Worst of the worst: Showers
We've been meaning to post an entry about our accomodations. Which ones were nice, which ones were ratty, which ones catered to septagenarian Danish gymnasts (I know it sounds weird, but it happened). I'll start off by giving a description of our showers.
For the most part the showers in New Zealand and Australia were all right. There was a pretty standard and universal shower head we saw all over both countries. It wasn't the Ritz, but we usually had a pretty reliable flow of warm water with good pressure. Things changed a bit in Asia.
Our hostel in Singapore had mostly ensuite rooms (private shower and toilet attached to your room). But we chose to stay in a double with shared bathroom to save a little money after going overbudget in Oz and NZ. It actually turned out to not be that bad because most everyone had their own bathrooms. I never saw anyone else in the one I used and the cleaning crew came through every day and hosed it down pretty good. Water pressure was decent and there was plenty of warm water. Things went downhill in China.
Our hostel in Beijing was quaint and friendly. It had a popular common area with bar and DVD player which attracted folks from other hostels. Every night the place was packed with backpackers swapping stories about their trip to the Great Wall or the Forbidden City. Because the dollar is pretty strong against the Chinese Yuan and China is cheap to start with we were able to get a private double ensuite. The room was fine. The shower...not so much. It was clean, I'll give it that. But there was absolutely zero water pressure, slowing down to a trickle at times, and the water temp ranged from sub zero to scorching nuclear waste, changing without warning or reason. The daily shower became an object of intense focus as we had to take them. Beijing is the dustiest city in the world and we were picking dirt out of our ears by the time we returned to the hostel each night. So, we took turns putting ourselves through the Chinese Water Torture. Some days we were pleasantly surprised, some days, not so much. But I'm pretty sure I would have kept my Beijing shower had I known what was in store in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is Tokyo, New York, and Las Vegas all rolled into one. We arrived at approximately 10:00 PM on Easter night and the main drag in Kowloon (part of the city but not on Hong Kong Island) was lit up and buzzing with people. As soon as we stepped off our bus dozens of touts ran up, offering cheap accomadation to everyone with a suitcase or backpack. We had already booked a room so we just kept saying no thanks, no thanks, no thanks, get away, I already have a room, please leave me alone, get away dirtbag, no thanks (this became a common occurence/annoyance over the next couple of days as there are guys trying to sell fake watches and suits every ten steps in the tourist and restaurant areas). After a quick detour to another hostel on the same floor of the building as ours we checked in and got to our room. Even though we'd paid for a shared bathroom they put us in a private room with ensuite. Of course, calling it ensuite is being pretty generous. It was a room the size of a small closet with THREE beds in it and an absolutely TINY "bathroom" with a toilet, airplane bathroom sink, and a shower head in a bucket. No kidding. And that wasn't the bad shower.
The next day they moved us into the room we paid for. It was a small closet with two beds and we had to share a bathroom with four or five other rooms. This bathroom would move my mom and sisters to tears. There was actually a bathtub/shower combo but the shower head was again resting in a bucket. The water pressure was beyond non-existent and the temperature was a Beijing-like metamorphosis of arctic to solar flare and back again in the span of seconds. It was almost impossible to clean oneself without laughing or crying. I couldn't figure out which one I should be doing. But mercifully we left Hong Kong a day early to get to Vietnam. The pictures of the place we booked in Hanoi looked so much nicer than the rat hole in Hong Kong. Surely the shower would be nicer, right?
To be fair, the bathroom at the Old Darling Hotel was much cleaner and bigger than the one in Hong Kong. In fact the room itself was gargantuan in comparison. The showerhead was nicer and much more powerful. The floor was clean. There was a clean hook to hang your towel. It was just that the hot water tank emptied fairly quickly. This was where I invented my "hokey pokey shower". I had nary a drop of warm water and therefore I had to soap and rinse in a "you put your right arm in, you take your right arm out" kinda fashion. Luckily the next day we both had plenty of hot water.
So now you're caught up on our shower experiences. Hopefully we'll add a couple more soon about food and lodging.
We're off to Sapa in northwest Vietnam tonight on the overnight train.
For the most part the showers in New Zealand and Australia were all right. There was a pretty standard and universal shower head we saw all over both countries. It wasn't the Ritz, but we usually had a pretty reliable flow of warm water with good pressure. Things changed a bit in Asia.
Our hostel in Singapore had mostly ensuite rooms (private shower and toilet attached to your room). But we chose to stay in a double with shared bathroom to save a little money after going overbudget in Oz and NZ. It actually turned out to not be that bad because most everyone had their own bathrooms. I never saw anyone else in the one I used and the cleaning crew came through every day and hosed it down pretty good. Water pressure was decent and there was plenty of warm water. Things went downhill in China.
Our hostel in Beijing was quaint and friendly. It had a popular common area with bar and DVD player which attracted folks from other hostels. Every night the place was packed with backpackers swapping stories about their trip to the Great Wall or the Forbidden City. Because the dollar is pretty strong against the Chinese Yuan and China is cheap to start with we were able to get a private double ensuite. The room was fine. The shower...not so much. It was clean, I'll give it that. But there was absolutely zero water pressure, slowing down to a trickle at times, and the water temp ranged from sub zero to scorching nuclear waste, changing without warning or reason. The daily shower became an object of intense focus as we had to take them. Beijing is the dustiest city in the world and we were picking dirt out of our ears by the time we returned to the hostel each night. So, we took turns putting ourselves through the Chinese Water Torture. Some days we were pleasantly surprised, some days, not so much. But I'm pretty sure I would have kept my Beijing shower had I known what was in store in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is Tokyo, New York, and Las Vegas all rolled into one. We arrived at approximately 10:00 PM on Easter night and the main drag in Kowloon (part of the city but not on Hong Kong Island) was lit up and buzzing with people. As soon as we stepped off our bus dozens of touts ran up, offering cheap accomadation to everyone with a suitcase or backpack. We had already booked a room so we just kept saying no thanks, no thanks, no thanks, get away, I already have a room, please leave me alone, get away dirtbag, no thanks (this became a common occurence/annoyance over the next couple of days as there are guys trying to sell fake watches and suits every ten steps in the tourist and restaurant areas). After a quick detour to another hostel on the same floor of the building as ours we checked in and got to our room. Even though we'd paid for a shared bathroom they put us in a private room with ensuite. Of course, calling it ensuite is being pretty generous. It was a room the size of a small closet with THREE beds in it and an absolutely TINY "bathroom" with a toilet, airplane bathroom sink, and a shower head in a bucket. No kidding. And that wasn't the bad shower.
The next day they moved us into the room we paid for. It was a small closet with two beds and we had to share a bathroom with four or five other rooms. This bathroom would move my mom and sisters to tears. There was actually a bathtub/shower combo but the shower head was again resting in a bucket. The water pressure was beyond non-existent and the temperature was a Beijing-like metamorphosis of arctic to solar flare and back again in the span of seconds. It was almost impossible to clean oneself without laughing or crying. I couldn't figure out which one I should be doing. But mercifully we left Hong Kong a day early to get to Vietnam. The pictures of the place we booked in Hanoi looked so much nicer than the rat hole in Hong Kong. Surely the shower would be nicer, right?
To be fair, the bathroom at the Old Darling Hotel was much cleaner and bigger than the one in Hong Kong. In fact the room itself was gargantuan in comparison. The showerhead was nicer and much more powerful. The floor was clean. There was a clean hook to hang your towel. It was just that the hot water tank emptied fairly quickly. This was where I invented my "hokey pokey shower". I had nary a drop of warm water and therefore I had to soap and rinse in a "you put your right arm in, you take your right arm out" kinda fashion. Luckily the next day we both had plenty of hot water.
So now you're caught up on our shower experiences. Hopefully we'll add a couple more soon about food and lodging.
We're off to Sapa in northwest Vietnam tonight on the overnight train.
posted by Matt | 6:39 AM
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