a woman can do is like the Army ad says be prepared.  A good tip for women is to bring along a long skirt since it’s difficult to keep your pant bottoms from hitting the squat toilet floor (icky)  There is a reason why most women around the world just wear dresses and skirts (men too).  Or, just use some common sense and roll the legs up before entering then take a deep breathe and focus on getting things done.  Oh yeah, and don’t forget the TP and that person hanging out isn’t just hanging out.  They probably have the job of selling TP and or cleaning up.  Do them a favor and give up some coin.

It’s all a part of the experience.  If anything, mastering it makes for good travel anecdotes at the end of the day.  I wish I had some pictures of toilets I have mastered but I usually didn’t want to stay to long and/or accidentally drop my camera in the bottomless hole (see toilet scene from Slumdog Millionaire)

Happy Squatting and remember to wash those hands.

The Amazing Race…and the travel contestant

You’re in the taxi on the way to the airport.  Of course, the driver is chatting on his phone and decided to take the beltway to JFK since it’s longer and maybe he thinks he can travel it without having the use the brakes.  It’s the typical kamikaze ride to the airport.  Most taxi drivers enjoy the guarantee of a high rate and will pick up someone at the airport who will guarantee the same back to the city.  You get out, pay the rate which is always higher than the one you paid a week before and grab your pack that weighs more than you remember it.  You have arrived at JFK and begin the journey of the unknown to hopefully a new and unfamiliar place.  There are still many challenges ahead which include interaction with check-in, the idiots in the TSA (will they take something you need away?), and unknown passengers you will sit next to, fight for arm and overhead room and the usual quick-tempered flight attendant.  This is your own personal Amazing Race and you are up for the challenge.

I’m not really a fan of reality television shows since most are done on the cheap and seem to exploit anything and everything.  I’ve started to watch the latest series of the show the Amazing Race and find that this one is more than meets the eye.  It may even either inspire people to go out and explore the world or just learn a thing or two about what goes on when couples unpreparedly go out and explore the world.  When I catch an episode it always takes me back to my own travel experiences.  It’s nice to see others suffer the usual travel conundrums.

As most, the show has recruited the usual dumb blonde, senior citizen, macho guys/girls with strong accents, and hill billy teams.  These people are for better or worse a good cross-section of the U.S. population.  It’s hard to say who is a typical American but there is a good mix.  The teams all can be stereotyped and they are all guilty of pointed that out along the way.  It makes for good drama since the stereotypes ended up not being so stereotypical.  Who would have thought that the cowboys would have finished first in the second round?

As travelers, we can all relate to situations that they encounter along the way.  I have personally  had problems of being at the wrong bus terminal not knowing that there are more than one in town,  been misunderstood by locals since I unfortunately don’t know spanish well enough to have a conversation, and have missed bus connections and had to stay a night in a town where I wasn’t planning on visiting.  These are all things that travelers encounter and it’s all a part of the learning process.

Yeah, it’s another reality tv show but it at least shows how easy traveling to a foreign country can be.  The only requirement needed is just the drive and the desire to see and experience new things and learn something new about others and yourself.  A new traveler doesn’t need to even know the local language to get around.   The Amazing Race teams all look like they are having the times of their lives even when they end up getting eliminated.

I’m secretly hoping for a complete meltdown between couples on this show.  Couples traveling usually have at least one good one.  These guys are just seemed to cooperate wat too much and are too forgiving when one majorly screws up.  It just won’t be a reality show if there wasn’t any real drama right?  I’m sure it’s coming soon.

What do you think?  Can you relate to the Amazing Race?