{"id":369,"date":"2017-03-05T09:16:38","date_gmt":"2017-03-05T09:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/?p=369"},"modified":"2017-03-05T09:16:38","modified_gmt":"2017-03-05T09:16:38","slug":"hostel-experience-the-ugly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/05\/hostel-experience-the-ugly\/","title":{"rendered":"Hostel Experience – The Ugly"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>Hi Ma! \u00a0I\u2019m OK! \u00a0\u00a0They let me drive a Yacht!!<\/span>\n

As I arrive in Melbourne I was reflecting on my time in Thailand. \u00a0Even if there was a huge language barrier I noticed that everyone was super friendly, nice, kind, and very trusting.\u00a0 Most food vendors let you order, eat in a general area where you COULD walk off, and then pay when you are done eating. \u00a0 The people are so kind and generous as well as respectful of time.\u00a0One person even<\/span> went out of their way to find\u00a0me someone that spoke English, so that they could help me.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 I guess I can\u2019t 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\u2019t as important. \u00a0Or so it seems\u2026 \u00a0In 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hello \/ Good evening Melbourne<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Therefore, I am in need of some last minute accommodations. \u00a0I 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.\u00a0\u00a0 Welp, this one was a wee bit different.\u00a0\u00a0 I arrived at\u00a0<\/span>6:45pm<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and they have free wifi until\u00a0<\/span>7pm<\/span>. The website says free WiFi, I guess they weren\u2019t technically lying. \u00a0Lovely.\u00a0\u00a0It turns out, you have to pay for WiFi after 7PM. The cost is $5,which isn\u2019t much, but it\u2019s really about the nickel and diming people that gets me.\u00a0\u00a0I check in and I was told I get a free welcome beverage, awesome.. not so awesome..\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s actually buy 1 get 1 free because they don\u2019t have \u201canymore\u201d free beverage coupons.\u00a0\u00a0Turns out Happy Hour is the same buy 1 get 1 free from\u00a0<\/span>5pm \u2013 7pm<\/span>\u2026 Not a good start. O and yeah thanks for lying to me! \u00a0 I decide to come back for the beer later since it doesn\u2019t matter when I get it.\u00a0 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). \u00a0There are two people that are there in the room. \u00a0One guy I come to find out has been there a month (apparently they don\u2019t change the sheets ever). \u00a0He let me know there is a party tonight and I should definitely check it out.\u00a0 We chat for a bit about travel and apparently it\u2019s cheaper to stay in a hostel for a month than get your own apartment, something I didn\u2019t really think about, but good to know.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Well that\u2019s rather inconvenient. There is no air conditioning and only a broken fan.\u00a0 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).\u00a0 The bathrooms are seriously dirty.\u00a0 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. \u00a0Apparently, something is happening with the pipes. \u00a0I can\u2019t shower, I am super tired from traveling for some 20+ hours, I am admittedly cranky, and I probably smell.<\/p>\n

Finally, I decide to check out the rest of the Hostel, which surprisingly, isn\u2019t so bad.\u00a0 Nice little kitchen, a mini pool table with miniature balls and pool cues, an outside patio area where EVERYONE is smoking, (I didn\u2019t stay out there very long) and some really cool graffiti.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

After getting the lay of the land I venture out to see what I can find, as I am famished. \u00a0Turns out, after talking to a guy at the hostel,there is a really great burger place down the road!\u00a0 I get there and it\u2019s 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..? \u00a0Pretty cool. \u00a0 Well it turns out the reason that is free is because it\u2019s an arm and a leg to get any food.\u00a0 I got a plain cheese burger, comes with fries, you can\u2019t even NOT get them for less money, \u00a0and a SMALL water (8oz) and it was $21.50.\u00a0 I shit you not.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

I almost lost it when I saw the total. In their defense it was a good burger though. \u00a0 I got my order and I forgot to ask for some more ketchup\u2026 \u00a0Guess what.. You have to pay for ketchup.\u00a0 Of course that ain\u2019t free. $1 for a TEENY TINY ketchup, wanna see how big?\u00a0 Of course you do..\u00a0 Below is a pic of the THIMBLE sized portion of ketchup you get for $1.\u00a0 No I DID NOT edit this in Photoshop, honest.\u00a0 That is the size of it.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Be prepared for money shock when you get to Australia.\u00a0 Sure our dollar goes a little farther, but with what stuff costs here it\u2019s way more expensive than the US, hell even prices in NYC are on par with Melbs.\u00a0 After leaving there I really wanted to get back to the hostel to get some stuff done.\u00a0 UPON arriving there is a full 4 table beer pong tournament.\u00a0 Normally this would be pretty cool, but tonight I just want to relax a little and organize some things.\u00a0 I decide to grab my \u201cfree\u201d beer and hangout for a bit and take in the environment.\u00a0 I grab my laptop and start organizing.\u00a0 I ask the person behind the counter how long the event goes until and the answer was \u201cWell at least\u00a0<\/span>2am<\/span>, it\u2019s party\u00a0<\/span>Wednesday<\/span>\u201d.\u00a0 No one told me about this upon check-in. At least it\u2019s not too loud, AND THEN BOOM!!!!\u00a0 DJ hits the music\u2026 Seriously it\u2019s like being in a ROCK concert or an EDM concert (for the younger peeps). \u00a0They 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. \u00a0 So much for sleeping tonight.\u00a0 Around\u00a0<\/span>2:30am<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>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\u00a0<\/span>4am<\/span>.\u00a0 I was up for 47 hours straight\u2026 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. \u00a0That\u2019s the hostel experience. \u00a0 Let me know if you guys and gals have any horror stories about your stays.<\/p>\n

I will give them something\u2026 They do have really nice beaches and water though.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

As always. \u00a0Thanks so much for reading and please let me know what you think. \u00a0Of course Like and Share it as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to follow along on my other social media platforms:<\/p>\n

Instagram: RyanGproductions\r\nFacebook: Ryan Gphoto\r\nBlog : TravelWithRyanG.com<\/pre>\nThanks<\/p>\n
Ryan G<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hi Ma! \u00a0I\u2019m OK! \u00a0\u00a0They let me drive a Yacht!! As I arrive in Melbourne I was reflecting on my time in Thailand. \u00a0Even if there was a huge language barrier I noticed that everyone was super friendly, nice, kind, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,25,22,19,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australia","category-melbourne","category-thailand","category-bangkok-ok-and-food","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":383,"href":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions\/383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryangphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}