Hi Ma! I’m OK! They let me drive a Yacht!!
As I arrive in Melbourne I was reflecting on my time in Thailand. Even if there was a huge language barrier I noticed that everyone was super friendly, nice, kind, and very trusting. Most food vendors let you order, eat in a general area where you COULD walk off, and then pay when you are done eating. The people are so kind and generous as well as respectful of time. One person even went out of their way to find me someone that spoke English, so that they could help me.
This brings me to Melbourne. Again everyone is super friendly, but in a different way, they are still pleasant, and helpful but not like in Thailand. I guess I can’t explain it other than to say Thai people go out of their way, where most cultures do not. In Melbourne they are VERY laid back, and time isn’t as important. Or so it seems… In Thailand however, people are not only laid back, they are also a culture that lives to sleep in their days off, where in Australia in general they are very active.
Hello / Good evening Melbourne
So after I take the Skybus and get on some wifi I need to book a hostel (yes, it was last minute because I got the dates wrong when my friends were coming in and well, I ended up arriving a day earlier. Therefore, I am in need of some last minute accommodations. I am now in Melbourne and I decide to book a NOMAD hostel (The name of the organization that owns the hostel is called Nomad). I have stayed in these over the years and they are normally pretty decent. Welp, this one was a wee bit different. I arrived at 6:45pm and they have free wifi until 7pm. The website says free WiFi, I guess they weren’t technically lying. Lovely. It turns out, you have to pay for WiFi after 7PM. The cost is $5,which isn’t much, but it’s really about the nickel and diming people that gets me. I check in and I was told I get a free welcome beverage, awesome.. not so awesome.. It’s actually buy 1 get 1 free because they don’t have “anymore” free beverage coupons. Turns out Happy Hour is the same buy 1 get 1 free from 5pm – 7pm… Not a good start. O and yeah thanks for lying to me! I decide to come back for the beer later since it doesn’t matter when I get it. I head up to the room and there is a pretty awful funk. There are 6 beds, which is rather par for the course in a hostel dorm (sometimes upwards of 12 beds and even 34 beds in a room). There are two people that are there in the room. One guy I come to find out has been there a month (apparently they don’t change the sheets ever). He let me know there is a party tonight and I should definitely check it out. We chat for a bit about travel and apparently it’s cheaper to stay in a hostel for a month than get your own apartment, something I didn’t really think about, but good to know.
As I glance around the room I notice only 2 outlets for 6 beds. I ask my new friend if there are any more outlets and he of course says no, but I can charge my stuff downstairs if I want. Well that’s rather inconvenient. There is no air conditioning and only a broken fan. You have to leave the window open at night so you can get even a slight breeze, but then you hear all the noise from a busy street and the people outside (more on that in a bit). The bathrooms are seriously dirty. I have been in some pretty dirty environments and this is definitely up there. There is no toilet paper (I inform the desk which apparently they know about it),and no water, and not no HOT water but NO WATER at all. Apparently, something is happening with the pipes. I can’t shower, I am super tired from traveling for some 20+ hours, I am admittedly cranky, and I probably smell.
Finally, I decide to check out the rest of the Hostel, which surprisingly, isn’t so bad. Nice little kitchen, a mini pool table with miniature balls and pool cues, an outside patio area where EVERYONE is smoking, (I didn’t stay out there very long) and some really cool graffiti.
After getting the lay of the land I venture out to see what I can find, as I am famished. Turns out, after talking to a guy at the hostel,there is a really great burger place down the road! I get there and it’s called 8-bit because they have free, YES FREE arcade games. Ya know the ones with like 1,000 games, Ms. Pac-man, Pac-man, Galaga, Tetris, Street Fighter, etc..? Pretty cool. Well it turns out the reason that is free is because it’s an arm and a leg to get any food. I got a plain cheese burger, comes with fries, you can’t even NOT get them for less money, and a SMALL water (8oz) and it was $21.50. I shit you not.
I almost lost it when I saw the total. In their defense it was a good burger though. I got my order and I forgot to ask for some more ketchup… Guess what.. You have to pay for ketchup. Of course that ain’t free. $1 for a TEENY TINY ketchup, wanna see how big? Of course you do.. Below is a pic of the THIMBLE sized portion of ketchup you get for $1. No I DID NOT edit this in Photoshop, honest. That is the size of it.
Be prepared for money shock when you get to Australia. Sure our dollar goes a little farther, but with what stuff costs here it’s way more expensive than the US, hell even prices in NYC are on par with Melbs. After leaving there I really wanted to get back to the hostel to get some stuff done. UPON arriving there is a full 4 table beer pong tournament. Normally this would be pretty cool, but tonight I just want to relax a little and organize some things. I decide to grab my “free” beer and hangout for a bit and take in the environment. I grab my laptop and start organizing. I ask the person behind the counter how long the event goes until and the answer was “Well at least 2am, it’s party Wednesday”. No one told me about this upon check-in. At least it’s not too loud, AND THEN BOOM!!!! DJ hits the music… Seriously it’s like being in a ROCK concert or an EDM concert (for the younger peeps). They had a glass door that separated the lobby from the party and well I literally heard the music up a flight of stairs, through 2 doors, and into my room. CLEAR as DAY. So much for sleeping tonight. Around 2:30am the DJ finally goes off, but the people go outside and start playing their own music (remember we have to keep the window open for air cause there is no air conditioning).. Yea I got to bed around 4am. I was up for 47 hours straight… Not the best experience, but I will be looking at hostels a bit more closely and asking a lot more questions upon booking, from now on. That’s the hostel experience. Let me know if you guys and gals have any horror stories about your stays.
I will give them something… They do have really nice beaches and water though.
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Ryan G
