no room at the inn
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008by Rachael
Luang Prabang, Laos
As we prepare for Christmas, we are seeing the story through new eyes. We now have a fuller understanding of going door-to-door looking for a place to lay our heads for the night.
When we left NZ we had the first few places we were to stay lined up. It was comforting to think we would not be homeless. As time has progressed we have become more relaxed…..in fact, we have finally got to the point of being able to turn up in town with no idea where we will spend the night. And having stayed in some huts that must’ve rivalled Joseph and Mary’s stable, we realise there’s always *something*.
Stardust, Penang
26th October
We had been a bit nervous about our Penang accommodation, because all the internet reviews of cheap places were BAD. This one other cheap place we had found had no reviews, but Jim had replied to emails so we booked. Trying to confirm the booking a few days in advance was a fruitless exercise. Finally, the night before we were to arrive, he called us – apparently he didn’t have room, but he’d booked us in at Stardust on the same street. In a town that would be filled with Indians celebrating the New Year, this sounded fine, in spite of not knowing what it would be – nor how much.
As we trudged along the road in the evening heat, packs heavy on our backs, avoiding deep drains and suddenly-appearing motorbikes, dodging between an assortment of items littering the pavement, stooping under concrete archways, eyes searching for building numbers above doorways, our fears were allayed when a smiling man stepped out of a cafe and asked, “Eleven?” He was expecting us! He didn’t have the number of rooms Jim had said, but what he did have was better – and cheap.
Train Inn, Bangkok
31st October
After the Penang accommodation success, we were confident that Bangkok would be all plain sailing – we had had a confirmed reservation for five months!
We arrive. No booking. But they do have the four rooms we would like so all is OK. Or is it? The price has gone up over 25%, and it was already an expensive stop for us. Putting on my polite, but insistent voice, and firing up the laptop to produce evidence of their confirmed price, we enter negotiations. We end up with three rooms, not four, but we are assured they are extra large. When we ask for a spare mattress, it turns out the rooms are too small to fit one in! Inspection shows the rooms to be spotlessly clean, so we take them. Bags are ferried upstairs and the receptionist tells us she will keep our passport as a deposit. “It’s OK, nothing can happen, there are lots of police”
I DON’T THINK SO! I call Rob to add some masculine weight, and we end up forking out a monetary deposit instead. By now I am fairly certain the website-advertised “full American breakfast” is mythical. I ask anyway. I am right; there’s no such thing. We are now unimpressed enough to go out and investigate some of the other “hotels” in the street. But Front Desk lady calls us back.
“You have to leave your key. It’s our condition.” We insist it doesn’t say that anywhere in the long list of rules, just that we have to pay if we lose it, but she is stronger, her conditions win…..it wasn’t as simple as we’d expected!!
Trekker Camp, Chiang Mai
8th November
Whenever you go to the airport you see these welcoming people holding a sign with someone’s name on it. This time it was our name, only we were not at an airport. We were at Chiang Mai train station and waiting for us was a party of three with two vans; one for us and one for our luggage. Momentarilly I wonder if that’s the last time we’ll see our bags – I really shouldn’t be so cynical/cautious/untrusting.
The guest house, another we have found online, turns out to be more than we expect. The rooms are spacious, clean, cool (no aircon, but there’s a fan and deep eaves), tastefully decorated, with shower and toilet….eight beds for 600 baht (NZ$30). Even though the beds are singles, they are not much smaller than the doubles we had in Bangkok, and much more comfortable; they are firm, but not boardlike! The pillows are just right. To top it all off, there are fancily-folded huge white towels. After a month of drying ourselves on microfibre handkerchiefs, to wrap yourself in a big fluffy towel is luxurious. (And it’s so nice to not be sharing a bathroom!) But even that is not all – there’s a lovely green courtyard right outside our rooms with funky chunky tables and chairs….and free rickety bikes to use….there’s fantastic food at the end of the lane…..more at the night market a 20 minute walk away……and it’s all cheaper than Bangkok. All in all, this feels like an oasis after the bustle of the last month. In fact, maybe that’s the nicest thing – it’s quiet.
Doukhoune, Pakbeng
22nd November
On the boat Rob chatted with a guy whose friend owns a guest house in Pakbeng. Tonight is the first night we have done the turn-up-in-town-and-see-if-we-can-find-somewhere-to-stay trick. We went straight up the hill to DOUKHOUNE, and yes, it is cheap. The water is cold (or even non-existent from one tap) and drips directly from basin to floor (or onto your feet). But in an overpriced, 200 baht won’t get you much. Beds, mosquito nets, running water, lights until 10pm when the generators are shut off and a lock for the door. That’s all we need anyway.
Padichith, Luang Prabang
24th November
After a night in a prebooked-far-too-expensive-for-us guesthouse, we hit the streets early, grabbing some breakfast on the run. We split up to cover different parts of town, and tag-teamed going up and down the streets, asking in every guest house “How much for a room?” We must have asked at over twenty places, most of which were in excess of US$15 – in other words, well beyond our means. About an hour into our search, we headed up a little alleyway off a lane and I commented hopefully, “Here’s our street” and it was! It was small and cozy, bathed in sunlight, and with some quirky character-filled buildings. It was to become home for the next three weeks.
I still don’t regret booking the first night online (even though it set us back US$50, we arrived after dark and did not fancy house-hunting with tired hungry pack-wearing children), but we are making an effort to get to our next destination earlier in the day and just find something when we get there. We’ll remember Mary and Joseph as we look for a room.
rayres