The good, the bad, and the dirty

It's been 14 days and six different hostels to date (not counting the overnight in the Lima airport). None of the places I've stayed in have lacked character, but some of them have been a bit grungy, some have been fantastic, and everything in between.

El Yoyo hostel in Valparaiso was in a run-down old building. One of the Cal Poly engineers from my room pointed out that the walls in our dorm weren't even built at right angles. He was right. Everything was kind of slanted. I liked the quirkiness, even if the bathrooms were a little rustic. To get hot water we had to light a match to spark a fuse for the gas tank. It wasn't the cleanest of hostels...and my bed sort of slumped, but for some reason I had the best nights' sleep. I didn't even hear the guitar playing and off-key singing at 4am that kept my roommates up. They told me at breakfast they wanted to break the guy's guitar.

From Chile

In contrast, La Casa Roja was like the Shangri La of all hostels. It's definitely the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in. They transformed it from a 19th century old colonial mansion, and most of the original detail and architecture has been preserved. My room was an 8-bunk dormitory, but it still felt incredibly spacious with its cathedral ceilings and well-placed furniture. There were a lot of common areas in this hostel, and big courtyards in the middle of the massive mansion. This hostel even had a pool with a swim up bar! I spent most of the day hanging out in the pool playing beach volleyball with Eddie, the Australian guy. We traded stories from home, and got sunburned in the pool.

From Chile

This hostel seemed to think of everything including an ipod docking station. And I had the best shower in two weeks!

My least favorite hostel so far was Luz Azul in Santiago. The common areas are very nice, but it reminded me of the first night backpacking in Barcelona. The bunk beds are stacked high, almost to the ceiling, and they cram 14 bunks into one room. I had one of the top bunks. People kept coming and going at weird times in the middle of the night, and with 14 people in one room it was hard to get any sleep. Plus sometime around 4am, a girl and a guy staying in the room decided to have loud sex on the bunk below me. Not only could I hear everything, but I could feel the bed violently rocking back and forth. And coincidentally, it's the same thing that happened to Chrissy on the top bunk in the Barcelona hostel. It's gotta be at least a little awkward doing it in plain sight with 12 other people in the same room. Try sleeping through that!

So far, the hostels have been a mixed bag--some good, some not so good, and some rustic. The dirtiness and less than ideal bathroom situations don't bother me as long as I have a clean bed to sleep in. I can deal with the showers that operate only at two temperatures: freezing cold and scalding hot. I can put up with the dorm rooms that sometimes smell like wet socks (travelers are dirty). I do, however, have a strong preference for the bottom bunk.