The 10 commandments of hostel living

 

Now before I get started, for those of you who have never stayed in a hostel, there are plenty of good reasons for hostels.  They’re super cheap, most have kitchens so you can cook for yourself, a lot of hostels are also good sources of tour/event information and it’s a really easy way to meet people whether you’re just looking for someone to have a beer with or a travel partner for a week.  And most of the time you do get a good night’s sleep.

Anyone who has stayed in hostels will read my list below and go ‘der, everyone knows that’.  But apparently not.  Just occasionally you get a dickhead who doesn’t know the rules.

1.       Be quiet.

2.       BE QUIET.  All hostels have kitchens, lounges, bars, etc.  There is no reason for you to be yapping in a dorm room if people are trying to sleep.

3.       Even if you think you’re whispering – you’re not, so just shut your trap.

4.       Even if it’s 3 in the afternoon, if someone is sleeping be quiet.  They may have been travelling for 27 hours or they may just be hungover – whatever.  Dorms are for sleeping so again, be quiet.

5.       You do not need to zip and unzip your bag 15 bloody times.

6.       If the lights are off – leave them off!

7.       Some hostels have lockers, some don’t.  Either way, leaving things on my bed with a sleeping bag thrown on top is a totally acceptable security measure. Don’t pinch my shit.

8.       If you’re getting up early and need an alarm – there is no snooze button.  Get the hell up the first time!

9.       Don’t switch beds.  If I get in at stupid o’clock after 14+ hours travelling the last thing I need is some douche in my bunk so I don’t know where I’m sleeping.

10.   If you are a bunk-rattling, window-shaking snorer and you book into a dorm room – you are an arsehole.

Rant over – next post promises to be more pleasant J

Iceland is Niceland

So I’ve just had my first couch surfing experience and it has been loads of fun!  I doubt most couch surfing experiences are like this though.  Hugi, our Icelandic host, had 5 of us staying with him.  There was Gabi & Michael, Americans au pair-ing in Belgium & Germany, Ali from Bahrain and Nasr from Germany.  Everyone was good value, even if Ali seems somewhat misguided when it comes to the facts of life.  But Hugi our Icelandic father was there to help him out!

Hugi welcomed us into his home and let us treat his apartment as our own.  He drove us around town, took us looking for the Northern lights, picked us up and dropped us off, took us to his favourite karaoke bar (no I did not sing) and really went above and beyond chasing around after us.  He's tour was good and a total bargain compared to the outrageous prices for things around here (day trips like $150 - $400).  And the clever title for my post Iceland is Niceland I've actually pinched from his facebook page https://facebook.com/icelandisniceland

 

Marshmallows for trolls.  Farmers put these in the paddocks
to stop the trolls from eating the horses.

Going somewhere with Ali, or Princess Ali and we started calling him, was like going somewhere with my sister.  ‘Are you ready?’ ‘Yes’ ‘Great let’s go.’  Then you walk outside and realise they’re still inside and so you wait.  And wait.  Then you’re like ‘What the hell can they possibly be doing?’ and after about 10 minutes they wander out.  Every time.

The Hugi tour was great despite the crazy weather.  He hired a minibus as we ran into a couple of random Germans that Nasr met on the plane over and they decided to come along too.  So we went to a couple of amazing waterfalls.  There was Gullfoss, a huge waterfall that was almost totally frozen. We tried to take a group photo there, but the wind was icy cold and almost blowing us sidewards.  Seljalandsfoss was a really tall waterfall that in the Summer you can walk behind, but this time of year is too icy.  I went to walk up to the lookout at the side, but it was too slippery and I didn't want to slip because of my camera (it's got nothing to do with being a pussy).  But Michael and Nasr went up to the lookout and then behind the waterfall.  But they had a little trouble getting back, having to climb the wall because the path was too icy and Nasr got almost all the way up then slipped and slid back down like of a big slide.  I reckon he wasn't far off ending up in the water!

    

We also went to the Geyser area.  We waited for 10 minutes in the freezing, icy wind only to get a little pfft, pfft fart of a spurt from the Geyser - and because my fingers were so cold I missed getting a picture anyway! 

But the best part of the day I thought was the glacier.  It was raining when we got there, and the wind was blowing sidewards so that whenever you looked up you got stabbed in the eye with rain-turned-ice, but it was so amazing!  The blue of the ice is amazing and the contrast of the ice and the surrounding black lava it looks like another planet.  The photos aren't too good, but it was raining a lot - it's a miracle my camera is still working after this!  But I'm going ice-climbing next week so I might have more luck then.

Well there's a lot more to tell, but I don't want to bore you with long posts, so I'll save those stories for another day.

Pitching tents

Yeah, this is a terrible place because it is cold

Yes I have arrived in Iceland.  Yes it is cold.  No I am not whinging about it.  Today was beautiful and sunny. I jogged up to the nearby thermal pool for a dip in the outdoor pool and it was -1 degree.  The pools are great though.  600 krona (about $6) and that includes all the pools, the hot tubs (there’s about a dozen of them varying in heat), the steam room and a locker.  Not like stingy old MSAC where it’s $7 for a swim, plus $4 to use the spa & sauna, plus $3 for a locker.

A big thanks to Natalie from work who saved me some culture shock and a world of confusion.  She gave me a book about a woman who moves to Iceland.  Luckily I starting reading it last night before going to the pool today because Chapter 2 covers the woman’s confusion and awkwardness at the Icelandic pre-swimming rituals & general acceptance of public nudity.  Going to the pool goes something like this:

·         Remove your shoes and place them on a shoe rack before entering the change rooms

·         Enter change rooms (where there are no cubicles), undress and place clothing in locker

·         Take towel and bathers (that’s right, you haven’t put your togs on yet so you’re starkers) and progress to the next room which has a number of communal showers

·         Shower paying attention to signs which instruct you to make sure you clean your feet, pits and naughty bits properly

·         Now you can put your bathers on and off you go for a swim!

On the way back there is an extra ‘drying area’ where once you’ve had your shower you must dry yourself thoroughly before going back to the locker room.  I nearly skipped this bit, but the big lady in the uniform looked like she would put me in a headlock & drag me back if I went into the locker room dripping water on the floor.

So a little bit different, but all good.

Speaking of different this isn’t the first time I’ve been to a place where they drive on the right, but it takes more getting used to that you would think.  For example, to cross the road you need to look the other way first so you just end up looking each way about 5 times before you cross.  There is a massive increase in the number of awkward sidewalk tangos that happen when people walking toward each other move the same way.  And in the pool you swim on the other side so I nearly head-butted some poor guy this morning when I was splashing along the wrong way down the lane.

The trip over was pretty uneventful.  A quick stopover in Doha which involved getting off the plane onto a bus, driving for 10 minutes to get to the airport, queuing up for a bit, laughing to myself at some guy sleeping in the waiting lounge who was pitching a tent, transferring to another bus which then drove around for 20 minutes until the bus driver found our plane.

Copenhagen stopover even less eventful, but all the staff there ride around the airport on scooters which is pretty cool.

So tomorrow off to the Penis museum.  Yeah you heard me.  Penis museum.

However the fine print at the bottom of the sign says 'No pornography or offensive material at the museum' so it may not be quite up to expectations (yes pun intended).